Jamie Dornan was already semi-famous thanks to playing Sheriff Graham in ABC's then-hot drama Once Upon A Time when he landed the role in Fifty Shades of Grey. However, now that his time playing Christian Grey is over, Dornan has revealed the real challenge is being seen only as Christian Grey rather than a dynamic actor known for lots of different roles. He acknowledged the challenge in a recent interview, noting,
Sometimes and I struggle with that. I might be fighting this my entire career. I hope not. You just want to keep trying to improve yourself and better yourself.
Speaking during a promotional event for his new movie A Private War, Jamie Dornan revealed that he's still being seen as Christian Grey following the release of Fifty Shades Freed, and it has been an ongoing struggle for the actor.
Clearly the role even came up in his conversation about A Private War over at Deadline, and A Private War has perhaps been his best-reviewed project since he got into the business with a small role in Marie Antoinette back in 2006. It's currently running at 89% from the critics on Rotten Tomatoes after another of his new movies My Dinner With Herve hit 83% earlier this year.
In fact, Jamie Dornan added a ton of different projects to his resume in 2018. He played a memoir writer in Untogether, a journalistic photographer in A Private War and a journalist in My Dinner with Herve. So, really one might say viewers should know at this point that he's just as good at playing a journalist as he is at filming sex scenes.
He also starred in 2018's version of Robin Hood opposite Taron Egerton and Jamie Foxx, but that movie failed to really garner the attention of audiences at the box office, although signing on for Will Scarlett marks another type of character Dornan has capably shown he can play.
However, while it may be a little bit concerning for Jamie Dornan that people don't seem to want to let go of Christian Grey just yet, he also has a healthy perspective about the role, realizing it was only because of the Fifty Shades movies that other opportunities came along. He said:
Listen, I think it's given me so much beyond finance-wise, I mean that opportunity to then do the movies that we're talking about like Anthropoid and A Private War, movies like that have so much heart and mean so much to me. I would not have been given those opportunities if I hadn't done Fifty Shades.
Previously, Jamie Dornan has said he will probably never take a job with as much "public scrutiny" as Fifty Shades of Grey ever again, and that seems to be just fine with the actor. However, if he does ever get the chance to play another iconic character --and honestly if Robin Hood had done better, could Will Scarlett have been it?-- I wonder if he would really pass up the opportunity. After all, it might give him the chance for more people to recognize him for something outside of Christian Grey.
A Private War was in limited release back in November and is slated for a UK release on February 1. It has already earned some Golden Globes nominations, and if you are able to catch Matthew Heineman's film, which also stars Rosamund Pike, in theaters, I definitely suggest giving it a shot.
