Actor Jamie Dornan is to play kinky billionaire Christian in the upcoming big screen take on salacious literary sensation Fifty Shades of Grey, according to Variety.
Dornan replaces Charlie Hunnam, who left the role earlier this month amid rumours that the Sons of Anarchy and Pacific Rim star had been spooked by overwhelming fan attention, or may have required more input into the script than producers were willing to grant. Studio Universal and director Sam Taylor-Johnson have been searching for a replacement ever since, with the project due for release in nine months time and shooting to start imminently.
Dornan stars as Sheriff Graham Humbert in the ABC series Once Upon a Time and also plays a serial killer in Belfast-set BBC2 crime drama The Fall. His film roles include a Swedish count in Sofia Coppola's Marie Antoinette. Aged 31, Dornan has also modelled for Calvin Klein, Christian Dior and Armani.
Producers made the decision to cast the County Down-born actor after screen testing him with Dakota Johnson, who remains in the lead female role of Grey's virginal paramour, Anastasia Steele. Fifty Shades centres on Grey's recruitment of Anastasia to be his well-remunerated sex slave. It is expected to be the first of a trilogy based on British author EL James' three bestselling novels.
Taylor-Johnson was revealed as the director of the film version in June. The artist turned film-maker, whose only feature film to date is the acclaimed 2009 John Lennon biopic Nowhere Boy, reportedly beat out luminaries of the calibre of Joe Wright, Bennett Miller and Gus van Sant.
Fifty Shades of Grey is due to hit cinemas in August 2014. Producers now hope to wrap up the cast by finding an actor to play Anastasia's flat-mate, Kate. Jennifer Ehle has been cast as the young student's hapless mother, Carla.
The casting of Dornan has not yet been officially confirmed by Universal or James, who has made previous announcements about the film on Twitter.
* Hunnam 'required script approval', Hunnam 'too busy', Hunnam 'has cold feet', Hunnam 'unpopular with fans'
* In praise of The Fall
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