The competition for the role of Christian Grey in Fifty Shades of Grey was fierce. With so many well-known actors in the running for the high-profile lead, many were left shaking their heads over why a relatively unknown Irish actor named Jamie Dornan eventually snagged the job. The answer is pretty simple, at least in my opinion: he's talented and hot — why not him? But Dornan himself recently revealed there were two good reasons he was cast to play Grey.
Part of Dornan's appeal was that he wasn't Ian Somerhalder— in other words, he was a cute actor whose image hadn't been splashed across In Touch Weekly on a regular basis. In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, the 33-year-old actor credited the biggest role of his life (so far) with two facts: no one knew him from Adam before Fifty Shades and he had already proven his raw talent by taking on the meaty role of serial killer Paul Spector in BBC/Netflix's psychological thriller series The Fall.
Here's what Dornan had to say about the effect his anonymity and career so far has had on him:
"I don't think I would have been in any kind of conversation for Fifty Shades had I not done the show. They also liked the idea of someone relatively unknown."
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As we expected, the film has made Dornan a pretty major star — one who now says he finally gets to choose roles that he wants instead of pulling teeth to be seen by a casting agent. As far as his future career plans, well, we know he may or may not go full-frontal when he reprises the role of Christian Grey in Fifty Shades Darker, but he also says he is open to both film and TV.
In fact, the way he waxes on about television and how it has the "best writing" makes me think he's def itching to get himself a role on a solid series. Which is great for us because it means more Jamie — on a weekly basis!
What do you think Jamie Dornan should do next?
Image via jamiedornan/Instagram