Despite having colourful careers, a lot of times actors have that one project that they regret losing out on. Same goes for actor Charlie Hunnam. While he has appeared in projects like Son of Anarchy, Triple Frontier, King Arthur, and so on, he had almost bagged the blockbuster film franchise, Fifty Shades.
While Charlie Hunnam was supposed to be Christian Grey in the first place, he had to let go of the role due to prior promises. While the actor has given a few reasons as to why he dropped Fifty Shades of Grey, a prominent one of those is the fact that he had made a commitment to Guillermo del Toro. However, the commitment ended up causing Charlie Hunnam a franchise worth over a billion dollars.
Charlie Hunnam’s Promise to Guillermo del Toro
Sometimes, promises don’t come cheap and Charlie Hunnam can certainly vouch for that! When he was approached to don the role of Christian Grey in the Fifty Shades franchise, Hunnam was quite unsure. Anyone who has seen the movies (or the memes) know that Fifty Shades couldn’t have been every actor’s cup of tea thanks to the extremely intimate scenes with Dakota Johnson’s Anastasia Steele. Hunnam stated he just wasn’t comfortable shooting them.
However, later Hunnam revealed that Guillermo del Toro was one of the major reasons why he didn’t go ahead with the film. Recalling his regret to V Man magazine, Hunnam stated that he had given his word to del Toro to be a part of Crimson Peak. He even stated that those around him called him out for the decision as his role in Crimson Peak was that of the fourth lead, as opposed to the main in Fifty Shades trilogy.
“I’d given Guillermo my word, over a year before, that I was going to do this film. People were saying, ‘Are you crazy? Guillermo still has got four months to recast, it’s the fourth lead, you can go and do this [instead].’ I said, ‘I can’t. He’s my friend.’”
The friendship sure cost him big bucks as the three films of the Fifty Shades trilogy went on to make a combined total of $1.325 billion. On the other hand, Crimson Peak made just a measly $74 million at the box office. As the numbers are nowhere close to each other, we absolutely understand why it was the “worst professional experience” of his life. He stated that it was the most “emotionally destructive and difficult thing” he had to deal with professionally and called it “heartbreaking.” He even stated that he called the director of Fifty Shades, Sam Taylor-Johnson, and they both cried their eyes out for twenty minutes on the phone over what could’ve been.
Charlie Hunnam was Uncomfortable Doing Intimate Scenes
Hunnam had also cited another reason for backing out of Fifty Shades – the extreme intimacy. He stated, “I try to be sensitive to the fact that we are doing something intimate, but also keep a clear boundary.” He added that he was in a very committed relationship with Morgana McNelis and Hunnam being intimate with actors for a film wasn’t McNelis’ favourite part of his job.
“Because I’m in a very committed relationship and I’m also cognizant that it’s not my girlfriend’s favorite part of my job. It’s a delicate balance to strike—to be emotionally open enough to have an experience that feels honest between two people but also maintain that it’s just for the film.”
He also stated that he has been a germaphobe since his childhood and he doesn’t want to be kissing anyone but McNelis for the rest of his life. Well, for a more positive piece of news, Hunnam certainly kept that promise as his relationship with McNelis is going strong and steady since 2005.
As we all know, the role of Christian Grey was finally given to Jamie Dornan, however, we do wonder how Hunnam would’ve brought the businessman to life!
Source: V Man Magazine
