Charlie Hunnam Agrees To Work With Sam Taylor-Johnson After Turning Her Down For ‘Fifty Shades’

Charlie Hunnam turned down the role of a lifetime when he backed out of Fifty Shades of Grey, but it looks like he got a second chance to work with the movie’s director, Sam Taylor-Johnson. The Sons of Anarchy star has just landed a part in Sam’s latest film, A Million Little Pieces. What did Hunnam say about working with Sam once again?

Hunnam Lands New Role With Fifty Shades Director

According to Metro, Hunnam will play a supporting role in the movie, which is based on the bestselling novel by James Frey. The movie centers around the story of a 23-year-old named James, played by Aaron Taylor-Johnson, who suffers from substance abuse.

Hunnam is playing James’ brother and will also star alongside Billy Bob Thornton and Carla Juri from Blade Runner 2049. Producers have not announced when the film will premiere, though filming is expected to begin in the coming months.

Hunnam Refused To Watch Fifty Shades Of Grey

Although Hunnam will be working alongside Sam once again, he still hasn’t seen any of the movies in the Fifty Shades of Grey franchise. Hunnam refused to watch the movies because they remind him of a traumatic time during his career that he doesn’t want to revisit.

To make the situation even worse, Hunnam had developed a close friendship with Sam and really liked the idea of playing Christian Grey on the big screens.

Why Did Hunnam Turn Down The Part?

Hunnam was originally slated to play the lead role of Christian Grey in the movie, which was based on the bestseller by E.L. James. Hunnam was forced to drop out of the role because his schedule was just too busy.

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At the time, Hunnam was still working full time on Kurt Sutter’s Sons of Anarchy and had already committed to a role in Guillermo Del Toro’s Crimson Peak. Hunnam attempted to do all three, but traveling to three different filming locations and trying to get into the mind of three different characters proved too difficult. On the verge of a major emotional breakdown, Hunnam backed out of the Fifty Shades of Grey role because he didn’t want to let Del Toro, his good friend, down.

Hunnam Still Regrets The Decision

Hunnam’s friends told him that he was making a huge mistake by passing on the Fifty Shades of Grey part. But by that time, it was already too late. Jamie Dornan was cast to replace Hunnam, and the rest is history. Although years have passed since Hunnam gave up the role, he still thinks about it and regrets having to back out at the last minute.

“I just said, ‘I can’t … I can’t …,'” Hunnam explained. “To fail on such a grand scale — because Fifty’s going to be massive, it’s going to be huge. I really didn’t want to fail on such a grand scale, and I just couldn’t transition from Jax Teller to Christian Grey in 48 hours. It’s painful because I loved the character and I wanted to do it. I’m also a man of my word.”

Charlie Hunnam’s latest film, Papillon, was just bought by Bleecker Street, but they have yet to announce a premiere date.