Celebrity4 min(s) read
Emilia Clarke revealed X-rated reason she turned down Fifty Shades amid Dakota Johnson's admission about not shaving 'down there' for role
Emilia Clarke revealed why she turned down starring in Fifty Shades of Grey, while Dakota Johnson admitted she stopped shaving "down there" for the movie.
The 39-year-old actress, who is best known for starring as Daenerys Targaryen in Game of Thrones, was considered for the role of Anastasia Steele in the 2015 erotic romance.
Based on the bestselling novel by E.L. James, the film follows Steele, a college graduate, who begins a sadomasochistic relationship with young business magnate Christian Grey.
In a 2015 interview with Marie Claire, Clarke revealed that while she was keen to work with the film's director, Sam Taylor-Johnson, she turned down the role because of the amount of nudity involved.
"I really wanted to work with Sam Taylor-Johnson," she said. "Because she's f**king amazing. But there is a huge amount of nudity in the film. I'll never say 'I'm never doing nudity' because I've already done it.
"But I thought I might get stuck in a pigeonhole that I would have struggled to get out of," she added.
Dakota Johnson reveals why she stopped shaving for the role
Johnson, now 37, landed the role and ended up starring in all three Fifty Shades movies.
During an October 7 appearance on First We Feast's Hot Ones Versus, she revealed that she grew out her pubic hair for the first film to remain faithful to her character.
"I grew my pubic hair. For Fifty Shades, the first one, I was full frontal, and she was supposed to have never had a wax," she said.
When asked if she'd considered wearing a pubic wig - known as a merkin - Johnson was firm in her answer - "No."
Johnson describes chaotic experience filming Fifty Shades
In a candid interview with Vanity Fair, the Verity actress reflected on what it was like filming the steamy romance drama.
"I’m a sexual person, and when I’m interested in something, I want to know so much about it," Johnson said. "That’s why I did those big naked movies."
However, she admitted she "signed up to do a very different version of the film we ended up making," partly because of James' creative control during production.
"She had a lot of creative control, all day, every day, and she just demanded that certain things happen," she said. "There were parts of the books that just wouldn’t work in a movie, like the inner monologue, which was at times incredibly cheesy. It wouldn’t work to say out loud. It was always a battle."
The Madame Web star said making the movies became "something crazy" after actor Charlie Hunnam pulled out of playing Christian Grey, and James discarded the film’s original script.
"There were a lot of different disagreements," she shared. "I haven’t been able to talk about this truthfully ever because you want to promote a movie the right way, and I’m proud of what we made ultimately and everything turns out the way it’s supposed to, but it was tricky.
"We’d do the takes of the movie that (James) wanted to make, and then we would do the takes of the movie that we wanted to make," Johnson added. "The night before, I would rewrite scenes with the old dialogue so I could add a line here and there. It was like mayhem all the time."
Despite describing the production as "weird" and chaotic, Johnson insisted she did not regret joining the franchise.
"If I had known at the time that’s what it was going to be like, I don’t think anyone would’ve done it. It would’ve been like, 'Oh, this is psychotic,'" she said. "There are things that I still cannot say because I don’t want to hurt anyone’s career and I don’t want to damage anybody’s reputation, but both Jamie and I were treated really well.
"(James) is a very nice woman, and she was always kind to me, and I am grateful she wanted me to be in those movies," she added.