Did the pressure of playing one of the most-loved characters in recent history get to Charlie Hunnam? After it was announced on Oct. 12 that he would no longer be playing Christian Grey in the film adaptation of Fifty Shades of Grey, a source told HollywoodLife.com exclusively the REAL reason he had a change of heart.
Universal Pictures attributed the shocking news in a statement to Charlie’s “immersive TV schedule which is not allowing him time to adequately prepare for the role of Christian Grey.”
But an industry source tells HollywoodLife.com exclusively that that’s all just smoke and mirrors. “Charlie got cold feet,” the source plainly states. “He wanted to get out of the movie because he was feeling like it would be his version of Showgirls and he didn’t want to be remembered for that.”
For those of you who don’t know, Showgirls is the sexually explicit 1995 box-office flop that put a halt on Saved By The Bell star Elizabeth Berkley‘s movie career. It was supposed to put her on the map.
There were a few other factors that contributed to Charlie and the filmmakers’ decision to part ways. “Nor is Charlie ready for the celebrity he would receive if the movie worked out,” the source reveals.
And it definitely didn’t help that the feedback to Charlie’s casting was so lukewarm. “Add that with the studio execs being highly disappointed by the reaction to the casting, they wanted to start over with a clean slate.”
So maybe everyone is getting what they wanted here. We were actually excited to see what the Sons of Anarchy actor could do as Christian Grey, so we have to admit we’re a little disappointed.
Then again, if Ian Somerhalder or Matt Bomer goes and gets casted now we won’t pretend to miss Charlie.
What do you think, HollywoodLifers? Let us know!
— Andrew Gruttadaro, Reporting by Russ Weakland
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