Charlie Hunnam dropped out of ’50 Shades’ because ‘he didn’t want to be typecast’

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I’m loving the growing cottage industry in Charlie Hunnam Conspiracies. Why did he abandon 50 Shades of Grey so quickly and so suddenly? And don’t say it’s because he just got around to reading the book – Charlie was trying to be a good company man when his casting was announced, and it was pretty clear that he had already read the book. He knew what it was going into the project. The first conspiracy was that Charlie had “scheduling conflicts” – a theory that was quickly disproven. Yesterday’s conspiracy was that Charlie tapped out because of the “fan frenzy” and he had “cold feet” about doing such a high profile project. Today’s conspiracies are variations on that – People Mag claims that Charlie looked at what Robert Pattinson was dealing with and he thought “No thanks.”

The Twilight saga may have put Robert Pattinson on the map, but not all of Hollywood is looking for that type of attention.

Following the announcement that the Sons of Anarchy actor exited Fifty Shades of Grey on Saturday, a source tells PEOPLE it wasn’t all because of his “immersive TV schedule,” which Universal Pictures and Focus Features blamed for his departure.

“He dropped out of the project because he didn’t want to be typecast,” the source says. “He didn’t want the Robert Pattinson-esque attention that would come along with taking on this role.”

Announcing the news of Hunnam’s exit, Universal Pictures and Focus Features released a joint statement that read, “The filmmakers of Fifty Shades of Grey and Charlie Hunnam have agreed to find another male lead given Hunnam’s immersive TV schedule which is not allowing him time to adequately prepare for the role of Christian Grey.”

That same day, Hunnam, 33, served as the best man in a friend’s wedding.

He “seemed in really good spirits and spent time with his closest friends and his girlfriend,” a source said at the time, adding that he gave a sentimental toast to the bride and groom.

[From People]

Again, did that not occur to him BEFORE he signed on to do the film? Why is he acting like this is new information? This explanation makes him seem flaky, I’m sorry. Us Weekly’s sources have yet another version – they claim Charlie was never into doing the movie and he was always going to “pull out”:

The search for Christian Grey has begun anew. As revealed over the weekend, Charlie Hunnam has departed the very high-profile film adaptation of E.L. James’ 50 Shades of Grey, with film studios citing the Sons of Anarchy star’s “immersive TV schedule” preventing him from committing fully to the coveted role of Christian Grey opposite Dakota Johnson’s Anastasia Steele in the erotic drama.

“Charlie Hunnam was never going to do Fifty Shades of Grey,” argues one source close to the production. “He told his agents from the beginning he didn’t want to do it and was going to pull out,” the insider continues of the blond, grizzled AMC star, 33, whose name was announced early last month.

A second source close to Hunnam counters that the exit is “truly due to scheduling. The role of Christian Grey requires a massive time commitment, a trilogy role in which Charlie and his team were originally very aware of from the start and a major consideration in his hesitancy for taking the role. Charlie is the lead in a massive TV series and his loyalty will always be to Sons of Anarchy, the SOA family and fans.”

And despite the tremendous media attention brought on by Hunnam’s casting, “this is not due to cold feet,” the second source contends. “Charlie is very true to his craft and something like the media circus is not going to deter him from taking a role. That said, The project wasn’t appearing to shape up as expected. There is no bad blood.”

Adds the pal: “While this was a tough decision, it was the right decision and he’s happy he made it.”

Hunnam initially won the role over the likes of oft-discussed contenders like Ian Somerhalder, Robert Pattinson and frontrunner Matt Bomer. For Hunnam — committed to his series and “passion projects” in film — “ultimately it wasn’t worth it,” a third source says. “I know the filmmakers and Universal are not happy.”

[From Us Weekly]

Seeing as how I come into this neither as a Charlie Hunnam fan-girl nor as a 50 Shades fan-girl, I just have to ask: how are all of these conspiracy theories good for his career? Best case scenario, he sounds like a self-absorbed drama queen “Artist” in the vein of James Franco. Worst case scenario, he sounds like a really flaky dude who can’t make up his mind or even bother to be professional.

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Photos courtesy of WENN.

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77 Responses to “Charlie Hunnam dropped out of ’50 Shades’ because ‘he didn’t want to be typecast’”

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  1. Tiffany27 says:

    This is some amazing stunt queen work right here. When has ANYONE ever talked about Charlie Hunnam this much?

    • O says:

      I know..Genuis move by Charlie. He just punked the filmakers, got massive publicity & now cool points for walking away.. When the movie debuts & is the trainwreck everybody expects it to be, he seem smater for having opted out. Genuis!

      • lucy2 says:

        Agreed! Whether intentional or not, he sure got a lot of mileage out of being cast in the role for a few weeks.

    • anons says:

      agreed. i, personally, had never heard of charlie prior to him signing on to 50. curious, i looked him up and read about him/SOA. i’ve since watched four seasons of sons, all the while, thinking why would he do that movie?! glad he came to his senses–although, makes me think it was an intended pr move from the get-go.

    • Angel says:

      well i talk about charlie basically every day, bc everyone i know is obsessed with SOA and we all love him. he’s a great actor and i’m super happy he backed out of this mess.

  2. aims says:

    You mean to tell me, that he came to the decision that he would be typecast?! He’s brilliant! All jokes aside, of course he would be. I just don’t understand why he pulled out so close to filming. The series is dreadful, but if you made a commitment to do it, you need to be a man of your word. The books are horrible, the movies will be to, but if you signed on the line, you need to honor that.

  3. Sarah says:

    What about Clint eastwood’s son???

  4. els says:

    Or maybe the studio people jumped the gun and announced his casting before actually signing him. (which would be dumb)
    I just can’t believe that he signed the contract and then decided to bail and they let him walk just like that, fine free.
    The whole story is unbelievable…the money people in Hollywood allowed a TV star to play them?
    Considering the hysteria around 50 Shades I think it would be a good strategy all around if they announce the cast last minute, possibly after the shooting starts.

  5. Lori says:

    He’s not the first guy to pull out of a project this close to filming. Remember how many people pulled out of that doomed sh1T “Jane’s got a gun” just recently. Maybe he found something was really screwed up with the production?

    • mom2two says:

      +1

    • miriam says:

      Actors pull out of projects all the time. Sometimes even just before filming begins.

      He was an idiot to have signed up to this crap – at least he realised that in time and people will have forgotten he was involved by next year, so it won’t taint his career.

    • Emily C. says:

      Perhaps Charlie thought what he’d heard about E.L. James being deeply involved in every aspect of the movie was lip service. Then he found out that no, it isn’t. And E.L. James is not a person anyone with two brain cells to rub together would want to be around for long periods of time. Well, she wrote 50 Shades, no more need be said.

  6. Dia says:

    Why are people acting like he’s the first actor to pull out of a project? FFS maybe he did plan to pull out all along or maybe he got his script and changed his mind!

    • Hautie says:

      Charlie seems like a decent man. Who probably enjoys being able to roam around without a cast of body guards.

      We all know that those crazy fans of the Mommy P0rn, was going to make his life a living hell.

      Just look at how the paparazzi suddenly was stalking him. Daily. Where as they never gave a sh*t about him. His safety was not an issue. Him and his girlfriend probably had a nice quite life.

      Then BOOM! Everyone is up in his business. If anything he deserves credit for realizing this simply was not who he wants to be. Forever chased after.

      (I bet Sparkles wishes he could go back. And never got near the Twilight saga.)

      • Andrew says:

        Agreed. Agreed. Agreed. His decision, and I think it was a good one

      • Welldun says:

        +1

      • Angel says:

        Agreed! charlie seems like a much more serious actor, one who doesn’t want to just be the pretty boy, even though he’s gorgeous. he likes acting for what it is, and wants to keep his personal life separate (quite obvs, his gf isn’t a famewhore at all and we hardly ever see candids of him). he knew this would change his life in a very big (and negative) way and probably thought, Eff this, goodbye. And i don’t blame him.

    • Luna says:

      Maybe the writer of this blog really wanted him to play the role and see him naked, so now she is just really angry at him

  7. break says:

    He dodged a bullet. This movie will terrible and would have ruined his career. He can easily recover from having dropped out late, if he never does it again and continues to do good work elsewhere.

  8. We Miss You Enclave_24 says:

    Good for him. I cant imagine a serious, talented actor wanting to be tied to this project. Career suicide by bad literature.

  9. Simmie says:

    People are making such a big deal out of this. Casting changes happen all the time, and this is only such big news because everybody knows and has opinions about 50 Shades.

    Personally I’m really glad he’s not doing it. He’s a very good actor and I’m glad he won’t be doing this trash.

    • Anna says:

      And because they spend months and months casting the role, unsuccessfully, finally got someone right as the filming was gonna start, and now are empty-handed – for a movie that’s supposed to come out in less than a year and where the entire movie is basically about its 2 stars.

      • Simmie says:

        LOTR changed Aragorn days before shooting started. X Men lost their original Wolverine and they hired Hugh Jackman at the last minute. Apocalypse Now, Back to the Future and The Truman Show had to replace actors after shooting had already started. And those are just the ones off the top of my head.

        This is commonplace in Hollywood.

      • cr says:

        It is commonplace, not only before filming, but during. Eric Stoltz was fired after a month of filming Back to the Future.
        This will blow over for Charlie, quicker than any lasting typecasting that he might have had to endure had he actually gone through with filming.

  10. Post-Its says:

    Can someone explain Charlie to me? Yes, he is hot. But, with all the hype around him, I checked out Deadfall and The Ledge on Netflix and he’s a mediocre actor at best. I was surprised because I kept reading comments about how talented he was. I guess his best work is SOA?

    • Dia says:

      Yes, you should check out SOA. The Ledge and Deadfall were very creepy movies.

    • Jen says:

      no, he’s horrible on SOA. His awful American accent makes me want to cry.

      • Post-Its says:

        Yes! The accent is just horrible. I’m sorry, but 50 Shades seems right in his league. I don’t see this guy’s career going anywhere after SOA unless he takes some serious acting lessons.

  11. Tig says:

    Folks do drop out of films all the time, tho usually not after doing the “all in” speeches and raving about chemistry with the co-star. I agree with earlier poster, he could have reconsidered way bef now, or better yet, said no. Laugh at Rob all you want, but when confronted with similar internet backlash, he buckled down and went to work.

    And Charlie H will be fine, tho casting agents may be leary of him for a while.

    • Emily C. says:

      And I would have a modicum respect for Robert Pattinson if he had withdrawn from the Twilight franchise. Instead, he decided to participate in that reprehensible dreck.

      • Tapioca says:

        …and he can now spend the rest of his life using 100 dollar bills as toilet paper. I can see exactly why RP agreed to do it!

      • Emily C. says:

        I can too. But it does not make me respect him.

      • Tig says:

        That’s where we differ- I respect someone who honors a commitment.

        That being said, not too many late teen/early 20s actors turn down roles- you have to start somewhere.

  12. Jennabean says:

    From what I’m reading else where he is extremely introverted and slightly agarophobic (sp) and the thought of him not being able to live his life the way he wants just wasn’t worth it to him. None of the twilight leads are to excited about their crazy stalker fans so on reality who can really blame him?

  13. lulu says:

    Never read the book. Wont watch movie. I can’t believe older women were obsessed. Why? Please give me insight since I never read it.

    And good for charlie. This all is below him. He has such potential.

    • bluhare says:

      I’m older and I don’t give a rip either.

      • Virgilia Coriolanus says:

        I’m younger and I don’t care either. I’ve read way better porn for free online than that piece of sh-t. And there weren’t any creepy undertones, while the author was trying to make it like this was the best relationship ever.

    • Angel says:

      the books are for desperate, sex-starved women who have desires of a more thrilling sex life. it is horrible, terrible, mindless waste of paper. i just can’t think of any other way to insult this pile of garbage.

      • Tig says:

        How’s this? Insult the books, but park the insults to readers at the door. And no, I didn’t read the books, but am past tired of the “sex starved” labels. You seriously think every person who bought/read these books is “sex starved”? Yeesh- that’s a lot of “sex starved-ness”- guess you intend to introduce the cat/dog trope in here as well.

  14. mommak918 says:

    He looks like Spencer Pratt from the Hills….

    Maaaybe find Spencer, who has no work or conflicting schedule….

  15. greenmonster says:

    It’s not flaky that he pulled out – it’s common sense. My opinion is, whoever ends up with that part is either really desperate or stupid.

    • Emily C. says:

      Both. Better to live under a bridge and beg for change than to further the evil 50 Shades franchise.

  16. Axis2ClusterB says:

    I honestly don’t get how this makes Charlie look bad. Nobody claimed that Cumberbatch looked flaky and diva-ish for pulling out of Crimson Peak, because he can do no wrong around here.

    Charlie works with actors on a daily basis who have made excellent careers out of playing mostly supporting roles – Kim Coates, Tommy Flanagan, Ron Perlman. I think he got some excellent advice from those guys and made the best career decision he’s ever made.

  17. Emily C. says:

    I just do not understand how anyone can think deciding not to participate in this absolutely vile project can be seen as bad for his career in any way. If he did participate, he would be marked for life as a man willing to play a misogynistic abuser in THREE misogynistic, pro-abuse movies. I cannot conceive of anything worse for a man’s career than that, period.

  18. dragonlady sakura says:

    Two words..Elizabeth Berkley. He was smart to pull out of this movie.

  19. lucy2 says:

    I think they probably threw a lot of money and promises at him, but then all the frenzy happened. I think he probably gauged public reaction, and had a lot of people in his life telling him it’d be bad for his career.
    Smart to ditch it. It’s not the most professional thing to do, but actors leave projects all the time, and he has to do what’s right for himself.

  20. Elle says:

    A part of me thinks something drastic had to have happen for him to back off the role (I assume he had to pay penalty to get out of the role unless there was some kind of clause that said he could leave if he didn’t approve of the final script or something). He probably got razzed for it by everyone but I wouldnt’ be surprised if certain fanatics targeted his girlfriend. And if they’re doing this now, can you imagine how they would behave after? Not everyone has the courage to walk away from money and fame. So kudos to him.

    • Tig says:

      To further your line of thinking – why do all these “excuses” keep getting floated? Cite “creative differences” and shut up already. Its like his team keeps sending up trial balloons to see which one gets the best response!

  21. Trek Girl says:

    I’m glad he’s not doing the movie. At least he stepped out of the role before it started filming and not during filming. That would have been worse. What he’s doing sounds pretty normal.

    I hope he gets more roles, better roles, from this. I haven’t seen much Sons of Anarchy, but from what I have seen, he’s talented and can handle much better work than this.

  22. Dommy Dearest says:

    I don’t like him any less. He’s not my top actor but I like him well enough. He’s good in Sons. But I know he is also doing a Pacific Rim sequel, or I’ve heard he is. I thought he was gorgeous in the movie Abandoned with Katie Holmes!

  23. duchessofhazard says:

    @kaiser, I get where you’re coming from, but to be honest, Hunnam looked at the movie, realised that EL James was going to be this movie’s Voldemort, and probably decided to back out.

    Hunnam will be fine.

  24. Ctkat1 says:

    There was a report circulating that when Charlie was first approached for the role, he said no. Then the president of Focus Films (who is making the movie) met with Charlie and he agreed to take the role. Right before Charlie pulled out, the president of Focus Films was fired/left. There was some scuttlebutt that maybe Charlie made a deal with that guy (maybe he does 50 Shades in exchange for a passion project getting made), and now the deal wasn’t going to be honored so Charlie bounced.
    Makes as much sense as anything else, and explains why Charlie would agree to this role in the first place, act excited in the press about it, and then abruptly leave.

    • Tig says:

      This makes the most sense- you should do his PR!

      • ctkat1 says:

        I should! I actually read this theory on the Deadline message board, and it seemed so rational and made so much sense that I thought it was as good a theory as anything else making the rounds.

  25. Bread and Circuses says:

    Given the director has just ordered a script doctor to rewrite the screenplay, I strongly suspect the reason he pulled out is because he realized he was about to star in an extremely high profile piece of flaming, stinky dung.

    Pulling out of the movie might hurt his career, but becoming a laughingstock would have hurt it more.

    He cut his losses.

  26. Nicolette says:

    He’s not the first to walk away from a project and he wont be the last. He should be cut some slack.

  27. St says:

    Whatever the reason and no matter how we are all happy for that but it was very unprofessional from him. And there could be another few years before someone will ask him to audition for any big movie. Since Pacific Rim basically underperformed. And he can just stay tv actor forever.

  28. grabbyhands says:

    Oh my god all the drama. Please-this isn’t going to hurt his career or image. Actors drop out of projects all the time.

    If this entire production weren’t a huge joke and/or if he had behaved as a prima donna, that would be one thing, but he didn’t. What he did do is save his career opportunities and probably his sanity.

  29. Jo 'Mama' Besser says:

    If the role’s so coveted, why doesn’t anyone want it?

  30. Ashling says:

    I don’t think it makes him look bad. His casting made me look him up and consider watching SOA. His leaving makes him look smart. I bet the script is crap.

  31. K.G. says:

    Millions of women bought this book by an unknown author. The only way that happens is by positive word-of-mouth followed by media attention followed by more word-of-mouth. This wasn’t a book written as literature, if you want to use that label. It was written as a lark and as entertainment. Why so much venom for it on sites frequented mostly by women? I don’t know, I thought it was a funny and sexy read, and cool that another woman (following J.K. Rowling, Stephanie Meyer, and Suzanne Collins) would hit a series out of the park. I’ve read self-important dreck. This book was not that. It didn’t take itself so seriously. This books and now movie is making Hollywood create big-budget erotica aimed at a female audience. When has that ever happened? Even if the story and characters aren’t to your liking, isn’t that a move forward from yet another dozen bro movies? Maybe the next movie in this vein will be up your alley, and never would have been made if Fifty Shades was never written.

    • Ange says:

      Any woman worth her salt knows these books glorify and normalize an abusive relationship. Just because a bunch of other women refuse to see the forest for the trees doesn’t mean that their popularity is harmless. Any erotica that follows the themes of 50SOG won’t be a positive thing for women. Besides, there is already a heap of great erotica out there geared towards women that will never see this sort of popularity, I’ll leave it to you to speculate why that might be.

  32. danielle says:

    Can’t believe no on commented on the “didn’t have adequate time to prepare for the role”. He hasn’t had enough spanking practice? Lol!!!

  33. K.G. says:

    A “heap of great erotica” out there that you say will never see the light of day–because the majority of women (poor misguided things) are too blinded by an internalized power imbalance inculcated by the patriarchy to know the “good” erotica when they see it? I give them (us) a little more credit than that.

    • Ange says:

      No. I was referring to the current power imbalance at most upper levels in publishing/producing that prevents the good stuff getting out there actually. People don’t buy what they don’t know about. Sarcasm only works if you’re on the money.

  34. K.G. says:

    You don’t get much more grass roots than the origination of the popularity of this story, so I disagree.

    I was not holding it up as an example of brilliance. I said exactly what I meant. It’s a game changer. I say that having worked in the book business. Books that make this big a noise always change the landscape. You think that’s a bad thing, in this case. I don’t.

    • Ange says:

      This book really doesn’t do anything more for women than a bunch of dudebro movies. The dynamic is still geared towards male domination (and not in a true, healthy BDSM way) and seeing as this is what’s held up as ‘ideal’ for some stupid reason I can’t see a landscape change that is positive for women. So a few learn how to get their rocks off in some new ways, that could still happen with a more positive piece of writing.

  35. Katelyn says:

    It seems like Charlie couldn’t win either way. Sons fans think he’s too good for the role and 50’s fans never wanted him anyway. Good choice for himself.