Charlie Hunnam Left ‘Fifty Shades Of Grey’ Role Due To ‘Nervous Breakdown’

Remember when Sons of Anarchy star Charlie Hunnam was cast as Christian Grey in the Fifty Shades of Grey film, and we were all left wondering the real reasons for his departure? Well, Hunnam himself recently revealed why he exited the adaptation of E.L. James’ best-selling book.

As he told Moviefone, “I was going to finish 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. And I was going to shoot that film, wrap that on the Wednesday and the following Monday I was going to start shooting Crimson Peak in Toronto. I just had like … frankly, something of a nervous breakdown.”

In addition to taking on many projects, the fans and media response also contributed to Hunnam’s exit. “I just said, ‘I can’t … I can’t …,” he said. “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. I bit off more than I could chew and it was painful. I loved the character and I wanted to do it.”

It wasn’t an easy decision for the actor known for portraying Jax Teller on FX’s SOA, as he’s a man who doesn’t go back on his word. Hunnam says once he commits to something you can “take it to the bank” that it will be completed.

“It was just a shit situation,” he added. “I was really, really, sorry to do it. It was one of those damned if you do, damned if you don’t situations.”

Even though we won’t get to see Hunnam as Christian Grey, fans can see him in the seventh and final season of Sons, which airs on FX.

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