’50 Shades of Grey’ Drama Through the Years: Dakota Johnson and Jamie Dornan’s ‘Feud’ and More

Credit: Invision/AP/Shutterstock

'50 Shades of Grey' Drama Through the Years: Dakota Johnson and Jamie Dornan's 'Feud' and More

There's no safe word for drama. The Fifty Shades of Grey trilogy made headlines for its explicit sex scenes, but most of the friction happened off camera — fully clothed. The tension began before filming even began, when Charlie Hunnam landed the lead role of Christian Grey. Many fans of EL James' books were vocal about their displeasure with the choice, taking to social media to offer alternate casting options. (Ian Somerhalder and Matt Bomer often came up in these discussions.) "Not sure about the #50ShadesOfGrey casting, not seeing it," Patti Stanger tweeted in September 2013. "I always thought it was [a Ryan Gosling] part hands down. Oh well!" Just one month later, however, the Sons of Anarchy alum exited the franchise, citing scheduling conflicts as the reason for his departure. “The filmmakers of Fifty Shades of Grey and Charlie Hunnam have agreed to find another male lead given Hunnam’s immersive TV schedule which is not allowing him time to adequately prepare for the role of Christian Grey,” Universal Pictures said in a statement at the time. [sendtonews type="float" key="RkJnCVl1gp-2833618-14453"] When Jamie Dornan replaced the Crimson Peak star in October 2013, fans were seemingly less upset by his casting, but there was still plenty of controversy to come. When the first teaser launched in 2014, some Today viewers took issue with the fact that the R-rated erotic thriller premiered its trailer on a morning show that's usually family-friendly. After the first movie premiered in February 2015, the film met criticism from all sides. BDSM enthusiasts argued that Fifty Shades was an inaccurate — and at times offensive — depiction of their lifestyle, while some viewers slammed the movie for seeming to glorify emotional abuse. Other critics, meanwhile, just thought it was a bad movie. Despite all that conflict, however, the trilogy's two leads don't regret participating in the series. “Look, put it this way: it’s done no harm to my career to be part of a movie franchise that has made more than $1 billion,” Dornan told British GQ in October 2021. “Every working actor would say the same thing. It’s provided — a lot.” Dakota Johnson, for her part, said she's still "proud" of the films, though she admitted that making them wasn't always easy. “There were a lot of different disagreements," the Lost Daughter star told Vanity Fair in June 2022. "I’m proud of what we made ultimately and everything turns out the way it’s supposed to, but it was tricky.” Keep scrolling for a look back at all the Fifty Shades drama over the years. [podcast_block]

Credit: Matt Baron/Shutterstock

Charlie Hunnam's Exit

Hunnam repeatedly claimed that he exited the first Fifty Shades movie because of his schedule, but that didn't stop some fans from accusing him for leaving because he was embarrassed about its content. "It was the worst professional experience of my life," the U.K. native told V Man in September 2015, reflecting on his decision to quit the film. "It was the most emotionally destructive and difficult thing that I’ve ever had to deal with professionally. It was heartbreaking.”

The Pacific Rim star went on to say that he'd already committed to shooting Crimson Peak, which was set to premiere later in 2015, and the final season of Sons of Anarchy. "There was a lot of personal stuff going on in my life that left me on real emotional shaky ground and mentally weak," he explained. "I just got myself so f–king overwhelmed and I was sort of having panic attacks about the whole thing.”

Credit: Moviestore/Shutterstock

The Sexual Content

The sex scenes were always at the forefront of discussion about Fifty Shades, and almost no one was happy about them. Some fans thought they weren't explicit or frequent enough, while others thought they didn't stay true to the spirit of James' work. Still others were upset by the films' depiction of BDSM sexual practices, arguing that Christian Grey (Dornan) doesn't abide by traditional rules of consent.

Credit: Pierre Villard/Sipa/Shutterstock

The Rumored Feud

Dornan and Johnson have maintained that they did not feud on the set of the trilogy, but rumors swirled for years that they didn't get along. "There was never a time when we didn’t get along,” Johnson told Vanity Fair of her former costar in June 2022. “I know it’s weird, but he’s like a brother to me. I love him so, so, so much. And we were really there for each other. We had to really trust each other and protect each other.”

The Belfast star, for his part, denied the rumors when the first movie debuted. "People are going to say that because it's a story, man, and people like to create a little bit of hype leading up to the film," he told E! News in February 2015. "It's an obvious story to come up with."

Credit: Jordan Strauss/Invision/AP/Shutterstock

Rita Ora's Minimal Screen Time

The "Let You Love Me" songstress played Christian's little sister, Mia Grey, but she barely appeared in the first movie and had only a handful of lines. Things got slightly better for her in Fifty Shades Darker and Fifty Shades Freed, but Ora fans hoping to see more of their queen remained disappointed.

Credit: Stephen Lovekin/Shutterstock

Sam Taylor-Johnson's Exit

Taylor-Johnson left the franchise after directing the first film even though she was originally attached to direct the sequels. She later hinted that James was a big reason she decided not to continue with Darker and Freed. “I’d be mad [to do it again],” she told the Sunday Times in June 2017. “It was a struggle and there were lots of onset tête-à-têtes, with me trying to bat it into the [right] place. I like everyone — and I get really confused when they don’t like me. I was so confused by EL James. I don’t understand when I can’t navigate a person, when there’s no synergy.”

That same month, the Nowhere Boy director told The Hollywood Reporter that she and James had "two different creative visions" for the project. "Her vision versus mine, and they were polar opposite," Taylor-Johnson claimed. "Every scene was fought over. It was tough. It was like wading uphill through sticky tar. Her thing was, ‘This is what the fans expect.’ I’d be like, ‘Well, let’s try and hit those marks but create a new universe at the same time.'”

Credit: Joanne Davidson/Shutterstock

EL James' Demands

Johnson echoed her former director's claims about James in a June 2022 interview with Vanity Fair. “We’d do the takes of the movie that [James] wanted to make, and then we would do the takes of the movie that we wanted to make,” the Suspiria actress recalled. “The night before, I would rewrite scenes with the old dialogue so I could add a line here and there. It was like mayhem all the time.”

The Texas native added that she "signed up to do a very different version of the film" than what ended up in theaters, adding that it was a "combo" of the studio and the directors that made things problematic. “It was also the author of the books," Johnson said. “She had a lot of creative control, all day, every day, and she just demanded that certain things happen. There were parts of the books that just wouldn’t work in a movie, like the inner monologue, which was at times incredibly cheesy. It wouldn’t work to say out loud. It was always a battle. Always."

Despite the difficulty, however, Johnson said she hasn't had second thoughts about appearing in the films. "I don’t think it’s a matter of regret," she explained. "If I had known at the time that’s what it was going to be like, I don’t think anyone would’ve done it. It would’ve been like, ‘Oh, this is psychotic.’ But no, I don’t regret it.”