The Fifty Shades series is back on the big screen with stars Dakota Johnson and Jamie
Dornan continuing E.L.
James's story of Ana Steele and Christian Grey.
So, to mark the return of the multi-million-dollar film franchise, I've put together some crazy,
intriguing facts about the Fifty Shades movie sequels.
After the first film, some audiences complained that there weren't enough, erm, shades of
Dornan on show.
In fact, even the 90-year-old co-editor of the Shades of Grey movie, Anne Coates, thought
the film could have been raunchier.
Dakota Johnson also joked that she was going to start a campaign to get Jamie Dornan 'fully
naked' in the sequels.
And Dornan himself said he thought Hollywood's double-standards on male and female nudity
were unfair.
But while Dornan has also said he's not bothered about being nude on camera, he's remained
pretty reticent about what exactly is on show in Shades Darker and Shades Freed, saying,
just a couple of weeks after filming, that he couldn't remember.
Despite that and the rumours that he was offered over $1 million to reveal all in the sequels,
the 'Dornan D', as Dakota jokily called it, remained firmly tucked away in a flesh-coloured
bag during filming, just like it was in Shades of Grey.
Now that Jamie Dornan's known all over the world for bringing Christian Grey to life
on the silver screen, there's not many places he can go without being recognised by fans
of Fifty Shades.
In fact, the funniest fan interaction he remembers took place in an elevator.
And no, it was absolutely nothing like that scene in Fifty Shades Darker!
What actually happened was that, Dornan was in an elevator when a very drunk woman suddenly
realised who he was and started telling him that it was thanks to E.L.
James's erotic novels that she got pregnant as after reading them she and her husband
began having a lot more sex!
Shooting the two sequels, Fifty Shades Darker and Fifty Shades Freed, involved 160 sets
and locations, and 103 days of filming in three countries and eight cities.
In fact, one of those locations proved especially familiar for Jamie Dornan, who by a quirk
of fate ended up staying in not only the same hotel but also the exact same room he'd stayed
in when he acted in his very first movie, Marie Antoinette, over 10 years previously.
And if that wasn't enough of a déjà-vu experience for Dornan, for the Fifty Shades sequels,
he also filmed at the opera house by the hotel, the very place where he shot his first-ever
scene as an actor.
And on top of that, the cinematographer on Fifty Shades Darker and Fifty Shades Freed
is John Schwartzman, who's the cousin of Marie Antoinette writer and director Sofia Coppola
and the brother of Jason Schwartzman, who starred in Marie Antoinette along with Jamie!
The biggest, most demanding sequence for the movie's crew was the masquerade ball at the
Grey family mansion that features in Fifty Shades Darker.
When she was writing the book, EL James based the scene on her own experience throwing two
masquerade balls.
But the filmmakers went for a different look to the 'very restrained' 'pastel affair' that
James says she imagined when writing.
However, they did tip their hat to the novel when it came to things like the menu, wine
and auction items.
Production designer Nelson Coates was inspired by the lavish looks of Venice and its mask-filled
Carnival, and even re-created an old Venetian cathedral floor at the Vancouver Convention
Centre where they filmed the ball.
Amid all the extravagance of the masquerade scene, costume designer Shay Cunliffe wanted
to keep Ana's look minimal, making her stand out as, what she calls, a 'beautiful siren
of simplicity'.
So, Ana's gown channels old Hollywood, especially 1930s musicals, and was created by LA-based
fashion designer Monique Lhuillier, whose clientele include Reese Witherspoon and Scarlett
Johansson.
And every single feather in the cape that Ana wears as she enters the ball was sewn
on by hand.
Dressing the scene's more than 200 extras proved trickier than the filmmakers first
thought.
Initially, they turned to the costume houses Tirelli in Rome and Malabar in Toronto to
hire period outfits.
But then the scene began looking like an 18th-century play, so they sent the outfits back, and instead
went for a mix of costume pieces along with formal party wear including 1980s couture.
In addition to that, they also bought hundreds of masks from classic mask makers in Venice.
The Fifty Shades sequels give even more insight into Christian's billionaire lifestyle.
For example, several new rooms were added to his penthouse that weren't seen in the
previous film, including a library and billiard room, that's home to a very special Brunswick
Centennial Art Deco pool table, which is a limited edition collectors' item from just
after the Second World War.
The room also houses an especially distinctive $17,000-dollar chess set by designer Kelly
Wearstler that features a hand-sculpted marble board and gold and gunmetal-plated bronze
pieces in the shape of human body parts including hands, legs, lips, and torsos.
Forget the clean-shaven Christian from Fifty Shades of Grey, the new movie in the series
hasn't just gone darker, it's also gone stubblier.
After complaints that Jamie Dornan wasn't sporting his usual bearded look in the first
film, the filmmakers decided that stubble was the way forward for Christian Grey's face
in the sequels.
Which has not only pleased fans who love their leading man with added facial fuzz, but also
Dornan himself who absolutely hates shaving!
In fact, the Northern Irish actor has actually said that he hates his face when it's beardless
because it makes him look too young.
And since Dornan feels more at ease with himself when he's unshaven, he always tries to stay
that way in each new role he takes on.
The Fifty Shades franchise may have played a big part in Dakota Johnson and Jamie Dornan's
lives, catapulting them to worldwide fame, but their nearest and dearest have yet to
see them on screen as Ana and Christian, and probably never will.
Yes, although Dakota's parents, Working Girl star Melanie Griffith and Miami Vice star
Don Johnson, are both experienced actors themselves, the thought of watching their daughter in
the Fifty Shades films is just too uncomfortable.
Indeed, Dakota had a bit of an argument about the subject with Melanie on the red carpet
at the 2015 Oscars, but didn't succeed in changing her mind.
But mum Melanie does know what she's talking about when she says it would be just 'too
awkward' to watch the movies, as she actually read all the Fifty Shades books well before
her daughter auditioned for the role!
However, Melanie's decision to skip the movies means she'll miss out on a little surprise
tribute to her in Fifty Shades Darker, though Dakota hopes she'll at least see a clip of
that one particular moment.
As for Jamie Dornan, he's said himself that Christian Grey's not the sort of guy he'd
hang out with and that the stuff Grey does in the Fifty Shades movies doesn't float his
or his wife's boat, and likewise he understands why his wife, actress-composer Amelia Warner,
doesn't want to watch the movies.
And after all, the birth of the couple's daughters, the first child three days before filming
kicked off on Shades of Grey, and the second, two weeks before the sequels started shooting,
is more than enough for Amelia to remember her husband's stint as Christian Grey!
So guys, what do you think about the Fifty Shades movies?
And how do you think they compare to the books?
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