With his casting as Christian Grey in the upcoming “Fifty Shades of Grey” adaptation, “Sons of Anarchy” star Charlie’s Hunnam’s profile has risen astronomically. And with it, his need for personal security, according to reports.
The 33-year-old actor needed extra security at the September 7 premiere of the FX crime drama in Los Angeles, according to the Hollywood Reporter. But it wasn’t the network paying for it, instead it was the studio behind the “Fifty Shades” movie, Universal Pictures.
The movie, which will co-star Dakota Johnson, hasn’t even started filming yet, but fans of E.L. James S&M trilogy are already swarming the set of the television series.
As hysterical reactions to films like the “Twilight” series have shown — which “Fifty Shades” began as a fan fiction series of — fans will go to incredible lengths to interact with the flesh-and-blood actors behind their fictional obsessions.
But as The Atlantic Wire points out, it might not just be overzealous fans that Universal is worried about. Well over 80,000 fans of Christian and Bella have signed an online petition to get the Hunnam and Johnson replaced as the leads in the Sam Taylor-Johnson-directed film.