Charlie Hunnam Claims ’50 Shades Of Grey’ Led Him To A Nervous Breakdown

Charlie Hunnam has a lot on his plate, especially with the final season of the Fox hit show Sons of Anarchy airing later this evening (September 9). It was his busy schedule that he claimed forced him to pull out of the upcoming movie 50 Shades of Grey.

According to Us Weekly, Charlie Hunnam claims that his role in the 50 Shades of Grey movie actually led him down the road to a nervous breakdown. When the Sons of Anarchy star decided to back out of the leading role as Christian Grey, fans of E.L. James’ book claimed that he never really wanted the part to begin with, but Hunnam told MovieFone otherwise.

“I wouldn’t have signed up in the first place if I didn’t want to do it. It was a really, really difficult time in my life.”

Earlier reports stated that not only did the Sons of Anarchy star have a busy work schedule, but he also said at the time that he had some “family stuff going on.” E! News stated that Hunnam didn’t just give up the role, he had to — and it was a struggle to do so.

“I bit off more than I could chew and it was painful. I loved the character and I wanted to do it.”

Hunnam went on to tell MovieFone that his roles were simply too close together, and he believed that he couldn’t do Christian Grey justice, so he reluctantly gave up the role, which was later given to Jamie Dornan.

“I was going to finish ‘Sons [of Anarchy]’ at like 11 p.m. Friday night, get on a 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 just said, ‘I can’t… I can’t. To fail on such a grand scale — because ‘Fifty’s’ going to be massive, it’s going to be huge. I really didn’t want to fail on such a grand scale and I just couldn’t transition from Jax to Christian Grey in 48 hours.”

With so many projects back to back, and with family issues, it’s no wonder why Charlie Hunnam decided to back out of the role of Christian Grey. Do you think he made the right decision? Share your thoughts in the comments below.

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