It’s been ten years since the release of ‘Fifty Shades of Grey’, yet only recently has the truth come out about where the choreography for its intimate scenes was actually created — and it wasn’t in a Hollywood studio.
When Fifty Shades of Grey hit theaters in 2015, it caused an undeniable sensation. Fans of erotic and sensual stories were already familiar with E. L. James’s novels, later adapted into feature films, but such explicit material was rarely seen on the big screen. Viewers were captivated by the love story between Anastasia Steele (Dakota Johnson) and Christian Grey (Jamie Dornan) — as toxic as it was passionate. The film’s first installment was directed by Sam Taylor-Johnson and produced by E. L. James herself.
According to the author, she personally handled the choreography for the intimate scenes planned for the saga’s two stars. James reportedly asked her husband to help her rehearse — under rather unusual circumstances. In fact, on the back seat of a Mini Cooper, she practiced the passionate positions with her husband, Niall Leonard (who also wrote the scripts for the last two films), right out in public view!
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James had a very specific vision for how her characters should appear on screen, and Dakota Johnson often found it challenging to meet those expectations. In a 2022 interview, the actress who played Anastasia spoke openly about the difficulties caused by “the creative control that James exercised” over the actors.
“Every day, every single day, she demanded that certain things be done… She wanted to see specific parts of the books on screen that just didn’t work in a film. So, it was a constant battle. But when I auditioned for the movie, I read a monologue and thought it was going to be something really special. In the end, there were a lot of disagreements. I could never talk about it honestly before because we had to properly promote the film… But I’m proud of what we ultimately created,” concluded Dakota Johnson — who, by the way, kept a few steamy mementos from the set.
