Is Ian Somerhalder Replacing Jamie Dornan in Fifty Shades?

Jimmy Kimmel gets to the bottom of a casting rumor

By Zach Johnson Nov 04, 2016 1:15 PMTags

Jamie Dornan is currently promoting The Fall, but he understands many of his fans are far more interested in Fifty Shades of Grey. So, when he appeared on Jimmy Kimmel Live! Thursday, the actor explained how he can spot the difference between his fan bases. "There's a sort of energy in the eyes of a Fifty Shades fan that the fans of The Fall just don't possess. It's like a hunger, and you can sort of see it and smell it," he said. "If it's in a pack, it's terrifying."

The hunger comes in "every form you could imagine," he added.

Jimmy Kimmel wanted to satiate the audience's appetite, so he asked Dornan about Fifty Shades Darker (in theaters Feb. 10, 2017) and Fifty Shades Freed (in theaters Feb. 9, 2018). Dornan joked that the sequels "are going to ruin the franchise," which started in February 2016.

He was kidding—but was he onto something? "Supposedly, I heard that Ian Somerhalder is replacing you in that," Kimmel told the actor. "Do you know anything about that? Is that true?"

"No," Dornan shrugged. "I don't know."

"That would be really hard for them to do, considering we shot both of the movies," the actor added. "That's an expensive mistake, I'll put it that way. But good luck to him—he'll be great!"

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Is Jamie Dornan Ready for Hardcore "Fifty Shades" Fans?

If there were ever a need to replace Dornan, casting agents should look no further than his own family. "Dad is the worst person in the world at keeping secrets, but he managed to keep the biggest secret ever: He's on The Fall. I didn't have anything to do with it. I didn't arrange it. He's gotten to know Allan Cubitt—who created the show—over the years. It's been four, five years of my life, this job. So, my dad's gotten to know him socially and stuff," the actor explained. "They just arranged it behind my back. They had to shoot me out of it, so [Gillian Anderson] kept shooting for about another month after I finished, because I had to go on Fifty Shades."

"I get sent all the episodes—not for approval; they don't really care what I have to say. To be polite, they send them before they're aired," the actor continued. "I was watching the second episode on a train from where we live in the middle of nowhere into London, and my dad pops up out of nowhere and delivers this one line really kind well. It was kind of good. That was it."

"He had to get an equity card, which is our version of a SAG card, so he could get paid for the job. So, now he sees himself as an actor," the actor said. And now, he wants to extend his 15 minutes of fame. "He'll be [doing] awards campaigns," Dornan joked. "He's going to go for it."