Though the risqué Fifty Shades of Grey movies turned Jamie Dornan into an international movie star, he recalled feeling lower than ever after the first flick premiered to rough reviews in 2015.
During an interview for BBC Radio's "Desert Island Discs," the actor explained the criticism couldn't have come at a worse time, as he just earned tons of praise for his role in the thriller series The Fall.
"[I was] coming off the back of career-altering reviews for The Fall and BAFTA nominations and all the madness The Fall brought to ridicule," the model, 41, spilled.
As more negative reviews came in, the Ireland native felt the need to take his family and retreat from the spotlight.
"I think I hid. [My family] went down to Sam and Aaron Taylor-Johnson's place," the dad-of-three revealed. "They weren’t there. They let us have their place in the country, and we sort of hid there for a while and shut ourselves off from the world a bit."
Making things ever tougher was the fact that he and costar Dakota Johnson had already signed on for the two sequel movies.
"It made so much money, so like, films two and three were greenlit overnight," Dornan remembered. "It was a strange thing because there’s a bit of ridicule here, and I’m now contracted to do two more, knowing that there will be much more d---ation to come."
In the end, the Belfast star made it through, and he insisted he doesn't regret taking on the role — however, it does come with some lingering consequences.
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"I’ve just had very glowing reviews for recent work. And there won’t be any that don’t mention Fifty Shades in them," he stated. "A lot of reviews are like: ‘He’s great, but lest we forget when he wasn’t great here.’"
A few years ago, rumors swirled that the Hollywood hunk was one of the men vying for the role of the new James Bond, but in December 2023, he scoffed at the idea of portraying the iconic character — or any well-known persona — in the future.
"There’s never going to be anything like Fifty Shades again. It felt very much like its own thing, particularly because it focused in and around s--," Dornan shared. "But there are obviously other jobs that bring insane scrutiny, like superhero stuff, or f------ James Bond — any of that stuff. I’ve done pretty well to avoid that sort of s--- so far."
Buzzfeed reported on Dornan's radio interview.
