'Fifty Shades of Grey' Featurette Reveals Jamie Dornan's Struggle to Become Christian Grey (Exclusive)
Jamie Dornan is pretty open about his challenges playing bondage enthusiast and business tycoon Christian Grey. As seen in this exclusive new footage from the hotly anticipated Fifty Shades of Grey, director Sam Taylor-Johnson says Dornan struggled to master his character’s perfectionist ways.
But Dornan says it was the sex scenes that got him the most twisted. The 32-year-old Irish actor recently told Britain’s Notebook magazine (via the Daily Mail) he found it extremely difficult to beat up on his co-star during the rough-and-tumble bedroom scenes. “If I was about to be doing something particularly heinous to Dakota [Johnson, who plays Anastasia Steele], I would apologize in advance and say, ‘I’m probably not going to derive a huge amount of pleasure out of this. I want you to know that.’” Dornan would go so far as to run to Johnson and cover her up after the director yelled, “Cut!”
He also got the heebie-jeebies while researching his role. “One rainy Tuesday evening, I kissed my wife and baby goodnight and went to watch a dominant/submissive session in a dungeon… I didn’t enjoy it massively, but it was helpful to a point.”
Similarly, Johnson has experienced a sort of walk-of-shame-effect with the movie coming out, telling the Sunday Telegraph she’s had moments where she’s thought, “What the f—k have I done?” Still, as director Taylor-Johnson expresses in the above footage, she knew from day-one that the 25-year-old actress and daughter of Melanie Griffith and Don Johnson was right for the role of Anastasia. It doesn’t hurt either (except when it does) that Johnson is comfortable with nudity “when done tastefully.”
Based on E.L. James’s erotic, best-selling novel, Fifty Shades of Grey is getting some high marks from critics, as defenders are saying the film is better than the book. But, in terms of box office, the movie doesn’t need the added praise. Ticket pre-sales are through the roof as the sex flick is poised to break records this weekend.
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