It seems kind of fitting now that the Fifty Shades of Grey audition process for actress Dakota Johnson was something of a pain. (After all, pain and Fifty Shades pretty much go hand in hand with each other.) The Fifty Shades leading lady visited The Late Show with David Letterman on Tuesday where she recalled the long journey to becoming Anastasia Steele on the big screen.
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Johnson—who perfectly pulled off a sexy gingham ensemble for her appearance— told host David Letterman that in addition to reading a monologue from the 1966 Ingmar Bergman film Persona, the rest of the nearly two-month audition process involved “just reading with a lot of really handsome men.” (Hey, nice work if you can get it.)
Once Johnson was given the role, she said it took another month to find their Christian Grey, who as we all know, is Jamie Dornan. Letterman brought up the fact that before Dornan, the role went to Charlie Hunnam, who eventually dropped out for scheduling conflicts. Johnson called Hunnam’s exit “a confusing moment,” but said that in the end, “it turned out okay.” Based on what a massive box office hit the movie was on opening weekend, we’d definitely say it turned out okay, too.
Watch Dakota Johnson chat with David Letterman about the Fifty Shades casting process by clicking on the video above.
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