When I think of Jamie Dornan, I often think of him as Christian Grey, the smooth, well-dressed protagonist of E.L. James’ Fifty Shades of Grey trilogy. However, if you hear him tell it, in real life he’s a whole lot closer to his Wild Mountain Thyme character, allowing himself to be pursued by the ladies rather than the other way around.
During a recent interview ahead of his upcoming projects on screens big and small, Jamie Dornan actually spoke a little bit about his own personality and how he identifies a bit more with his Wild Mountain Thyme character. If you haven’t seen that particular movie, it follows a young man named Anthony (Dornan) who has shared a property line with a young woman named Rosemary (Emily Blunt) for many years, without making a romantic move on her. He told The Belfast Telegraph of Wild Mountain Thyme and his own ambitions where the ladies are involved:
I wish I was pursued by a woman like that [Rosemary] when I was younger. That would’ve been the perfect scenario for me when I was growing up because I’m not a confident person when it comes to talking to women. I never had it in me.
Things seem to have worked out for Jamie Dornan, who has been happily married to his wife Amelia Warner, a composer who also worked on Wild Mountain Thyme, for eight years. The two have three daughters together, whom he spent plenty of time with during quarantine in 2020. This whole story makes me wonder if it was Warner who made the first move when they met, as Dornan recalled his complete lack of game and awkwardness in social situations, qualities that seem to be a far cry from Christian Grey.
I never chatted. I was always amazed watching mates of mine go up to girls in bars and just talking to them. I’d see the girls laughing and I was always like, ‘What are you saying to those women?’ I definitely don’t have any game at all.
Although, I guess I'd argue Christian Grey is not particularly gabby and is pretty to the point, in the past, Jamie Dornan himself has said he “struggled” with playing Fifty Shades of Grey’s Christian Grey during the making of the billion dollar franchise. He noted in 2020 the character felt “very far away from me” and also said he felt “quite uncomfortable” during his time playing the literary icon. He’s also previously mentioned that he had “a lot of swings and misses” with the ladies in his youth, so I suppose these comments shouldn't be a huge shock, but I do find the process of separating an artist and their characters fascinating.
So, now that Dornan has shared more details about who he is and how he’s flirted in a past life, it’s easier to see why the major franchise gig was a little bit tough for the actor. After all, you can be a wide-ranging actor and still have roles that are a little tougher to tease out on the big screen. In this case, a BDSM and suit-loving dude apparently is not who Jamie Dornan is in his personal life.
Jamie Dornan has taken on a wide variety of eclectic roles since Fifty Shades of Grey wrapped in 2018. He’s played real life facsimiles of people in My Dinner with Hervé and A Private War. He braved the comedy landscape and even got into a shirt rip scene harkening a little bit back to his Fifty Shade days in Barb and Star Go To Vista Del Mar. He rocked out with a twist ending in Wild Mountain Thyme, though it sounds like the Irish setting and that character in general were a little closer to home for the actor.
Next up, he has some new projects coming, including another set in Ireland, Belfast, written and directed by Kenneth Branagh. His other project, The Tourist, will be headed to HBO Max. Of that latter one, Dornan has said the script "some of the most exciting" he's even dived into. We'll keep you updated when we have more information regarding release
