'The Knick' Season 2 Actor Eric Johnson Joins 'Fifty Shades Darker' Cast As Rival Jack Hyde

As weeks move forward and the premiere date for Fifty Shades Darker is now barely one year away, Universal Pictures has been busy adding new cast members to the family. Now, one pivotal character from the Fifty Shades of Grey sequel has joined in: Eric Johnson, who plays Dr. Everett Gallinger on Cinemax's The Knick Season 2 , has been cast as Christian Grey's nemesis, Jack Hyde.

According to Variety, Johnson (not to be confused with former NFL star and Jessica Simpson's husband, Eric Johnson) is the latest addition to the Fifty Shades family, as production is about to begin soon.

Over the past two years, Johnson has played the part of Everett Gallinger, an eugenics-obsessed surgeon, in the period Cinemax series The Knick opposite Clive Owen. This will be Johnson's first major film.

Johnson will play Jack Hyde, Anastasia Steele's (Dakota Johnson) new boss, who likes her from the start and begins pursuing her, which obviously leads to clashes between him and Christian Grey (Jamie Dornan). The character is set to appear on both Darker and the series' third installment, Fifty Shades Freed, and the two movies are being set up to be filmed back-to-back.

As Christian Grey's rival in love, the character of Jack Hyde is one of the most important in the two remaining films, and for months there had been rumors regarding who would be taking on the role. Just days back, The Inquisitr reported that Vampire Diaries star Ian Somerhalder, who was once in the run to play Christian, had been tapped to play the role, though it seems Universal ultimately took a different direction with another TV actor.

Of course, this is the latest in a list of new additions to the cast during the past few weeks, the first of which was Kim Basinger as Elena Lincoln and Bella Heathcote as Leila Williams.

Fifty Shades Darker will premiere on theaters on February 10, 2017.