Jamie Dornan Says He Was ‘Dragged Along’ In Gal Gadot’s Celebrity ‘Imagine’ Video

Jamie Dornan is trying to put a little distance between himself and the widely panned “Imagine” video that was released by Gal Gadot early on in the coronavirus pandemic. In an interview on the Tea with Me podcast, Dornan discussed how he came to be involved in the video project, People Magazine reports.

Dornan explained that he and Kristen Wiig had filmed a movie together that was supposed to come out at the end of July. He continued, saying that the two had a great relationship, so when she reached out explaining what she and Gadot were trying to do, he was more than happy to help. Dornan said he was a big fan of Wiig’s even before they met, and that when she contacted him, she said she was making the video to lift people’s spirits.

“So I was like, ‘Of course I’ll do it.’ I thought it was a lovely thing to do. Kristen said, ‘This is great. Whatever happens, happens.’ And then she texted a couple of days later saying, ‘Sorry,'” Dornan said.

He added that, although the video received backlash online, he thought Gadot and Wiig were “trying to do a good thing.”

“I just got dragged along with it,” the Fifty Shades of Grey actor continued.

Dornan also discussed why he thought the video caused such an uproar. He said that he had consciously made an effort to film his in his bathroom so that it would look “normal,” while some other famous faces in the video had clearly escaped to second houses as the crisis around the pandemic started to intensify.

“There’s too much acreage in the background, too many beautiful trees swaying in the background, clearly in front of an ocean, that sort of craic,” Dornan explained, suggesting that the video had inadvertently displayed how much privilege celebrities have during the crisis.

In addition to Dornan, the original video featured a slew of other famous faces including Will Ferrell, James Marsden, Maya Rudolph, Natalie Portman, Jimmy Fallon, Zoë Kravitz, Amy Adams, Mark Ruffalo, Sarah Silverman, and Sia. In the original post on Instagram, Gadot said that she had been inspired to make the video after seeing an Italian musician performing “Imagine” on his balcony. She said that there was something “powerful” and “pure” about the video, so she decided to record her own.

Following its release, the video received harsh criticism from people who believed that the celebrities should be donating to those impacted by the crisis instead of simply recording a video of themselves singing.