Fifty Shades Of Grey has teased and tantalised with it’s tales of seduction and raunchy storyline, but what else do we know about the film, the actors and the woman behind the books?
Here are 50 fun facts you need to know about Fifty Shades Of Grey.
1. E.L. James is the pen name of Erika Mitchell, 53, a former studio manager’s assistant at the National Film and Television School in Beaconsfield, England.
2. Mitchell says it was “mostly curiosity” that inspired her to write Fifty Shades Of Grey. “I had just read some stuff about BDSM and found it really, really hot — an arousing kind of hot,” she says. “I got to thinking, ‘What if you met somebody who was in this kind of relationship, in this lifestyle, and who knew nothing about it and probably didn’t want to do it? What would happen next?”
3. Why Grey? “I don’t look at the world in terms of black and white. I think it’s all shades of grey,” Mitchell says.
4. Jamie Dornan was second choice to play Christian Grey after Sons of Anarchy star Charlie Hunnam dropped out.
5. Fifty Shades has some pretty famous fans, including Oprah Winfrey, Kim Kardashian, Victoria Beckham, Hilary Duff and Ryan Seacrest.
6. And some pretty famous people loathe it, too … Kristen Stewart, Armie Hammer, Chris Hemsworth and tennis ace Andy Murray’s fiancee, Kim Sears, have all rubbished the tale.
7. Mitchell got hands-on at the UK warehouse shipping out a special range of sex toys, Fifty Shades of Grey: The Official Pleasure Collection. The author personally signed packages that were sent to fans as an extra surprise.
8. A what?!? Dakota Johnson, who plays Anastasia Steele, has revealed the secret behind Jamie Dornan’s impressive performance in the movie: “Jamie has a fluffer!” she gushed. For those who don’t know, a fluffer is a person employed to keep male adult film stars aroused. Oh my!
9. Despite reports, Ryan Gosling was not Mitchell’s ideal Christian Grey originally. She explains, “What happened is that a local paper reported on my husband being the inspiration for Christian Grey. Underneath it, they put a picture of Ryan Gosling as well. So, that’s how that rumour came about.”
10. Fifty Shades has given rise to a multitude of merchandise. Not only can you buy Fifty Shades undies and sex toys, but jewellery, mugs, T-shirts, ties, blindfold, makeup, teddy bears, nail polish and even wine.
11. The Biggest Loser US TV show trainer Jessie Pavelka auditioned for the role as Christian Grey.
12. Johnson prepared for nude scenes by hitting the gym. She says, “Obviously, I want to look good naked. Now, I totally understand why people exercise, because it kind of f***ing feels awesome!”
13. Mitchell’s favorite sex scene is in Anastasia’s bedroom with Christian’s necktie, the blindfold and the white wine …
14. Johnson has banned her famous parents, Melanie Griffith and Don Johnson, from watching her breakout role. “I think that I would love to have them experience it with me, but I can’t really do that, just because of what it entails,” the 25-year-old says.
15. R&B singer Rita Ora has made no secret of the fact she forgot all of her lines on set. The 24-year-old singer, who plays Christian’s sister Mia Grey, says of her acting faux pas, “I had to have someone in my ear on set telling me what to say before I said it because I was honestly, like so nervous, I forgot everything that I had learnt.” Oopsie!
16. Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling has refused to read the racy novels, comparing the books with pornography. For the record, It was Fifty Shades of Grey that shattered J.K.’s record for the fastest-selling book with an astonishing 50 million sales.
17. Anastasia Steele refers to her “inner goddess” 58 times in the first novel.
18. There are two versions of the Fifty Shades film — a US R rating (under 17 requires accompanying parent or adult guardian) for general release and a rumoured NC-17 (no children under 17) rating, for a more mature audience.
19. Actor Jamie Dornan has burst the bubble surrounding racy sex scenes with Dakota Johnson, saying: “There are dozens of hairy men standing around, moving cables and lighting equipment. That’s not sexy unless you’re into being watched, which I’m not.”
20. Emma Watson was initially rumoured to be playing Anastasia. The Harry Potter actor took to Twitter to quickly put an end to the speculation saying, “Who here actually thinks I would do Fifty Shades of Grey as a movie? Like really. For real. In real life.”
21. Acclaimed author Stephen King waded in on the debate about the “mummy porn” tag Fifty Shades gained after its release. The 66-year-old king of horror said, “I read Fifty Shades of Grey and felt no urge to go on. They call it mummy porn, but it’s not really mummy porn. It is highly charged, sexually driven fiction for women who are, say, between 18 and 25.” I disagree with the age. I’m older and love 50 Shades.
22. There is a 23-year age gap between 47-year-old Shades of Grey movie director Sam Taylor-Johnson and her 24-year-old husband, Kick-Ass and Godzilla star Aaron Taylor-Johnson.
23. 2012 saw a 400 percent increase in the sale of sex toys, with love beads shooting to the top of Amazon’s bestseller list.
24. Universal had to cut a sanitized version of the movie trailer for TV audiences in the US.
25. Online music streaming company Spotify created a playlist to accompany the reading of the first novel.
26. Jamie Dornan disappoints fans worldwide with the news that audiences won’t catch sight of him completely nude. He says, “There were contracts in place that said that viewers wouldn’t be seeing my, um … todger.” Darn it! 🙂
27. Beyoncé has played a huge part in the Fifty Shades soundtrack. The 33-year-old singer rerecorded her hit single Crazy In Love for the teaser trailer and she has released her own Fifty Shades-inspired video for the song Haunted, which is also featured on the official soundtrack.
28. There are 424 uses of the word “oh!” in the novel.
29. Charlie Hunnam has revealed the real reason he pulled out of the role as Christian Grey. “I was going to finish playing a psychopath who’d just lost his wife – in Sons of Anarchy – and five days later I’d be on set playing Christian Grey,” he says. “I was like, ‘This is going to be a disaster.’ It was the opposite of how I’ve tried to ground my career, not stretch myself too thin, and always do my homework.”
30. Mitchell has no hard feelings towards the Sons Of Anarchy star after he dropped out. “It was disappointing, but it is what it is. I wish him well,” she says.
31. Dame Helen Mirren revealed her saucy side when the 69-year-old British actor referred to the Fifty Shades series saying, “Whips and chains are not my style, but who doesn’t enjoy a jolly good spanking once in a while?”
32. Tourism is expected to soar in Seattle, Portland, Aspen and the French Riviera as the Fifty Shades movie locations inspire romantic getaways. I’ll be visiting Seattle and Portland movie locations this year.
33. Fifty Shades has inspired a multitude of websites, blogs, podcasts and apps for idle thumbs.
34. January saw the a reissue of the first Fifty Shades of Grey paperback featuring Dakota Johnson and Jamie Dornan on the cover in a steamy pose.
35. Rumours have been flying that Aaron Taylor-Johnson, husband of director Sam Taylor-Johnson, will feature in the movie. Director Sam confirmed on the red carpet last year she has indeed cast her husband somewhere in the movie.
36. The erotica bestseller began as a work of Twilight fan fiction called Master of the Universe, earning a massive fan fiction following years before the book deal.
37. Fifty Shades fan art is rife on the internet, including drawings of sexual positions and pictures of original Christian Grey inspiration Robert Pattinson.
38. The first book, Fifty Shades Of Grey, is officially the sexiest of the trilogy, being made up of 13 percent sex -that’s 71 out of 528 pages. Next with 11 percent sex is Fifty Shades Darker and finally, with only 8 percent, is Fifty Shades Freed.
39. Dakota Johnson has confessed she isn’t embarrassed about her raunchy role as Anastasia. “The secret is I have no shame,” she says.
40. Author Mitchell looked to another era when thinking about casting Christian Grey, saying, “Robert Redford was cute. Paul Newman was cute as well.”
41. Ellen DeGeneres has put her own spin on the Fifty Shades hype, spoofing the movie with a sketch featuring her cast in the role of Anastasia.
42. Jamie Dornan looked to another big-budget franchise for inspiration. “I watched all the Sex And The City box sets — twice,” he says. “That helped.”
43. Plans for a Fifty Shades-inspired erotic hotel in Vilafranca, Spain, were shelved after it was found to be located too near a chapel.
44. Asked to reveal her sex research methods, Mitchell says, “The internet. Sometimes I phoned various experts that I found through the internet, or asked questions on Twitter.”
45. The Audiovisual Media Services Regulation has banned the act of spanking and caning in film, meaning Christian and Ana’s favourite pastime is now prohibited.
46. Mitchell hopes the movie of her tale will be a smash hit, enabling books two and three to follow to the big screen. There are talks of making Fifty Shades Darker and Fifty Shades Freed are on the horizon with the success of Fifty Shades of Grey.
47. Mitchell defends the submissive nature of the female lead in her books, explaining, “You’re in charge of your job, your house, your children, getting food on the table, doing all of this all of the time. It’s nice for someone to just be in charge for a bit.”
48. Residents in Vancouver, Canada, reportedly did their best to try to sabotage the filming of Fifty Shades in their neighborhood.
49. Asked why she thought the books had made such an impact on women worldwide, director Sam Taylor-Johnson says, “I guess I love the fact that I’ve never really seen a movie that tackles this subject matter. It’s definitely resonated, that’s for sure.”
50. Mitchell sparked a frenzy of excitement over another instalment of Fifty Shades by revealing a picture on her Instagram account showing her keyboard.
So what do ya’ll think? Did you learn anything? Who else volunteered to be Dornan fluffer? I know I did 😉
