Simmer down, people! Fifty Shades of Grey is still weeks away from its Feb. 13 release date, but Jamie Dornan is already having some pretty crazy fan encounters. The problem is, they’re not his fans — they’re Matt Bomer‘s.
Bomer was never officially in the running for the role of Christian Grey, but not for a lack of popularity. After Dakota Johnson and Charlie Hunnam were announced as the chosen ones in 2013, the Magic Mike star’s legions of devoted supporters helped create a petition on Change.org to get him and Alexis Bledel cast instead. It got more than 93,000 signatures.
When Hunnam backed out of the movie a month later, Bomer’s fans hoped the White Collar star would be chosen to replace him. Ultimately, however, the role of Christian Grey went to Irish actor and former underwear model Dornan — which some impassioned moviegoers still can’t accept.
“The other day, this woman came up and started shouting at me, ‘Matt Bomer’s the real Christian Grey,'” Dornan, 32, told Elle for its February issue. “And I was like, um, okay.”
The Once Upon a Time actor understands that he’s not everyone’s first choice, but he also says it would be impossible for anyone — yes, even Bomer — to live up to people’s expectations.
“I mean, even if you cast Matt Bomer, or Alexander Skarsgard, or Charlie Hunnam, or any of those other guys — we’d all just be doing our best, you know?” he told Elle. “Christian Grey — he isn’t a real person. He’s a superhero — a myth. He’s like Bigfoot! He’s unbelievable. He’s unattainable. There’s no actor in the world who could live up to that.”
His costar Marcia Gay Harden may disagree. She told Elle that she was “so impressed” with Dornan, and even likened him to Hollywood superstar Brad Pitt.
“Brad and Jamie are both exquisitely beautiful. And because they’re exquisitely beautiful, some people might be dismissive of them,” she explained. “But Brad was a heartthrob who wanted to transform, who did transform. So will Jamie.”
