Depicting sex in films is always challenging for actors and filmmakers, and the same remains true for the 2015 erotic romance ‘Fifty Shades of Grey,’ where Jamie Dornan plays the titular business magnate Christian Grey, who harbors a BDSM fetish. During the intimate sequences, the actor embodies a harsh and cruel demeanor to sell the illusion of a businessman with a controlling streak. However, while cold in his exterior, the actor also portrays several tender scenes of love-making while being exposed to the camera. As the film delves into the pleasures of the flesh, none more so than BDSM-obsessed Christian, who gains a gratifying kick out of dominating women, Dornan had to bare his skin on more than one occasion. Thus, it raises the question of the authenticity behind his nude scenes.
Jamie Dornan Did Not Go Fully Nude
While nudity was a natural part of depicting the sex scenes in ‘Fifty Shades of Grey,’ Dornan was never fully nude on set. The actor was committed to ensuring the scenes felt genuine in a state of semi-nudity for the most part. Before the release in 2015, he had stated that the film was trying to avoid getting too gratuitous or graphic with the sex scenes to appeal to a larger audience. In an interview with Elle magazine, he clarified the topic of baring everything. “You see my arse quite a lot. That doesn’t really bother me. You see a lot of Dakota’s tits. I would show my tits if I had them,” he said. “I just thought we don’t need to be flashing the rest if it’s not essential to the story. We’re not making porn as much as people think we are.”
During the sex scenes with Dakota Johnson, who plays Anastasia Steele, Dornan wears a modesty pouch to cover himself. He was not inclined to engage in any full-frontal nudity as he felt it was unnecessary to the narrative. The actor also had contractual stipulations against revealing himself entirely to the audience. On Jimmy Kimmel Live! he jokingly explained the details surrounding his modesty pouch. “I wear like a wee bag,” he said. “I sort of picked one that I liked the look of and the shape of, and I picked it up, and then in the seam, it said ‘Inmate #3’. It was like sewn in. I was like, sh*t! This has been used before.” The actor nearly puked when he realized his pouch had been worn before, and he had picked it up as a secondhand user. “I just sort of, like, mind over matter, just closed my eyes,” he said.
Due to the intensity of several BDSM scenes with Johnson, Dornan was very protective of his co-star’s state of nudity. “It’s stressful enough to be tied to a bed naked in a scene,” the actress said. “But then they call cut, and you’re still tied to the bed, naked. Jamie would be the first one to throw a blanket over me.” The actor, while preserving his modesty as much as he could, was intent on making Johnson feel as comfortable as possible. Between the two, the tenderness and passionate intimacy on display were brought to life through a culmination of their commitment to physically strip and expose themselves while also maintaining the balance between eroticism and pornographic viewing.
Jamie Dornan Had a Body Double
For several revealing shots within ‘Fifty Shades of Grey,’ Dornan had a stand-in body double as Christian Grey. Canadian model Peter James Gray was cast for this purpose, even though he is not credited for his role in the film. Gray, whose name is similar to the titular billionaire, was Dornan’s substitute for the raunchier scenes, which required a step-up in the nudity on display. So, while the Irish actor was mainly committed to the purpose of authentically portraying the intimate sex scenes by covering himself with a modesty patch, he also employed the use of a body double to bring the fiction to life.
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