Fifty Shades of Grey was initially Twilight fanfiction!
This is probably the most well known fact in the Fifty Shades universe but it is no less stunning. E.L. James initially had begun writing the story with Edward and Bella of Twilight fame as the leads. However, fan reviews were so astounded by the erotic content that they started petitioning E.L. James to change the characters and create her own story instead. These rocky reviews would pave the way for the mega success story that James is living in today.
Fifty Shades of Grey was initially Twilight fanfiction
The film adaptation had trouble landing a leading man!
It’s easy to see why Fifty Shades would struggle to get a leading lady for its film adaptation. It’s hard to get a big name actress to agree with the copious amounts of nudity and sexuality that would be involved. However, the producers thought that they would be able to reel in an A-List leading man anyway. However, this proved to be far from the truth. Ryan Gosling turned down the role of Christian Grey as did Garret Hedlund, Chris Hemsworth, and Charlie Hunnam. Hunnam actually agreed to the role momentarily but apparently got cold feet when it started to run afoul of his other work. We think he just finally realized how gratuitous the series actually was. Eventually the role would fall into the lap of Irish hunk Jamie Dornan. Dornan started off his career working as a model before dipping his toes in stardom thanks to his breakout role on the hit show, Once Upon a Time.
The film adaptation had trouble landing a leading man