Jamie Dornan is getting personal and revealing how dealing with the pressures from fans has affected him, as well as a scary encounter he once had with a stalker.
After starring in the hit Fifty Shades of Grey trilogy, which was based on the novels by E.L. James, the actor found himself at the center of the bustling fandom and was subjected to fan-created conspiracies about him and his co-star Dakota Johnson.
Dornan, in a recent interview with The Independent, shared that he attempted to protect himself from the fans by figuratively building walls around them and not allowing their influence to affect him significantly.
“I’m pretty good at just blocking any of the noise associated with whatever fandom is – not letting it affect me, or more importantly my family,” added The Tourist actor, who has three daughters with his wife Amelia Warner.
But Dornan shockingly revealed a chilling incident involving a stalker that had a significant impact on him and his family.
“I had a situation… a stalker-type situation before Covid,” he recalled. “That was fucking scary. Someone turned up at my house when my kids were there. … The more I can block that out, the better it is for me and the family.”
Following the overwhelming attention from the Fifty Shades of Grey films, Dornan now knows that he prefers to find a balance when it comes to taking on high-profile projects, one that will still allow him to maintain somewhat of a “normal life.”
“There’s never going to be anything like Fifty Shades again,” The Fall actor told the outlet. “It felt very much like its own thing, particularly because it focused in and around sex. But there are obviously other jobs that bring insane scrutiny, like superhero stuff, or fucking James Bond – any of that stuff. I’ve done pretty well to avoid that sort of shit so far.”
Dornan added, “I’m not saying I’d never do anything super high-profile again, or a big [intellectual property] with all eyes on it… I probably will. But I’m also really happy with where I’m at right now. I can live a pretty normal life for the most part. I can sit on the Tube and I’m fine. I’m an ambitious person, and I have a fire under me, but in the last 10 years or so, I’ve realized I don’t want big peaks all the time. That doesn’t interest me. I’m happy to keep ticking over as I am, then one day just disappear and play golf for the rest of my life.”
