E.L. James confirms Jamie Dornan '50 Shades of Grey' casting

E.L. James confirms Jamie Dornan ’50 Shades of Grey’ casting

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Johnson plays young college grad and bookworm Anastasia Steele. You might have also seen her in “Ben and Kate,” “The Five-Year Engagement,” “The Social Network,” and “Beastly.” (Anne Cusack / Los Angeles Times)

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Mumford plays young journalist and Anastasia Steele’s best friend and roommate, Kate Kavanaugh. You might have also seen her in TV series “Crash,” “Lone Star” and “The River.” (Alberto E. Rodriguez / Getty Images)

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Ora plays Christian Grey’s bubbly, adoptive sister Mia Grey. The British singer is best known for her vocal chops and had few acting credits to her name, save for an uncredited appearance in “Fast & Furious 6” and a cameo in “90210.” (Joel Ryan / Invision / Associated Press)

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Ehle plays Carla Steele, Anastasia’s mother. You might have also seen her in “Zero Dark Thirty,” “A Gifted Man,” “Contagion,” “The Ides of March,” “The Adjustment Bureau” and “The King’s Speech.” (Neilson Barnard / Getty Images for the New Yorker)

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Director Sam Taylor-Johnson has also done “Nowhere Boy” (2009) with Aaron Taylor-Johnson and Kristin Scott Thomas. (Eamonn McCormack / Getty Images)

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Producer Dana Brunetti was nominated for an Oscar for “The Social Network” and executive-produced Netflix’s “House of Cards” and the 2010 film “Casino Jack,” both with Kevin Spacey. (Kevin Winter / Getty Images For TheWrap)

By Nardine Saad

Oct. 25, 2013 3:27 PM PT

Jamie Dornan will be the new Christian Grey, according to “Fifty Shades of Grey” author E.L. James.

Dornan, 31, who played hunky Sheriff Graham Humbert in ABC’s “Once Upon a Time,” is the actor replacing “Sons of Anarchy” star Charlie Hunnam. Dornan will play the sex-driven Christian Grey in the film adaptation of the erotic B&D trilogy’s first book.

“Stow your twitchy palms ladies...our man is here. Welcome to #TeamFifty @JamieDornan1 x,” James confirmed in a tweet Thursday.

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Variety reported this week that the scruffy British actor was the new star of the Sam Taylor-Johnson-directed film, playing the craven young billionaire opposite actress Dakota Johnson’s Anastasia Steele.

“Jamie has a really good reputation as someone easy to work with, easygoing and is seen as someone who will be very appreciative of this role,” a source told Us Weekly. “It’s his charm and personality that is winning people over.”

The Irish actor fills in for Hunnam, who abruptly dropped out of the highly anticipated project Oct. 12. Since the announcement, the studio appeared to have scrambled to recast its co-lead in order to make the November production start date and the film’s August release.

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Dornan has previously appeared in Sofia Coppola’s 2006 adaptation of “Marie Antoinette” and has modeled Calvin Klein underwear. (A B&D-inspired shoot for GQ with “Transformers” actress Rosie Huntington-Whiteley is particularly revelatory.)

Unfortunately, the actor is off the romantic market. Dornan married singer-songwriter Amelia Warner earlier this year and announced in June that they’re expecting their first child.

Warner was previously married to bad-boy Colin Farrell and Dornan has previously been linked to actresses Keira Knightley, Lindsay Lohan and Sienna Miller and model Kate Moss, People reported.

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