‘Fifty Shades of Grey ‘starring Emilia Clarke, instead of Dakota Johnson. Well, we’re here to tell you that this was once a possibility, but Clarke turned down the role on account of the nudity involved. “I’d done nudity before and was concerned with being labeled for doing it again,” she said in 2015.
Fast-forward to The Hollywood Reporter’s 2019 Drama Actress Roundtable. Clarke opened up about why she rejected the role of Anastasia Steele. “Well, Sam is a magician,” Clarke said of Sam Taylor-Johnson, the director of the first ‘50 Shades’ movie. “I love her, and I thought her vision was beautiful. But the last time that I was naked on camera on [Game of Thrones] was a long time ago, and yet it is the only question that I ever get asked because I am a woman.”
And it’s annoying as hell and I’m sick and tired of it because I did it for the character — I didn’t do it so some guy could check out my t**ts, for God’s sake. So, that coming up, I was like, ‘I can’t.’ I did a minimal amount and I’m pigeonholed for life, some saying yes to that, where the entire thing is about sensuality and sex and being naked and all of that stuff, I was just like, ‘No way am I going to voluntarily walk into that situation and then never be able to look someone in the eye and be like, “No, you can’t keep asking me this question.”
It has been at least two years since this interview, but looking back, it still makes total sense. Just think about the diversity of projects Emilia Clarke has done over the last few years, from Me Before You to Solo: A Star Wars Story to Terminator Genisys. And soon enough, we’ll get to see her star in Marvel’s Disney+ series Secret Invasion.
Each project has given Clarke a chance to showcase her array of talents, but if she had given 50 Shades of Grey a shot, her career might have gone differently. And that would be absolutely okay, but it’s great to see that she picked her own path.
Hollywood Reporter
