14 DAY TRIAL // Charlie Hunnam came very close to tying his name for all eternity to that of fictional millionaire Christian Grey, who will make his big screen debut next year on Valentine’s Day, with the insanely anticipated “Fifty Shades of Grey.”
He was initially cast as lead but he dropped out of the project weeks later, right before production started, presumably because he had realized he had too packed a schedule to be able to do a proper job with any of his commitments at the time. The studio eventually replaced him with Jamie Dornan.
Looking back, Charlie sees his move – of accepting the offer and then turning it down – as a “rookie mistake.”
Hunnam bit off more than he could chew, realized it before it was too late
Charlie Hunnam is one of the nicest actors around and he’s probably feeling very bad about saying yes to the Christian Grey role and then having a change of heart and dropping out. He hasn’t stopped apologizing for it since the day he told studio bosses about his decision, which ultimately translates into free publicity for the movie: a movie he’s not even appearing in.
The British-born actor is offering yet another explanation for what happened in his new interview with Entertainment Weekly, in which he’s promoting the final season of “Sons of Anarchy,” in which he plays Jax Teller, the President of SAMCRO California.
If you’re a fan of the series, below you’ll find embedded a video of the cast during the EW shoot.
Back to the topic of “Fifty Shades,” Hunnam expresses regret again for making “a bit of a rookie mistake in that one in biting off more than I could chew.”
“It was a little bit annoying and a little bit painful, and I really was just so sad for Sam [Taylor-Johnson], the director, because I absolutely adore her, and I gave her my word and committed to going on this journey with her. It was a very difficult position that I put myself in, and that I put the studio in, because of course, those type of things are like red rag to a bull to a lot of bloggers and reviewers,” Hunnam continues.
Hunnam had a nervous breakdown
He says 2013 was a very difficult year for him both professionally and personally, because he was dealing with “some stuff” that made him not think things through. This isn’t how he normally behaves, he would have never accepted an offer only to back out of it weeks later.
“I was gonna take 50 Shades and every other movie that I got offered all at the same time, and then I had something of a nervous breakdown and had to pull out of all of it,” he says. “Literally, I had an hour until my, like, six-figure deposit was no longer refundable. When I say I pulled out at the 11th hour, I really did. That sucks. That sucks for everyone involved,” Hunnam goes on to explain.
He’s mentioned this breakdown before, hinting that he found his inability to keep his word so distracting he actually needed some time off from the madness, to lick his wounds, as the saying goes.
Oh, and there was madness: the “Fifty Shades” casting was one of the hottest topics online at the time, with Hunnam coming under fire both when he was confirmed for the Grey role and when he announced he wasn’t going to do it after all.
Hunnam, though working in the industry for years, got to find out the hard way what it means to cross fans, even if he hadn’t done anything with the purpose of upsetting them.
Hunnam dodged the “Fifty Shades” bullet, his fans are relieved
Both his fans and “Fifty Shades” fans were happy when he said he wouldn’t do the movie after all. His fans in particular were ecstatic because it meant he wouldn’t ruin his chances of breaking into Hollywood: talented and handsome, Charlie is still to make it “big.” His first shot was “Pacific Rim,” but that didn’t go exactly as planned.
“Fifty Shades” will undoubtedly be a box office success, but chances are it will be reviewed even worse than “Twilight,” because its source material makes the “Twilight” books look like Dostoyevsky by comparison – and many fans believe Charlie Hunnam deserves better than that.
But he comes across as very honest when he says he’s sorry he dropped out of it.