QUESTIONS ABOUT HUNNAM’S EXIT A GREY AREA

The surprise exit of Charlie Hunnam from the lead role of Christian Grey in the movie version of the kinky sex novel 50 Shades of Grey on Saturday was no doubt watercooler talk at many studio offices today (Monday). Few Hollywood denizens were buying the official explanation that Hunnam’s “immersive TV schedule” — he is the star of TV’s Sons of Anarchy — did not allow “him time to adequately prepare for the role.” Hunnam had been positively discussing his selection for the prized role for weeks, and it seemed dubious that his representatives had not taken into account his TV commitments during their negotiations with Universal, which is producing the movie. At the time he was selected, Hunnam told the Hollywood Reporter that as soon as he began reading the script with costar Dakota Fanning, “I knew that I definitely wanted to do it, because there was a tangible chemistry between us.” But last week he told Entertainment Weekly that he realized that many fans of the book thought that “I’m probably not what everybody imagined. Because reading is so personal and people bring a character to life in their imagination.” That sort of pressure, he added, could be “daunting if I allowed myself to think about it too much.”