Charlie Hunnam is one of the big names residing in the Hollywood industry for multiple years now and has also been a part of multiple blockbuster movies. Though he achieved success from a young age in his acting career, he regrets turning down the deal for the lead role of Christian Grey in Fifty Shades of Grey. He later said that his girlfriend was not comfortable with him starring in a movie with such a script, and Jamie Dornan ended up with the lead role.

Charlie Hunnam
Charlie Hunnam

Charlie Hunnam Regrets Turning Down a Franchise Worth $1.3 Billion

Charlie Hannum, the star actor in King Arthur: Legend of the Sword recently shared that he was left heartbroken after the role he turned down went up to become a billion-dollar franchise. Hannum shared that he was very uncomfortable filming intimate scenes and also revealed that he is a germophobe, and likes to keep his body and his surroundings clean. He also shared that in every role he plays, he always tries to submerge himself in the character and be as much sensitive as he can, but also had to maintain the boundary.

Charlie Hunnam was selected for the role before Jamie Dornan.Charlie Hunnam was selected for the role of Christian Grey before Jamie Dornan.

“I’m in a very committed relationship [with jewelry designer Morgana McNelis], and I’m also cognizant that it’s not my girlfriend’s favorite part of my job. It’s a delicate balance to strike—to be emotionally open enough to have an experience that feels honest between two people but also maintain that it’s just for the film.”
Charlie Hunnam later revealed that he was in a very stable and committed relationship with his girlfriend Morgan McNelis, and the role in that movie was not favored by her. Although he was cast for the role of Christian Grey, he dropped the role and instead departed to reprise his role for the then-upcoming season of Sons of Anarchy.

Charlie Hunnam’s Reason for Departing From Fifty Shades

Hunnam initially said that he left Fifty Shades because he was cast in another tv-show, Sons of Anarchy, and as their scheduling times crossed each other he had to choose one over the other. However, this statement changed after a few years as he claimed that Guillermo del Toro’s Crimson Peak was the main reason he left the billion-dollar franchise as he wanted to keep a respected and loyal relationship with him.


“I’d given Guillermo my word, over a year before, that I was going to do this film. People were saying, ‘Are you crazy? Guillermo still has got four months to recast, it’s the fourth lead, you can go and do this [instead].’ I said, ‘I can’t. He’s my friend.”

Guillermo del ToroGuillermo del Toro

del Toro’s movie Crimson Peak very much flopped at the box office as it could only gather $74 million, and the reviews from the viewers and critics reviews were also low. Whereas the first movie of Fifty Shades gathered more than $569 million and the trilogy earned over $1.3 million with only $150 million as its budget.

Fifty Shades of Grey and its other 2 sequels are available for streaming on Prime Video.

Source: VMAN