Fifty Shades of Grey didn’t do what many of us thought it would for Jamie Dornan. The model-turned-actor already had a fan base stemming from his role on The Fall with Gillian Anderson, but then the behind-the-scenes drama from the BDSM love story started leaking, and people realized the film’s quality was nothing more than “Skinnemax after dark” — it made a ton of money but no one was banging down his door to work with him.
Dornan, however, is talented, something he’s reaffirming with his work on Anthropoid and the upcoming 9th Life of Louis Drax. Now, things may start to be looking up for him with recent reports about his casting negotiations for the Robin Hood movie.
Robin Hood: Origins is being directed by Otto Bathurst (Peaky Blinders) based on a screenplay by Joby Harold. Taron Egerton (Kingsman: The Secret Service) will play Robin Hood, Eve Hewson (Bridge of Spies) will play Maid Marian, and Jamie Foxx will play “a battle-hardened but war-weary” Little John. According to Variety, Dornan and his beard is in talks to play Will Scarlet, who is typically shown as Robin’s half-brother and a member of Little John’s Merry Men.
There have been many cinematic versions of Robin Hood: Russell Crowe played him for Ridley Scott, and Kevin Coster played him for Kevin Reynolds. This film is described as “a gritty revisionist take” on the famous story when the eponymous vigilante hero forms a band of outlaws after returning from the Crusades.
Even if this casting doesn’t stick, Dornan will always have Fifty Shades. The first masquerade-themed trailer for Fifty Shades Darker dropped last week, while there’s also one other on the way called Fifty Shades Freed. But what he needs is more projects that show off his strengths instead of the legend of Christian Grey.
