The countdown is on, THGers. It is so very on.
It’s late in the year, which means we are revealing the finalists for, and eventually the winner of, our site’s prestigious, arbitrary, 7th Annual Celebrity of the Year honor.
Kate Upton heated everything up at #10, Walter White cooked his way into our hearts at #9 and Jennifer Lawrence stole them at #8. Now, our seventh finalist …
Christian Grey!
We thought about giving this slot to Jamie Dornan, who will bring Christian Grey to life in the Fifty Shades of Grey movie adaptation of EL James’ books.
It was Christian who left more of a mark on 2013 than Dornan, however. In fact, the actor who will actually play him on screen was only recently revealed.
He wasn’t even the first person announced as the lead character. That was Charlie Hunnam, who went on to bail on the sexy project for unspecified reasons.
Prior to the casting of Hunnam and the re-casting of the role with Dornan, never has there been more speculation, debate and opinion over a movie character.
Who would be the perfect Christian Grey?
This question was asked millions of times since the movie rights to Fifty Shades of Grey were optioned. Heck, it’s still being asked, with filming underway.
Ian Somerhalder. Matt Bomer. Ryan Gosling. Robert Pattinson. The list of potential Christians was long and handsome, but there could be only one.
Jamie Dornan, as a relative unknown, has a great opportunity to really become Christian in a way that Gosling, Somerhalder and certainly R-Pattz couldn’t.
That doesn’t mean people don’t want Ian Somerhalder, however, or whomever. Everyone has their own idealized vision of the troubled, S&M-loving billionaire.
As a casting agent, you can’t please everybody when everybody wants to be pleased by the same man, and that man exists only in the reader’s imagination.
For that reason, a fictional character (from a glorified Twilight erotic fan fiction book, no less) makes THG’s Celebrity of the Year countdown for 2013.
Christian Grey is one of a kind, and while there can be only one actor to officially play him when the film comes out in 2015, fan-made trailers are forever.
