Charie Hunnam Interview: '50 Shades Of Grey' Caused Nervous Breakdown?

Charlie Hunnam sent shockwaves through Hollywood a few months ago, when he backed out of role-of-a-lifetime Christian Grey in the movie adaptation of 50 Shades Of Grey. The decision spurred a lot of speculation, but the Sons Of Anarchy actor just opened up about the decision, in an interview with Us Weekly. Hunnam cites scheduling conflicts as his own anxiety as his reason for giving up the role, saying he did it for, among other things, his mental health.

The actor notes that he already had two other commitments scheduled around the time period that shooting for  Grey was to take place – the final season of Sons, and Guillermo del Toro film Crimson Peak. He explains, “I was going to finish [filming] Sons at like 11 p.m. Friday night, get on the plane Saturday morning to Vancouver for Fifty, missing the whole first week of rehearsal and start shooting Monday morning.” He continues, “And then I was going to shoot that film, wrap up on the Wednesday and the following Monday I was going to start shooting Crimson Peak in Toronto.” He says that “I just had like… frankly, something of a nervous breakdown.”

Hunnam says the magnitude of the project added to overwhelming pressure. As he explains, “To fail on such a grand scale – because Fifty’s going to be massive, it’s going to be huge. I really didn’t want to fail on such a grand scale, and I just couldn’t transition from Jax Teller to Christian Grey in 48 hours.”

The actor says the decision to back out was difficult, because he had been excited to play Christian Grey. As he explains, “It’s painful because I loved the character and I wanted to do it. I’m also a man of my word.” He adds that, “I was really, really sorry to do it. It was one of those damned if you do, damned if you don’t situations.”