‘Fifty Shades Darker’ Director Wanted To Replace Jamie Dornan, Concerned About Lack Of Chemistry With Dakota Johnson

Fifty Shades Darker director James Foley reportedly wanted to replace Jamie Dornan with someone who has a lot more onscreen chemistry with Dakota Johnson. A new report revealed that the Fall actor was almost fired from the trilogy, and it was not because of his “jealous” wife, Amelia Warner.

According to Celeb Dirty Laundry, the new Fifty Shades Darker director was not at all impressed with Dornan’s acting abilities. The outlet claimed that Foley became so fed up with the actor’s “lackluster” performance as Christian Grey that he considered replacing him.

“It came to a point when he almost gave up on the 33-year-old actor,” the insider said.

The first film in the erotic trilogy, Fifty Shades of Grey, took home the Worst Film of the Year award, as well as the Worst Screenplay, at the recent Razzies 2016. Jamie Dornan and Dakota Johnson also “won” the Worst Actor and Actress award, as well as the Worst Screen Combo.

This is not the first time that Jamie Dornan and Dakota Johnson allegedly had problems acting in love on set. As reported by Us Weekly, then Fifty Shades of Grey director Sam Taylor-Johnson had to reshoot a couple of scenes after the producers insisted that there is not enough onscreen chemistry between the two lead stars. The source added that Dornan was not the only one to blame.

“Dakota isn’t coming off sexy enough. [Anastasia Steele] needs to be naive, not a dishrag.”

A representative from Universal Pictures, however, has since denied these claims. They insisted that no one had the right to question the heat or intensity between Jamie and Dakota.

Speaking to the Daily Mail, Dornan also insisted that fans of Fifty Shades of Grey had nothing to worry about. He pointed out that if the producers saw that they lack chemistry together, they would not even cast them for the role.

“They wouldn’t have shot the film with us if there was a chemistry problem… whatever chemistry means. You have to jump through a lot of hoops to get a part like this, and they simply wouldn’t have cast us,” he explained.

In another interview with the Guardian, the Fifty Shades Darker actor admitted that he accepted the role of Christian Grey knowing that some fans of the trilogy would not be happy with the casting. For the longest time, it has been rumored that Matt Bomer will be playing the role opposite Dakota Johnson.

“I am never going to please all 100 million people who read the book. I’ll be lucky if half that number are happy with me playing Christian Grey. I know there are campaigns of hate against me already.”

In spite of what the critics say, Fifty Shades of Grey movie earned a whopping $571 million in the worldwide box office from a $40 million production budget. The success definitely paved the way for the second and third movie, Fifty Shades Darker and Fifty Shades Freed.

Multiple insiders suggested that making Fifty Shades Darker a bit raunchier could eventually remedy the lack of chemistry between Jamie Dornan and Dakota Johnson. They pointed out that Sam Taylor-Johnson played it too safe with the first movie, just for it to get an R rating.

With new director James Foley coming in to helm Fifty Shades Darker, some fans were hoping that he would be able to save the franchise. CDL pointed out that Foley may have done a great job coaching both Dornan and Johnson. The two were recently spotted sharing a steamy kiss on set. By the looks of it, the outlet claimed that the two seemed a lot more comfortable in each other’s presence compared to the first movie.

Fifty Shades Darker is set to hit theaters on February 10, 2017.

[Photo by Ian Gavan/Getty Images]