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Picking and choosing a script isn’t exactly easy. Time and time again, we’ve seen stars pass on stellar scripts. In fact, Mark Wahlberg almost fired his entire team when he missed out on producer rights for Fifty Shades of Grey.
Uma Thurman wasn’t pleased with herself either, after turning down the Lord of the Rings, a franchise that would go on to make billions.
However, the opposite can also hold true, just ask Charlize Theron who came off an Oscar win with Monster, only to tank in the film, Aeon Flux.
Jamie Dornan ended up getting the role in Fifty Shades but prior, Ryan Gosling was considered for the part. We’ll take a look at why Gosling turned down the project, and how Dornan ended up taking on the lead role.
Jamie Dornan Was Initially Relieved That He Didn’t Get The Role In Fifty Shades Of Grey
Jamie Dornan was cast in Fifty Shades of Grey and the role changed his career. However, at first, Charlie Hunnam was cast in the role, beating out Dornan. According to the actor, he was initially relieved for having lost out on the role.
He said, “I was beaten to it the first time by Charlie Hunnam and I felt a certain amount of relief when he got it, to be honest.”
“I thought, ‘This would have been fun, but it would have been a strange ride. Better not to be on that ride.”
However, things took a huge shift when Hunnam decided to back out of the project. Suddenly, Dornan was front-runner for the role, and had a huge decision to make.
“But he pulled out and then I got a call. And I got it. And there we go. I had to confront that choice again.”
Dornan would thrive in the three films and looking back, he has absolutely no regrets, especially given how the career move benefited his life financially.
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“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. Every working actor would say the same thing. It’s provided – a lot. There’s no shame in saying it’s transformed my life and my family’s life financially.”
Turns out, even before Dornan and Hunnam, other actors turned down the role, including Ryan Gosling.
The Main Role Was Built Around Ryan Gosling, But The Actor Turned Down Fifty Shades Of Grey
According to The Hollywood Reporter, the initial script was written around Ryan Gosling’s involvement as the main character.
“Ryan Gosling was the original prototype for the 27-year-old billionaire with a penchant for S&M, but he was not interested,” the tabloid writes.
The actor was far from the only one to turn down the role. Garrett Hedlund and Christian Cooke were also considered, but both would turn down the project. Robert Pattinson was another rumored name to have turned down the film.
Given the success of the film, we wonder if Gosling has any regret. However, given how well The Notebook did, we have reason to believe Gosling wanted to look elsewhere for inspiration and future work.
Based on the way his career has gone, despite missing out on such a massive project, we have reason to believe that the actor doesn’t have a huge amount of regret.
Ryan Gosling Would Also Turn Down The Role Of The Joker In Suicide Squad
Among other recent roles Gosling turned down, includes a spot as The Joker in Suicide Squad. Although the film had a stellar showing at the box office, it didn’t receive the greatest reviews. Jared Leto ended up taking the role. It is said that Gosling turned down the script, given that he didn’t want to commit for several films.
With Margot Robbie in the lead, the film was able to redeem itself during the sequel, becoming a smash hit at the box office, while receiving great reviews by both critics and fans. Who knows, maybe Gosling might have some regret for missing out this one?
With The Fall Guy in production, while Barbie is in post-production, Gosling continues on with his busy career. He’ll also be working with Margot Robbie this time around unlike Suicide Squad, in the Ocean’s Eleven film.
