James "Jamie" Dornan is a Northern Irish actor, model and musician. He played Axel von Fersen in Sofia Coppola's film Marie Antoinette, Sheriff Graham Humbert in the ABC series Once Upon a Time and serial killer Paul Spector in the BBC Two crime drama series The Fall. He is ...
[on Anthropoid (2016)] I feel that Jan Kubis is the closest character to myself that I've played.
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[on Fifty Shades of Grey (2015) during an Elle interview, January 2015] Mass appreciation doesn't always equate to something good. Think of Hitler!
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[on filming Fifty Shades of Grey] Some of the Red Room stuff was uncomfortable. There were times when Dakota [Johnson] was not wearing much, and I had to do stuff to her that I'd never choose to do to a woman.
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[on his Fifty Shades of Grey (2015) leading lady] Dakota Johnson is very funny - and humor on a film set goes a long way. But she also had the ability to be a very strong dramatic actress. She'd be telling a joke one minute and breaking your heart on-screen the next, so she was perfect.
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I don't like my physique. Who does? I was a skinny guy growing up, and I still feel like that same skinny kid.
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I'm still auditioning. I don't really have choices in the material I get. So I have to make the choices in the way I play the characters. And I'm happy to get a chance to play Christian Grey.
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I don't think Paul Spector, from The Fall (2013) is that bad of a husband. I think he shows good qualities, despite the fact that he hunts and kills innocent women. But I want to show how regular these guys can be.
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As a viewer, I don't respond well to actors doing more than they need to tell a story. I get really thrown by that, and pissed off. They're doing lots of things, but they could just stand there and say the lines, and it would tell the story in a far more pleasing way.
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It's not like I cleaned up with girls. I always looked young and I was very small; I hated being 'cute.'
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Because I used to play a lot of sport, I've always been in decent enough shape. When I used to get asked to do a bit of body work before a photo shoot I'd lie and say, 'Yeah, I'm going to the gym.' I literally never did anything.
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I've always needed to bulk up, so until the modeling took off I was ramming Big Macs down my throat and doing plenty of bodyweight work. I'm over the Big Macs now, but I'll still drop down and do my press ups whenever I find the time.
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It's funny when you know you're playing two characters and you're aware of how you have to play each one into your performance of the other. You're constantly at the back of your mind thinking and it all gets a bit confusing.
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Everyone likes a bit of competition.
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Fairytales are stories that span every generation and they've been around for a long time.
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I can't really do the running on hard ground that I used to do. Instead I go swimming as often as possible.
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I guess I'm just lucky with my genes.
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I'm probably the worst person for 'Men's Health' to interview.
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Fact
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Has two children with 'Amelia Warner: A daughter named Dulcie Dornan, born in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada in late November of 2013; and a second daughter, born in mid-February 2016.
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Had a 2-minute cameo in Burnt (2015) that didn't make it to the final cut, it was part of Sienna Miller's character's backstory. The scene was disapproved by the audience in test screenings and was removed from the movie.
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Has stated that in his free time that he enjoys golfing and reading.
Was a member of folk band Sons of Jim from 2006 until 2008, when the group disbanded.
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Suffers from asthma.
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Prefers to keep a beard and not shave at all. He had to be clean shaven for the role of Christian Grey in Fifty Shades of Grey (2015).
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Resides in Notting Hill, London, England. Also owns and spends time at his cottage in The Cotswolds.
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Is the youngest of three children. He has two older sisters, Liesa and Jessica.
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Met wife Amelia Warner in 2010 through mutual friends at a party in Hollywood, California.
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Is very good friends with fashion journalist Hadley Freeman as well as actors Andrew Garfield and Eddie Redmayne. They were all looking for acting work around the same time.
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His mother, Lorna, died of pancreatic cancer when he was just 16 years old.
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Was in a relationship with actress Keira Knightley from 2003 to 2005. They met on the set of an Asprey photo shoot in 2003.
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Is a huge Manchester United fan and is a season ticket holder.
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Played a serious level of rugby in his native Northern Ireland.
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Actress Greer Garson was his grandmother's first cousin, making Greer and Jamie first cousins, twice removed.
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Was the face of the 2007 campaign for men's cologne Dior Homme.
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