Charlie Hunnam Says Turning Down Christian Grey 'Fifty Shades' Role Devastated Him

When you think of Christian Grey, we are sure that your mind immediately goes to Jamie Dornan, who portrayed the character on the big screen last winter, but before he got cast as the billionaire BDSM enthusiast, the role was original given to Charlie Hunnam. The Sons of Anarchy star was originally set to woo Dakota Johnson's character Anastasia Steele, but dropped out a little ways into shooting. While the star's exit was felt throughout the whole E.L. James fan base, the one hurt the most, according to Hunnam, was himself. He recently shared that the decision devastated him.

In fact, according to Us Weekly, the heartthrob was completely destroyed when he decided to turn his back on the project.

In a new interview with V Man, Hunnam recalls being in that position, saying, "It was the worst professional experience of my life. It was the most emotionally destructive and difficult thing that I've ever had to deal with professionally. It was heartbreaking."

While the reason for the departure has been speculated about over the last year or so, the star confirms that the real reason behind his exit was that he had already given his word to do another project with his buddy, director Guillermo Del Toro.

A photo posted by Charlie Hunnam (@charliematthewhunnam) on Jun 17, 2015 at 3:55pm PDT

"I'd given Guillermo my word, over a year before, that I was going to do this film," the actor says of his role in Crimson Peak, according to ABC News. 'Are you crazy? Guillermo still has got four months to recast, it's the fourth lead, you can go and do this [instead]'. I said 'I can't. He's my friend, I've done a film with him, I gave him my word.'"

As for how his would be co-star took the news, Hunnam says that Dakota was just as equally as upset as him when he told her the news.

"I called her and we both cried our eyes out on the phone for 20 minutes," the star explained. "I needed to tell her that this was not going to work."