Already have an account?
Get back to the

Fifty Shades of Grey Director Sam Taylor-Johnson: E L James Was “Difficult” to Work With, “We Definitely Fought”

Sam Taylor Johnson in PORTER Magazine
Sam Taylor Johnson spoke to PORTER Magazine about E L James

No gray area here! Director Sam Taylor-Johnson, who helms the highly anticipated Fifty Shades of Grey adaptation, dished in a new interview about the palpable tension between herself and Fifty Shades author E L James

“It was difficult, I’m not going to lie,” Taylor-Johnson, 47, told Porter magazine of working with James. “We definitely fought, but they were creative fights and we would resolve them. We would have proper on-set barneys, and I’m not confrontational, but it was about finding a way between the two of us, satisfying her vision of what she’d written as well as my need to visualize this person on screen, but, you know, we got there.”

Related: PHOTOS: 50 Shades of Grey Movie: The Sexiest Stills and Photos of the Cast

The Nowhere Boy filmmaker finally found a way to work with James, 51, who became a best-selling author with her first global phenomenon book, Fifty Shades of Grey. The adaptation of the bodice-ripping tale of Christian Grey and Anastasia Steele is due out next week with Jamie Dornan and Dakota Johnson in the leading roles. 

Related: PHOTOS: Celebrity Feuds: The Biggest Ever

Porter magazine
Porter Magazine

“I knew how it should be made, needed to be made, and I felt a certain responsibility to make it the right way,” Taylor-Johnson continued of the R-rated S&M film. “I felt it was an incredible story. It’s like a dark twisted fairy tale, very romantic, and it was interesting how troubling it was, and how romance and the darkness interweaved.”

Related: PHOTOS: Stars on Set

Taylor-Johnson’s words about her creative differences with James fall in direct contrast to the earlier lovefest that went on between the two when Taylor-Johnson was first recruited for Fifty Shades

“I saw both of her films, and I was blown away,” James told Vulture in 2013 of Taylor-Johnson’s earlier work. “Simple. She’s creative, incredibly talented, she’s got an extraordinary eye. She had a good idea about the whole Fifty experience, she understands it… And I thought, There’s a woman I can go and get drunk with.”

Got a Tip form close button
Got a tip for US?
We're All Ears for Celebrity Buzz!