Defending the Fifty Shades of Grey Casting

Should Fans Stop Worrying and Love the Cast? Sonny Crockett’s daughter and Jax Teller don’t cut it?

Being that I haven’t read Fifty Shades of Gray and know little to nothing about it, I haven’t gotten my shorts in a knot over the casting controversy. I certainly know what it’s like when the wrong people are cast in a movie, Tom Cruise and Brad Pitt in Interview With the Vampire certainly come to mind, not to mention the recent Ben Affleck / Batman blunder, but again, without reading the book I have no clue as to whether Charlie Hunnam and Dakota Johnson are right for the cast or not.

Of course, casting can often surprise you. I couldn’t believe the blond dork from Top Gun was going to play Jim Morrison, but Val Kilmer certainly pulled it off. Not to mention there was nobody more over the hill in Hollywood than John Travolta, but after Pulp Fiction, audiences embraced him more than ever.

The Daily Beast ran a story, telling fans they “need to chill,” quoting one fan who tweeted “Matt Bomer is the only Christian Grey.” But as justjared reports, the film’s producer, Dana Brunetti, went on Twitter to explain, “There is a lot that goes into casting that isn’t just looks. Talent, availability, their desire to do it, chemistry with other actors, etc. So if your favorite wasn’t cast, then it is most likely due to something on that list. Keep that in mind while hating and keep perspective.”

However Fifty Shades of Grey turns out as a movie, it will certainly do huge business because it has a big built in audience, and the readers will want to see how much the film will push the envelope in terms of sex. Hopefully the cast will prove the doubters wrong, and if not, don’t forget this isn’t exactly War and Peace here. (You also get the impression that twenty years ago this would have been an episode of HBO’s Red Shoe Diaries…)