JAMIE DORNAN REVEALS TEXTS SENT TO 'FIFTY SHADES OF GREY' CO-STAR DAKOTA JOHNSON
Jamie Dornan still talks to Fifty Shades of Grey co-star Dakota Johnson -- and they're even planning a get-together soon!
Speaking with Metro UKat the Into Film Awards on July 1, the 42-year-old actor shared that he and the Madame Web star, 34 -- who played lovers turned husband and wife in the film series -- are working on meeting up with her fiancé, Chris Martin.
"I was just texting with her a couple days ago," Dornan told the outlet. "I think she's London bound a wee bit over the next few weeks so trying to see her and Chris for dinner."
In the Fifty Shades of Grey movies -- which were adapted from the popular book series by E.L James -- Dornan played the titular Christian Grey, while Johnson played Anastasia Steele. The first in the series debuted in theaters in 2015, with the final installment, Fifty Shades Freed, premiering in 2018.
In the near decade since Fifty Shades became a cultural phenomenon -- and a lightning rod for arguments over the appropriateness of the material due to its sadomasochistic content -- both Johnson and Dornan have talked about the struggles they faced while filming and how they have tried to distance themselves from the films.
Johnson opened up about her issues in a 2022 interview with Vanity Fair, saying, "I signed up to do a very different version of the film we ended up making." She alleged that the scripts and production were constantly undergoing changes, which led to a back-and-forth struggle that was "always a battle."
"We'd do the takes of the movie that Erika [E.L. James] wanted to make, and then we would do the takes of the movie that we wanted to make," Johnson said. "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."
One thing she did dispute was the idea that she and Dornan did not get along while filming. Rumors swirled as the movies premiered that the actor and actress were not so cozy with each other, which Johnson was all too happy to shut down.
"There was never a time when we didn't get along," Johnson shared. "I know it's weird, but he's like a brother to me. I love him so, so, so much. And we were really there for each other. We had to really trust each other and protect each other."
Their chemistry on screen was undeniable, too. Despite some critics who took issue with the adult content in the movie franchise, the three films -- Fifty Shades of Grey, Fifty Shades Darker and Fifty Shades Freed -- grossed more than $1.32 billion in total at the worldwide box office.
Back in 2021, ET caught up with the actor as he was promoting his then-new film, Belfast, and joked that the film -- which came from the mind of Kenneth Branagh and followed a working-class family navigating the political unrest of Northern Ireland's capital city in the 1960s -- could have the potential to turn around those who have brushed him off as an actor.
"I guess certain people have opinions about those films, negative opinions about those films, but this will maybe change people's opinions about that," Dornan said of Belfast, which went on to receive seven Academy Award nominations and a win for Best Original Screenplay.
The Barb & Star Go to Vista Del Mar actor continued, "Will this help? Maybe, but maybe not. People are entitled to their opinion, and they're entitled to their opinions about those films. But you just kick on and try to do the best you can do."
RELATED CONTENT:
Dakota Johnson and Sean Penn Talk Their Friendship and Film 'Daddio'
Dakota Johnson's Dress 'Fell Off' in Wardrobe Malfunction on 'Kimmel'