How Charlie Hunnam Feels Now About Backing out of 'Fifty Shades of Grey'

Hunnam was originally cast as Christian Grey before bowing out due to 'Sons of Anarchy.'

By Megan Behnke

Charlie Hunnam is opening up about his feelings towards the Fifty Shades trilogy. While Jamie Dornan captured women's hearts as Christian Grey in the sexy romance franchise, the Sons of Anarchy star was actually pretty close to portraying the titular character. In 2013, it was announced that Hunnam was cast as Christian for Fifty Shades of Grey but ultimately dropped out later that year because of his "immersive TV schedule" due to the FX crime drama.

Hunnam had a run-in with TMZ on Monday, who asked about him dropping out of the film series. "Aw man, can't talk about this," Hunnam said. "I'm not nearly as rich as I would have been."

Even though it sounds like the actor regrets dropping out, it was definitely for the better. Since there were three films in the series, it would have been a big commitment, and he was staying as busy as ever at the time of filming SOA, which ended in 2014. It's likely that if he took Fifty Shades, Jax Teller would not have made it through to the end of the series.

It's not impossible for an actor to do a film and a show at the same time, as Hunnam had done a few movies while doing Sons of Anarchy. But shooting three films almost back-to-back-to-back is definitely hard. It was for the best, and it is hard to see anyone else playing Christian Grey instead of Jamie Dornan. The films and the show would have been wildly different, and it's just forever going to be one of those "What if?" moments.

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Meanwhile, despite Charlie Hunnam thinking he's not doing so well for himself, his filmography would say otherwise. Following Sons of Anarchy, he went on to star in numerous films such as Crimson Peak, King Arthur: Legend of the Sword, The Lost City of Z, The Gentlemen, and most recently, Netflix's Rebel Moon – Part One: A Child of Fire. The TV side has been a little lighter, as the only show he's been on since SOA is the short-lived Apple TV+ thriller Shantaram in 2022.

It's been 11 years since Hunnam was supposed to play Christian Grey, and while the chance has passed, you never know what could happen in the future. Perhaps there will be a Fifty Shades reboot at some point? Of course, Dornan played a great Christian, and it's hard to find anyone better.

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