The suave and sophisticated Charlie Hunnam is known for his gruff role in the crime TV show Sons of Anarchy and has since starred in films such as Pacific Rim, King Arthur, and The Gentlemen. He has worked with acclaimed directors such as Alfonso Cuaron, Guillermo Del Toro, and Guy Ritchie, and he will be starring in Zack Snyder’s Rebel Moon.
Charlie Hunnam was one of the frontrunners for the role of Christian Grey in the erotic film Fifty Shades of Grey and was cast in the role before he exited citing scheduling conflicts. While news spread that he had left the film due to its explicit scenes, Hunnam clarified that he had no such qualms as he had been n*de on national TV before.
Charlie Hunnam Has Been N*ked On Screen Before
After playing the hunk Jax Teller in the TV show Sons of Anarchy for seven years, actor Charlie Hunnam seems to be very comfortable with his body. He has mentioned multiple times how he does not mind shirtless scenes or being completely n*de in his films. He credits it all to his early appearance in the series Queer As Folk.
The British series saw Hunnam play a fifteen-year-old gay guy, new to the scene in Manchester’s Canal Street. Hunnam mentioned that he had done fully frontal n*de scenes in the show and that the network was not allowed to air them as he was supposed to be playing a fifteen-year-old.
In an interview with Elle Magazine (via Pop Sugar), the actor revealed his thoughts on going fully frontal again,
“The level of nudity that I do now, which is taking my shirt off, doesn’t bother me at all. But I have done full frontal before. I did full frontal when I was 18 on the TV show Queer as Folk. But because I was playing a 15-year-old character, the censorship people wouldn’t allow us to put it on TV. I’m sure I would [be willing to do full frontal even now].”
These statements came at a time when Hunnam was believed to have left Fifty Shades of Grey as he was uncomfortable with the explicit scenes in the film.
Why Did Charlie Hunnam Leave Fifty Shades of Grey?
EL James’ erotic thriller series Fifty Shades of Grey was one of the highest-selling novels and was all set to get a cinematic adaptation. Sam Taylor-Johnson was on board as the director and after going through multiple A-listers such as Ryan Gosling, Robert Pattinson, and Stephen Ammel, she chose Charlie Hunnam for the role of Christian Grey.
Hunnam mentioned that though he was initially reluctant, he was convinced after meeting with Taylor-Johnson and doing a reading of the script with actress Dakota Johnson. However, the actor had to leave the film due to scheduling conflicts with the series Sons of Anarchy. He spoke about the decision to V Man Magazine(via Variety),
“It was the worst professional experience of my life. It was the most emotionally destructive and difficult thing that I’ve ever had to deal with professionally. It was heartbreaking.”
Many reports started indicating that he had left the film due to hesitation regarding the explicit scenes in the film. Charlie Hunnam responded to these allegations by bringing up his British TV series again,
“When I was 18 I was getting f–ked in the a-s, completely naked on national TV, you know?”
The King Arthur star was replaced by Irish actor Jamie Dornan in the film, which went on to earn $569 million at the box office and spawned two sequels.
