Ryan Gosling Is Not the Frontrunner to Play Christian Grey, Says Fifty Shades of Grey Author E.L. James

James dished on casting rumors on Ryan Seacrest's morning radio show

By Brandi Fowler Sep 29, 2012 2:05 PMTags
Ryan GoslingGerry Angus/ZUMAPRESS.com

It looks like the Ryan Gosling isn't the number one choice to play Christian Grey after all.

Fifty Shades of Grey author E.L. James shot down those casting rumors to E!'s own Ryan Seacrest on his radio show Friday, saying stories about the Drive star being the frontrunner to play the coveted role were simply not true.

The story started brewing after James' hubby Niall Leonard told the U.K.'s Now magazine that the "last he heard" Gosling was the No. 1 choice to star in the highly anticipated film.

But James said those reports were "completely misreported."

"What happened is that his local paper, he's from Northern Ireland, there's a newspaper there called the Belfast Telegraph that reported on my husband being the inspiration for Christian Grey. Underneath it they put a picture of Ryan Gosling, as well. So, that's how that came about," James said.

While the author played coy when Seacrest brought up a few other actors' names as possibilities for Christian Grey, including Jake Gyllenhaal and Ian Somerhalder, she did admit she's a big Vampire Diaries fan, but said the lead actor would be selected by the studio and they weren't that far along in the casting process. 

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