Jamie Dornan has revealed the reaction to the first Fifty Shades Of Grey film led to him going into “hiding”.
The Irish actor was the latest guest on Desert Island Discs over the weekend, which made for emotional listening.
During the interview, Jamie recalled how his life changed when he was cast as the romantic lead in the Fifty Shades franchise, which was derided by critics.
“I was coming off the back of career-altering reviews for The Fall and Bafta nominations and all of this sort of madness – and then I was brought to just ridicule, almost,” he explained.
Jamie told host Lauren Laverne that he “hid” away “for a while” in response to how Fifty Shades was received, with director Sam Taylor-Johnson offering him her place in the countryside.
“They let us have their place in the country and we just shut ourselves from the world for a bit and then came out the other side,” he said.
Jamie appeared in Fifty Shades alongside Dakota Johnson, Rita Ora and Oscar winner Marcia Gay Harden, who played his on-screen mother.
Since the Fifty Shades trilogy, Jamie has appeared in a variety of wide-ranging projects, including the acclaimed drama Belfast, the murder mystery A Haunting In Venice, the comedy Barb And Star Go To Vista Del Mar and the TV thriller The Tourist.
During an interview in 2021, Jamie admitted criticism of Fifty Shades was “fucking hard” to deal with for both himself and Dakota.
“I take issue with the whole thing being just a bit of a joke,” he previously insisted. “Everyone involved worked as hard as they could on those films, including myself.”
Listen to his full interview on Desert Island Discs here.