Charlie Hunnam Says Leaving ‘Fifty Shades’ Was ‘Painful’


Now that we’ve seen how well Fifty Shades of Grey has done, it isn’t surprising that it’s original Christian Grey, Charlie Hunnam, is feeling the pain of leaving the franchise.

Hunnam was originally going to step into the role of Christian Grey, but the Sons of Anarchy actor had to leave weeks after it was announced that he would be hitting the big screen. Hunnam was replaced by Jamie Dornan, who went on to become a celebrity thanks to his involvement in the film.

At the time, he said scheduling was the reason why he left the Fifty Shades of Grey film. Now he’s opening up on how it felt to leave the film as pre-production was underway. In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Hunnam opened up about what he was going through at the time.

“It was very, very painful for me, that whole process, just very unpleasant. I felt like I let myself down. I let those people down on Fifty Shades that I’d grown to really love and respect. It’s just a really unpleasant period of time for me.”

Hunnam continued to break it down on why he had to leave.

“For the first time in my life, [I] had more work than I had time to do it.It’s very hard to be disciplined in that situation and understand what is going to be required to all of that work to the best of your ability and have yourself surrounded by people.

“You see it all the time in Hollywood. There’s a tendency to make hay while the sun shines and to capitalize on every second once somebody gets hot and people just get burnt out. That’s what I started to do.”

Back in August, the creator of Sons of Anarchy told Deadline, “I had conversations with Charlie, when he was offered that role. The advice I gave him was what he knew. It has to be what is on the page. I don’t know any of this for a fact. I think he was promised a certain level of…not collaboration, but excellence with the script. And that never materialized. That’s why he ultimately stepped away.”

Universal Pictures eventually put out a statement, saying, “The filmmakers of FIFTY SHADES OF GREY and Charlie Hunnam have agreed to find another male lead given Hunnam’s immersive TV schedule which is not allowing him time to adequately prepare for the role of Christian Grey.”

[Photo by Frederick M. Brown / Getty Images]

Share this article: Charlie Hunnam Says Leaving ‘Fifty Shades’ Was ‘Painful’
More from Inquisitr