When Northern Irish actor Jamie Dornan was cast as Christian Grey in 2015’s Fifty Shades of Grey, he probably had no idea how much the erotic franchise would change his life. The movie, based on EL James’ blockbuster novel, was an enormous hit, and it spawned two sequels that saw the franchise rake in a total of more than $1.32billion worldwide.
Over his three years of playing the filthy rich BDSM enthusiast, Dornan went from a virtual unknown to a Hollywood heartthrob lusted over by women everywhere, and he has admitted it was an adjustment for his wife, composer Amelia Warner. It all begs a simple question: was Jamie Dornan’s wife okay with Fifty Shades of Grey?
The first sign of issues caused by Dornan’s rise to fame and association with such a racy character came shortly after Fifty Shades hit cinemas in February 2015. Rumours quickly circulated that Warner was struggling to cope with her husband becoming a worldwide sex symbol overnight. A source told NW magazine, “Jamie said the movie would skyrocket his career. He tried to assure Amelia nothing would change, but women all over the world now lust after Jamie. She hasn’t seen the film, and I don’t think she will, to be honest.”
Around this time, it was reported that Dornan was considering not returning for a sequel because he felt co-star Dakota Johnson’s poor acting was responsible for the film’s bad reviews. However, other rumours placed him in a torrid affair with his leading lady and claimed that Warner hated Johnson because she had stolen her husband. Horrifyingly, even more malicious gossip followed, claiming that Dornan’s marriage was on the rocks because he had fathered a child with Johnson.
ssed this rumourmongering when he appeared on The Jonathan Ross Show in 2021, confirming that it was all nonsense. He said, “I think I’ll be dealing with that my whole life…There’s people who are married to that idea of you as one thing. There’s a lot of absurd fan theories about that world and those characters, and that Dakota Johnson and I have children together. I don’t know where we keep them. I’ve got three of my own kids to worry about.”
In truth, Warner always supported Dornan’s career and never tried to prevent him from starring in Fifty Shades. In fact, when he was cast in the first film, she was pregnant with their first child and agreed to move to Vancouver while he worked on it. Little Dulcie was ultimately born in Canada, and Dornan marvelled at his wife’s adaptability to the situation.
He told the Belfast Telegraph, “A lot of people would have had a shit fit at 30-something weeks pregnant hearing, ‘Darling, we’re going to Vancouver this week for four months. We’re going to have a Canadian baby, and I’m going to do a film where, for parts of it, I will be naked. That’s a tough pitch, but my wife is an incredible person.”
Ultimately, starring in the series completely transformed Dornan’s life and career. He told GQ magazine, “Look, put it this way: it’s done no harm to my career to be part of a movie franchise that has made more than $1 billion. Every working actor would say the same thing. It’s provided a lot.” He added, “I am very, very grateful for this and always will be. And the fans loved it.”
Did Jamie Dornan’s wife watch Fifty Shades Of Grey?
While supporting her husband’s acting career is one thing, actually watching the films featuring him in saucy sex scenes with another woman is another. Dornan has revealed on several occasions that Warner hasn’t watched any of the Fifty Shades films, but he wouldn’t stop her if she decided to give them a go.
In 2017, he told People magazine, “It’s totally her choice if she wants to, but I don’t imagine why she’d want to see it. Yeah, I’m not going to tell her what she can and can’t do. I’m very un-Christian-like in that way, but no, I don’t think she has any plans to see it.”
As for whether Warner ever wants Dornan to bring an element of Christian Grey home to her, the star gleefully shot down that idea when talking to Ellen DeGeneres in 2017. He confessed to being a rookie when it came to BDSM sex games, and chuckled that his wife had no desire for him to introduce any of Grey’s whips and shackles into their bedroom antics. He smiled, “I don’t think she wants a used prop.”
