It’s fair to say that British actor Charlie Hunnam is almost just as renowned for walking away from the role of Christian Grey in the Fifty Shades of Grey movie series as he is for his actual performances, with the star reaching a global audience for his lead role as Jax Teller in the hit TV series Sons of Anarchy.
After playing Jax for just over six years, Sons came to an end in 2014 — and Charlie found himself at a fork in the road in terms of his career. In 2013, it was announced that Charlie had been cast to play Christian Grey in the upcoming movie adaptation of the bestselling Fifty Shades of Grey book series. The suave billionaire with a love of BDSM was undeniably a far cry from Charlie’s previous roles, and many were left surprised by the casting decision.
But before filming began, Charlie dropped out of the project, citing scheduling conflicts. In a statement released by Universal, the team behind the movie said that, along with Charlie, they’d “agreed to find another male lead given Hunnam’s immersive TV schedule, which is not allowing him time to adequately prepare for the role of Christian Grey.”
Charlie didn’t discuss his decision until a 2015 interview with V Man magazine, where he reiterated how busy his work schedule was at the time. He explained that he was still working on the final season of Sons, and had signed on to Guillermo Del Toro’s movie Crimson Peak as well — giving Guillermo his word that he’d do it.
“It was the worst professional experience of my life. It was the most emotionally destructive and difficult thing I’ve ever had to deal with professionally,” he admitted. “I’m pretty mercurial and a very difficult, long-winded decision-maker at the best of times. It was deeply unpleasant and challenging emotionally.”
Charlie added that he was even “having panic attacks about the whole thing,” explaining: “I really, really pride myself on being a professional and a man of keeping my word. It means a lot to me, truly.”
And just last year, Charlie confessed that he still hadn’t watched the Fifty Shades movies as he made light of the huge commercial success he missed out on. For what it’s worth, the franchise brought in a combined total of more than $1 billion at the box office.
Asked by a TMZ reporter how the decision to drop out of the movies worked out for him in the long run, the actor quipped: “I’m not nearly as rich as I would’ve been.”
But despite that, Charlie has now admitted that he does not regret his decision, as he confessed that he simply wasn’t thinking straight when he accepted the role. In an interview with Variety, the star explained that he always tries to balance commercial and passion projects, and cited 2013’s Pacific Rim as an example of a commercial project.
“I thought it was a great opportunity to work with a director that I really like,” Charlie said of the Guillermo Del Toro film. “I couldn’t care less about giant robots fighting giant monsters. I read the script, and I had no emotional experience with it at all.” He added that it was the first time he made a film he wouldn’t rush to watch in movie theaters himself, but he took it because he felt like he owed it to his team — and it was two months after Pacific Rim’s release that his Fifty Shades casting was announced.
“I just wasn’t thinking clearly,” Charlie said of taking the job in the first place, insisting that once he walked away he “never looked back.” He concluded: “No regrets at all.”
Charlie also revealed that he recently bumped into the franchise’s lead actor Dakota at a social event, saying: “She gave me a bit of a hard time about it in a very fun way.”
Charlie’s next project is playing real-life serial killer Ed Gein in Ryan Murphy’s latest installment of his Monster series, which will land on Netflix on Friday.
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