The speculations and rumors about who will replace Charlie Hunnam as Christian Grey can finally stop! Jamie Dornan has officialy been cast as Mr. Grey in the upcoming movie based on E.L. James' bestselling erotic romance novel, Fifty Shades of Grey.
Dornan is relatively unknown, but has a few notches in his being in the public eye belt (much like Dakota Johnson, who will star as Anastasia Steele alongside Dornan). The Irish actor and model is probably most recognizable from his role on the first season of the television show Once Upon a Time. Dornan's most notable film credit to date is his portrayal of Count Axel Fernan in Sophia Coppola's 2006 rendition of Marie Antoinette starring Kirsten Dunst. According to his models.com profile, Dornan has done ad campaigns for many major designers (including Calvin Klein, Christian Dior, and Armani) and has been featured in editorials in magazines such as Vogue Paris, Wonderland Magazine, and Esquire UK among others. Confirmed by his modeling, it doesn't look like Dornan should have any trouble at all as the sexy billionaire.
Jamie Dornan is the new Christian Grey! Also, he looks great naked: http://t.co/GHtcFbbHHT pic.twitter.com/fPg3FdEUx6
— Cosmopolitan (@Cosmopolitan) October 24, 2013
Variety was the first to report on the casting, confirming that last Friday, Universal and Focus executives ran a screen-test with Dornan and Billy Magnussen to make sure there was chemistry with Johnson. Once Dornan walked in, the studio didn't call anyone in for tests, although they originally planned to test with several more actors.
The Huffington Post claims that one of the reasons Hunnam abandoned the role was a low paycheck. Dornan's people are currently negotiating with Universal and Focus to up the $125,000 that Hunnam was offered. The producers are going to have to bend a little, considering production is set to start on November 1. If there's any more delay, getting the movie finalized and ready for release as planned on August 1, 2014 is likely to be a struggle.