10 questions for… Jamie Dornan and Dakota Johnson

Christian Grey and Anastasia Steele are back in the second Fifty Shades of Grey movie: Fifty Shades Darker. Their performers Jamie Dornan and Dakota Johnson tell how it was to be back on set and in bed.

1. What was it like to go back to work?

Dakota: “I loved it. For me it was the first time that I returned to a project; I’ve never played in a series or in a franchise before. But it was so wonderful to see all the familiar faces on the first day, not only of my fellow actors, but of the crew also. It felt a bit like summer camp, that you’d meet everyone again a year later.”

2. Has your life changed a lot after the first film?

Jamie: “You bet. My life was turned upside down in that period anyway. My oldest daughter was born three days before the shooting of the first film, my second daughter two weeks before the second. So that had quite an impact and then it ran again in sync with all the craziness surrounding the film.”

3. How Do fans respond when they see you?

Dakota: “Occasionally someone yells something strange at you, but that was to be expected …”

Jamie: “Dakota lives in Los Angeles, where people react very cool when they see a celebrity. They are more accustomed. In other places that is different. With me in Ireland you really notice it when people recognize you. What I find particularly mad is that they cannot keep my character and me apart. They ask you for an autograph, which I really sign with my own name, and they say, ‘Super thanks, Grey’.”

4. Actors often say that sex scenes are not too exciting and more technical matters. How do you feel about that?

Dakota: “What I especially start to find a challenge is: how to make them different? There are so many sex scenes. The last thing you want is that it’s boring. So there you have to always be creative.”

Jamie: “They tried to cluster these scenes wherever possible, fortunately. You have a bizarre week where you get done as much as possible. The Red Room weeks they called it, only the much needed people were on the set.”

6. That sounds pretty intense.

Dakota: “Those weeks were suffering, yes, but at the same time it affects you less and less. We had such loose scenes among them, sometimes. When they announced that the set was released for such a scene, I thought: ‘Oh yes, we also had to do that today’.”

7. Does it feel very different to come back a role that you have played before?

Jamie: “Definitely. You already know the character, so you have much more of a feeling. I find it especially beautiful that Christian has changed. I like him much better in this movie and in the next than in the first. When we met him, he was determined only to live his life the way he wanted.”

8. In the first images of Fifty Shades Darker we see a more pronounced Anastasia.

Dakota: “She evolves in all aspects of her life. She’s stronger, more confident and she shows a lot more assertiveness. I think that’s cool. She gets to endure a lot from people from all sides, talking at her, but she finds in it a way to protect herself and her love for Christian.”

9. We also find out more about the background of Christian. Were there still any surprises for you?

Jamie: “No, because I know the books and we don’t depart from that principle. And rightly so, I think.”

10. Does that make it any less exciting for the people who have read the books?

Jamie: “This is the story that fans love. That’s what they want to see, so that’s what they get.”