You may remember a touch of drama surrounding actor Charlie Hunnam and the production of Fifty Shades of Grey back in 2013. While the Sons of Anarchy star signed on to play the highly sought-after role of Christian Grey in the E.L. James adaptation last August, the two sides ended up parting ways just a few months later. At the time, it was said that Hunnam was simply too busy with his "immersive TV schedule" and wouldn't have had time to properly prepare for the role - but it turns out that the truth is a bit more emotional than that.
While speaking to Moviefone, Charlie Hunnam has revealed that it was "something of a nervous breakdown" and a tremendous amount of work-related stress that ultimately led to his decision not to be in Fifty Shades of Grey. While the official line given at the time of his departure last fall was 100% accurate, it didn't fully take into account the full spectrum of his workload, which also included the filming of Guillermo Del Toro's upcoming gothic horror movie Crimson Peak.
To hear the actor explain it, a good deal of the trouble started when the filming of Sons of Anarchy's sixth season wound up running long (this was right around the same time as the Fifty Shades of Grey deal was signed). Around this same time, Hunnam had also committed to using his hiatus to reunite with his Pacific Rim director to make Crimson Peak. The whole thing left him fairly exhausted. Said Hunnam,
"I was going to finish Sons at like 11 p.m. Friday night, get on the plane Saturday morning to Vancouver for Fifty, missing the whole first week of rehearsal and start shooting Monday morning. And I was going to shoot that film, wrap that on the Wednesday and the following Monday I was going to start shooting Crimson Peak in Toronto. I just had like ... frankly, something of a nervous breakdown."
I imagine that it didn't help that Fifty Shades of Grey fans were signing petitions to try and get him and co-star Dakota Johnson removed from the film, but the truth is that the project was something Hunnam was very serious about. In the Moviefone interview, he explains that he appreciated director Sam Taylor-Johnson's vision and that he "fell in love with the character [of Christian Grey] and started seeing him and becoming intoxicated." He still has huge expectations for the movie, and felt horrible breaking his contract after signing on for the project. "It was just a shit situation," he said. "I was really, really, sorry to do it. It was one of those damned if you do, damned if you don't situations."
Fifty Shades of Grey, which will feature Jamie Dornan in the titular role instead of Hunnam, is currently in post-production and will be in theaters on Valentine's Day weekend next year.
