magical mike star Alex Pettyfer went far in his quest to star in the Fifty shades of grey franchise, according to director Gus Van Sant.
In a recent interview with The Hollywood Reporterthe Good Will Hunting the director, 71, recalled filing a tumultuous scene he shot with Pettyfer, 33, as a number of directors were vying for the chance to direct the first film in the series.
“It was one of the sex scenes. I thought that was the way to get it [author E.L. James] to see my enthusiasm,” Van Sant recalled of his introduction. “It’s hard, on the rise, to get people to understand where you’re going if you actually make a movie.”
“Some people make sizzle movies. That might be a better way. But Alex Pettyfer really wanted it, so I thought, ‘We can just do a scene,'” he added. “And we did. And we showed them.”
EL James says she choreographed the sex scenes in ‘Fifty Shades of Grey’ with her husband in the backseat of a car
Gus Van Sant January 23, 2024
John Nacion/Getty
Wrap reported on Van Sant and Pettyfer’s scene at the time, although neither Pettyfer nor Van Sant ultimately worked on Fifty Shades trilogy. Sam Taylor-Johnson ended up directing the first one Fifty Shades while James Foley directed its two sequels. Jamie Dornan finally portrayed Christian Gray and Dakota Johnson played the main character Anastasia Steele.
While talking to THRVan Sant said he could not remember the name of the actress who worked as Pettyfer’s partner in the scene they were filming.
Van Sant was among a number of directors in the running to direct the first Fifty Shades movie. In 2013, Diversity reported that Joe Wright, Patty Jenkins, Bill Condon, Bennett Miller and Steven Soderbergh were considered for the film before the job went to Taylor-Johnson, 56.
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We watched ‘Fifty Shades of Grey’ unrated: every change from the original
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Jamie Dornan and Dakota Johnson in Fifty Shades Darker.
Doane Gregory/Universal Pictures
Fifty shades of grey grossed $166 million at the domestic box office and $570 million worldwide after its theatrical release on February 11, 2015. The film was the 11th highest-grossing film of the year globally; each sequel has also grossed more than $370 million at the worldwide box office.
In the time since Van Sant’s meeting with Fifty Shadesthe two-time Oscar nominee has made films A sea of trees (2015) and Don’t worry, he won’t get far on foot (2018). He also worked as a director on Gucci’s miniseries An overture to something that never ended (2020) and recently on FX Feud: Capote vs. Swans.
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Source: HIS Education