Fifty Shades of Jamie Dornan (20 page)

Jamie was determined to carry on as normal and snaps of him walking around London enjoying his rare time off, sometimes with Amelia and their baby by his side, were appearing in glossy magazines and gossip blogs on a near weekly basis. Devoted fans were also starting to appear at red-carpet events, desperate to get close to Jamie and chanting his name in a bid to get his attention. Even his contemporaries within the modelling industry had him on a pedestal, as young models heralded him as a true example.

Following his extraordinary move, Jamie’s rise to fame from clothes horse to world-famous actor meant that others wanted to crack Hollywood too. Renowned model and rugby player Thom Evans said, ‘What would my dream role be? It sounds cringe but probably Mr Darcy.

‘Jamie Dornan is a role model. I want to follow in his footsteps.’

While Jamie had ended the year on a high as 2013’s best
Breakthrough Actor in a Radio Times poll, further glory was his when Jamie scooped his first ever award.

In fact, the Irish star was honoured not just once but twice at the Irish Film and Television Awards (IFTAs) in April 2014 with two awards: Best Actor for his portrayal of the murderous psychopath in the BBC drama
The Fall
and Best Rising Star.

Jamie was stunned by his double triumph and incredibly grateful. He thanked Allan Cubitt for taking a risk and casting him in the lead role – branding it ‘the best professional thing that has ever happened to me’ – but also his wife ‘Milly’ and daughter ‘sleeping upstairs’, who made him truly happy. As he beamed with pride in front of the cream of Ireland’s TV and film industry, he said, ‘I want to thank my beautiful family for being really beautiful. I want to thank my wife Milly for being the best thing that ever happened to me. I want to thank my baby who is four months old and she’s sleeping right now upstairs, she’s beautiful too. And I want to thank everyone who’s ever met me and who’s been nice to me.’

When a BAFTA nomination followed a few months later, along with winning
GQ
magazine’s Breakthrough Award for his role in
Fifty Shades
, Jamie was rightly proud of his achievements. His hard work and years of endless, fruitless auditions had paid off. At last Jamie knew that ignoring the naysayers had been the right decision: ditching his profitable modelling career for acting had been worth it. ‘It’s special when you get that recognition especially if you feel you’ve taken a risk and changed direction in your career. When you’re known for one thing and move into another area it’s difficult initially.

‘It excites me, makes me feel like I made the right decision and life is very good at the moment, I definitely can’t complain.’

It had been a ‘mad year, professionally and personally’ for Jamie and returning to Belfast after the whirlwind of
Fifty Shades of Grey
for the second series of
The Fall
‘felt like coming home, in the loveliest way’. However, having endured six months of sleepless nights as a new dad, along with shedding all thoughts of Christian Grey to climb inside the challenging and very dark headspace of Paul Spector, had left Jamie exhausted. ‘I’m tired, very tired,’ he admitted, ‘but very happy. It’s all good. I’m glad to be back.’

It was now time to look to the future and one thing he was sure of: after playing Christian Grey, with his passion for consensual S&M, and Paul Spector, who liked to throttle his victims, a role which didn’t involve ropes and tying knots would be ideal. ‘There are a couple of classic knots I know now and I’ve put them to good use far too many times recently. In fact I’d like a job where I don’t have to tie women to beds,’ he joked.

The future looked rosy for Jamie and as well as enjoying some well-earned rest, the star was now eagerly and nervously waiting for the public’s reaction to the release of
Fifty Shades of Grey.
A sneak preview had already been delivered in the form of a sizzling two-minute trailer released in July, with huge fanfare in the press and a range of reaction from tens of thousands of fans. The steamy video featured the moment Mr Grey – with Jamie oozing sex appeal in an immaculately tailored grey suit – meets Anastasia. Innocent Dakota was seen going for an interview in his lavish offices before the viewer was treated to a few sex-and-bondage
scenes, including the gorgeous actor pushing the brunette seductively up against an elevator wall, flying a helicopter and showing off his six-pack when crawling across a bed. The trailer ended with Anastasia naked, blindfolded and being whipped. Deemed too saucy to appear in full on American TV, it became the most popular trailer of the year with a staggering 36 million hits in its first week. Within minutes of being released online, the internet was flooded with reaction by the book’s fans, along with videos of people filming themselves watching the clip for the first time. Many fans, delighted by the first sizzling glimpse of kinky billionaire Christian and college student Anastasia, took to social media site Twitter to express their excitement. ‘I don’t know how many times I’ve watched the trailer for 50 shades of grey … Omg too freaking EXCITED’ @ WeeDimps said.

The book’s author was also rejoicing. When fans tweeted Erika to say that they were cheering and dancing as they watched the trailer, she replied, ‘Me too! Others were impressed with singer Beyoncé’s slow rendition of her 2003 hit ‘Crazy in Love’, which accompanied the trailer. ‘The only cool thing about that 50 shades of grey movie coming out is Beyonce’s new version of crazy in love’ @CaeMcKenna tweeted, while others were totally underwhelmed by its release, with American comedian Warren Holstein writing, ‘Could we all agree on a safe word for I don’t want to talk about 50 Shades of Grey?’

Some corners of the press were also panning the movie, claiming it was set to be a disaster. ‘The two-minute “teaser” for the movie
Fifty Shades Of Grey
, starring Jamie Dornan, has
received a public flogging after it was released this week,’ critic Amanda Platell claimed. ‘However bad it may be, what baffles me is why the film is already being trailed at all when it’s not in cinemas until February 14 next year. It gives a whole new meaning to foreplay.’

The
Mail on Sunday
was just as scornful. ‘Jamie and Dakota look depressingly clean and pretty gloomy as the saucy couple, Christian Grey and Anastasia Steele. But what the trailer does demonstrate is that the source for
Fifty Shades of Grey,
with its innocent, slightly scruffy girl and her billionaire lover, is actually Cinderella. And also that the most effective sex aid might be a helicopter,’ it read. There was, however, some evidence that the trailer had delivered the desired effect on the great British public. Within an hour of the trailer being released, kinky underwear store Ann Summers saw a whopping 55 per cent surge in web traffic. Over 500 pairs of handcuffs had been bought – twice as many as the week before – along with twice the number of eye masks and triple the usual number of restraints; also, sales of diamanté whips were up 80 per cent. With over six months to go before the film’s release, it was impossible to tell whether it would be a roaring box-office success or a colossal disappointment; either way something was certain: it would undoubtedly change Jamie’s life forever.

Always cautious that his acting work could dry up at any time and knowing there were no certainties in life, Jamie was careful not to make any assumptions about his future as a world-famous star. ‘Right now I don’t need to work if there’s nothing that I want to do. I’ve done three jobs back-to-back. Let’s see
how they are received. If there’s nothing I want to do, I’ll just play golf and change nappies,’ the exhausted thirty-two-year-old said. Somehow, with a Hollywood role in his back pocket, a clutch of awards, a devoted wife and a beautiful baby daughter, it is highly unlikely that his thousands of fans across the world will let him slip into anonymity now that they’ve finally discovered him. But then again, a young doctor’s son from Holywood with a faraway fancy of a life as an actor could dare to dream, couldn’t he? Amongst the highs, the lows, the good, the bad, and the very many shades in between … if you’re Jamie Dornan, it turns out then yes you can.