Charlie Hunnam has appeared publicly for the first time since news broke that he was dropping out of Sam Taylor-Johnson’s high-profile film adaptation of Fifty Shades of Grey.
Fifty Shades Darker (2017)
Last night, the Sons of Anarchy star joined his castmates at an event benefiting the nonprofit One Heart Source in Burbank, Calif. Hunnam also spoke to E! News at the event, though those looking for a detailed explanation of his decision to leave Fifty Shades will be disappointed.
“I am doing good,” Hunnam, said, adding that he’s been busy concentrating on both work and “family stuff.” (According to E!, Hunnam’s father died this spring.)
“When I wrap the show [SOA season 6], I am going to go to England and see my people,” Hunnam, a native of Newcastle upon Tyne, added. “And then I have a film that I am doing with Guillermo [del Toro]. So I am going to go and do that and [then] concentrate on the final seasons of Sons.”
Hunnam didn’t address any of the rumors swirling around his exit — specifically, that he had serious reservations about the film’s script, and that he got spooked by the idea of bearing the fame that would come along with carrying such a popular franchise.
NBC-Universal employees were told last Wednesday that Hunnam’s part will be recast in the next few weeks; True Blood’s Alexander Skarsgard is reportedly on the shortlist to play sexually adventurous millionaire Christian Grey, as are Tony-nominated actor Billy Magnussen and Jamie Dornan, star of the U.K. series The Fall, according to the Hollywood Reporter.
