Sons of Anarchy’s star Charlie Hunnam reveals real reason behind 50 Shades exit

Charlie Hunnam has revealed that it was “a nervous breakdown” that really led to his departure from the upcoming adaptation of the best-selling E.L. James novel Fifty Shades of Grey.

Charlie Hunnam, who would have played Christian Grey opposite Dakota Johnson’s Anastasia Steele, told Moviefone that the Focus Features drama would have been one project too many, since he already committed to shooting Guillermo de Toro’s Crimson Peak during his hiatus from FX series Sons of Anarchy.

“I was going to finish <<Sons>> at like 11 p.m. Friday night, get on the plane Saturday morning to Vancouver for <<Fifty>>, missing the whole first week of rehearsal and start shooting Monday morning,” the actor explained.

“And I was going to shoot that film, wrap that on the Wednesday and the following Monday I was going to start shooting <<Crimson Peak>> in Toronto. I just had like … frankly, something of a nervous breakdown.”

The passionate response from fans and the attention the media was giving Fifty Shades also contributed to his decision to back out of the role just weeks after being cast.

“To fail on such a grand scale – because Fifty’s going to be massive, it’s going to be huge. I really didn’t want to fail on such a grand scale and I just couldn’t transition from Jax Teller to Christian Grey in 48 hours,” Charlie Hunnam said.

“I bit off more than I could chew and it was painful. I loved the character and I wanted to do it.”

Charlie Hunnam has returned to the small screen as biker Jax Teller on September 9 when the seventh and final season of Sons of Anarchy premiered on FX.