Jamie Dornan knew his biggest movie would be 'despised' by critics

Jamie Dornan says he knew Fifty Shades of Grey would be hated by critics even before he accepted the role of Christian Grey.

Though he was a successful television actor with a rising movie career before that movie, it was when he cast as Grey in the adaptation of the best-selling book that his fame hit the stratosphere.

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He wasn't actually the first choice for the role, as Charlie Hunnam was initially cast before stepping away due to scheduling issues. Dornan admits he was initially relieved to have missed out on the movie as he knew it would be targeted by critics.

“It wasn’t an instant yes by any means,” Dornan revealed on the Happy Sad Confused podcast.

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“It needed to be talked through. I sought counsel from friends, family, a lot of actors.

“When I didn’t get it, I felt a bit of relief because I knew that guy is going to get wrecked here. I knew that it came with all that baggage… that the reality was it would make a ton of money, and the fans would love it, and the critics would despise it.

"That’s what happened with the books, and that’s what we were making. We were staying truthful to the books, and we knew what that would be.”

Dornan did go on to say he is grateful that he and co-star Dakota Johnson would enjoy enough success from the Grey movies that they could pursue other projects in the future.

Shaking off Fifty Shades of Grey baggage

Since that trilogy finished, he has been careful about what jobs he accepts to avoid being typecast. But, he says he can't control the public's perception.

"I honestly just don't think about that. You know, I just don’t," he told MovieWeb.

"If I thought about that, it would be sort of detrimental to everyone else around me and what we're trying to do. I can't control if other people have some sort of pre-ordained perception of me, what kind of characters that I've played, or the ones that they know of. If they can't shake off other characters that I've done before and get themselves into what they're watching, that's on them. I don't know.

"So, I certainly don't worry about myself or give any thought to ."

Dornan is currently promoting Heart of Stone, a spy thriller starring Gal Gadot.