--- title: B-list Stars for ’50 Shades of Grey’ Film description: The relatively low-profile actors Dakota Johnson and Charlie Hunnam are set to star in the upcoming movie adaptation of the popular erotic novel Fifty Shades... canonical: https://time.com/archive/7117867/b-list-stars-for-50-shades-of-grey-film/ author: TIME Staff article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2013-09-03T13:00:20.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-25T06:02:31.885Z article:section: Entertainment og:title: B-list Stars for ’50 Shades of Grey’ Film og:description: The relatively low-profile actors Dakota Johnson and Charlie Hunnam are set to star in the upcoming movie adaptation of the popular erotic novel Fifty Shades... og:url: https://time.com/archive/7117867/b-list-stars-for-50-shades-of-grey-film/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltbc288b1057744439/698a8e82457a520590d6fedc/170272359.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: 12th Annual Chrysalis Butterfly Ball og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: B-list Stars for ’50 Shades of Grey’ Film twitter:description: The relatively low-profile actors Dakota Johnson and Charlie Hunnam are set to star in the upcoming movie adaptation of the popular erotic novel Fifty Shades... twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltbc288b1057744439/698a8e82457a520590d6fedc/170272359.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Entertainment](/section/entertainment/) # B-list Stars for '50 Shades of Grey' Film by [TIME Staff](https://time.com/author/time-staff/) Sep 3, 2013 1:00 PM UTC  LOS ANGELES, CA - JUNE 08: Actress Dakota Johnson attends the 12th annual Chrysalis Butterfly Ball on June 8, 2013 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Jason LaVeris/FilmMagic) LOS ANGELES, CA - JUNE 08: Actress Dakota Johnson attends the 12th annual Chrysalis Butterfly Ball on June 8, 2013 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Jason LaVeris/FilmMagic)FilmMagic—2013 Jason LaVeris by [TIME Staff](https://time.com/author/time-staff/) Sep 3, 2013 1:00 PM UTC The relatively low-profile actors Dakota Johnson and Charlie Hunnam are set to star in the upcoming movie adaptation of the popular erotic novel _Fifty Shades of Grey_. The casting news, revealed in Monday Twitter [September 2, 2013](//twitter.com/E%5FL%5FJames/statuses/374547436913446914) " title="" target="\_blank">posts by the author of the novel, are the first sneak peek into the coming series of films based on the international best-selling series by E.L. James. Neither actor has been a lead in a major film to date. Johnson has previously had minor roles in _The Social Network_ and _21 Jump_ _Street_. She also played the lead-role of Kate in the short-lived comedy series _Ben and Kate._ Hunnam currently stars as Jax Teller on the FX series _Sons of Anarchy._ Industry insiders have speculated for months over who would secure two of the most coveted roles in Hollywood. Emma Watson, Shailene Woodley and Analeigh Tipton were all rumored for the lead female role of Anastasia, an innocent college student who enters into a lewd relationship with Grey. Robert Pattinson, Armie Hammer and _True Blood_‘s Alexander Skarsgard were rumored to be in contention for the roles of Grey. Johnson and Hunnam will presumably sign on for films based on all three books. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/archive/7117867/b-list-stars-for-50-shades-of-grey-film/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/archive/7117867/b-list-stars-for-50-shades-of-grey-film/"},"headline":"B-list Stars for '50 Shades of Grey' Film","datePublished":"2013-09-03T13:00:20.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-25T06:02:31.885Z","description":"The relatively low-profile actors Dakota Johnson and Charlie Hunnam are set to star in the upcoming movie adaptation of the popular erotic novel Fifty Shades...","url":"https://time.com/archive/7117867/b-list-stars-for-50-shades-of-grey-film/","keywords":[],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltbc288b1057744439/698a8e82457a520590d6fedc/170272359.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"TIME Staff","url":"https://time.com/author/time-staff/"}],"articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltbc288b1057744439/698a8e82457a520590d6fedc/170272359.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"12th Annual Chrysalis Butterfly Ball","caption":"12th Annual Chrysalis Butterfly Ball","creditText":"FilmMagic—2013 Jason LaVeris","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/entertainment/","name":"Entertainment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/archive/7117867/b-list-stars-for-50-shades-of-grey-film/","name":"B-list Stars for '50 Shades of Grey' Film"}}]}] ```