Jamie Dornan Is Christian Grey in 'Fifty Shades of Grey'
Jamie Dornan will play Christian Grey in '50 Shades Of Grey', The Hollywood Reported claimed Wednesday.
Negotiations are currently underway between the actor and the 31-year-old. Dornan, who is based in the U.K., is best known for his starring role on The Fall. To Americans, he gained notoriety for his role as playing he Huntsman in ABC's Once Upon a Time. He also dated actress Kiera Knightley and was a Calvin Klein model.
Dornan is set to replace Charlie Hunnam who backed out of the sought after role of a kinky billionaire earlier this month. A statement was released on Oct. 12 to confirm that Hunnam had left the project.
"The filmmakers of Fifty Shades of Grey and Charlie Hunnam have 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," Universal Pictures and Focus Features said in a joint statement.
A source revealed on Oct. 13 that Hunnam had reservations about assuming the role.
"This isn't a surprise because what he was taking on with this role was not what Charlie wants in his future career," a source said.
Furthermore, the actor did not want the notoriety associated with the S&M character.
"The attention and the pressure was intense," the source explained. "More than anything he hates attention and being in Fifty Shades of Grey would force him to do lots of media. That's really not his thing. Charlie doesn't want to be massively famous. Plus, he hates conforming and being told what to do. This role would force him to have to be something he is not."