Charlie Hunnam was already achieving fame playing one of the best Sons of Anarchy characters, Jax. But the English actor’s career could have skyrocketed in almost being one of the Fifty Shades of Grey stars. More than 10 years later, Hunnam has “never looked back” on turning down the role of Christian Grey, but Dakota Johnson still made sure to call him out on it.
It’s unbelievable that the role of Christian Grey, which ultimately went to Jamie Dornan, could have been Charlie Hunnam’s. Back in September 2013, the Newcastle upon Tyne native was confirmed for Sam Taylor-Johnson’s movie, only to have dropped out a month later.
In an interview with Variety (via ET), the Critics’ Choice Television Award nominee was honest about having “never looked back” after turning down Fifty Shades of Grey (which is streaming on your Netflix subscription). But, he mentioned that his would-have-been co-star Dakota Johnson sure hasn’t forgotten after they ran into each other over a decade later:
She gave me a bit of a hard time about it in a very fun way.
I’m curious how Dakota Johnson would have playfully confronted Charlie Hunnam about skipping the chance to work with her. Maybe the Materialists actress reminded him of all of the handcuffs and riding crops the actor missed out on if he took on Christian Grey. Yep, lay on the guilty pleasures the two could have had on set.
If the Pacific Rim actor chose to star in the Fifty Shades of Grey movies, his career could have exponentially changed in the way Dakota Johnson’s and Jamie Dornan’s did. But his reasons for dropping out were understandable. In 2015, Hunnam said his feelings about passing on the big role had to do with not being mentally ready due to “a lot of personal stuff.” The real reason, however, for leaving Fifty Shades, he said, was experiencing “something of a nervous breakdown” with his heavy TV schedule of filming Sons of Anarchy and Crimson Peak.
But then in 2019, when Charlie Hunnam spoke about not regretting his Fifty Shades of Grey leave, the Nicholas Nickleby actor was honest about being “totally at odds” with the creative team about his differing vision for Christian Grey. So even if the CinemaCon Award winner missed his chance to take part in a cultural phenomenon, he made it clear that following his instincts was more important than taking on a role that didn’t feel right to him.
Charlie Hunnam may have “never looked back” turning down Christian Grey, but he didn’t need that role to make it big in Hollywood. He’s got the 2025 Netflix release Monster: The Ed Gein Story and Amazon Prime’s Criminals to wow us with. But, leave it to Dakota Johnson to playfully remind him over a decade later about the huge role that got away from him.