Dornan’s dad was concerned with his lack of a plan in life after dropping out of school, and pushed him to do anything. Reality TV was on the table.
Christian Grey standing on the street in 50 Shades of Grey
Christian Grey holds Anastasia Steele’s face in his hands in 50 Shades of Grey
Fifty Shades of Grey star Jamie Dornan freely admits he was a man without a plan back in the early 2000s. However, he credits his parents with pushing him to do something – anything – including starring in a reality show called Model Behavior. The opportunity came after his stint in university.
In a recent interview with Sirius XM’s Radio Andy, Jamie, whose latest project is the Kristen Wiig-Annie Mumolo film, Barb & Star Go to Vista Del Mar, spoke about his father’s concerns. “My dad was really worrying, like ‘What’s your plan going to be?’ And I was just one of those weird things at the time, but my whole family was sort of gunning together, trying to work out what can Jamie do next.”
US Weekly reported that during college, Jamie was a rugby player who did his fair share of drinking when he wasn’t playing rugby. But after a year of college, he decided a university education wasn’t for him at that point in time. After dropping out, he knew he wanted to do something else with his life, but he didn’t know what the ‘something else’ would be.
Christian Grey standing on the street in 50 Shades of Grey
Soon thereafter, the ‘what can Jamie do next’ effort became a family endeavor. And thanks to one of his eagle-eyed sisters, who learned about an open call for the reality show Model Behavior, Jamie’s path in life would soon be lit. The show ran for two seasons in England from 2001 to 2002. The winner of the show would receive a one-year modeling agency contract. “This was sort of almost pre-reality TV. It wasn’t even being pitched to us. We didn’t really know what it was,” said Jamie. “My sister says, ‘You should go.’ And I said, ‘What is it?’ And she says, ‘To be a mode.’ And I was like, ‘Why would I want to be a model?’…No kid where I’m from grows up wanting to be a model, I’ll tell you that. So, I was like, ‘No, I’m not doing it.’” After talking one of his male friends into competing with him in the program, he accepted the opportunity, which required the Irish actor to move to London. And while modeling was not the best endeavor he experienced in life, the show proved to be a launchpad into acting.
Since Jamie’s reality TV show stint, there is a host of mega film and scripted-show stars now who got their start on reality shows. Some of the more successful actors include Lucy Hale, who first appeared on American Idol spinoff, American Juniors; Academy-Award winner Jennifer Hudson, American Idol; Justin Timberlake, Star Search; and Orange is the New Black’s Laverne Cox, whose reality show appearance was in I Want To Work For Diddy.
