As of 2015, most people know actor Jamie Dornan the best of his role as the exciting and coveted character, Christian Grey, from the Fifty Shades franchise. While he certainly owned that part, the actor himself was around long before the famous erotic books were adapted into the hugely successful movie franchise it became.
Unfortunately, due to its huge success, Dornan sometimes seems doomed to remain forever in Gray's shadow as an actor. However, he has also appeared in over 20 other movies and several TV shows. Long ago Fifty Shades of greyfirst hit screens around the world, he was also already modeling for some of the biggest designer brands in the world; including Armani, Calvin Klein and Dior. Moreover, he is also a bit of a folk singer.
He is sometimes so misunderstood and sometimes so preoccupied with his identity as Christian Grey, that many people may not even know that he is actually Northern Irish - although ironically he was born in a town in Northern Ireland known as like Hollywood.
For anyone who may not know much about Jamie Dornan other than his role as "that hot guy," here's a look back at some of Dornan's best performances, both before and after Fifty Shades catapulted him to international stardom.
10 There was once
Billed as a fantasy adventure show, There was once was a series in which fairy tales were true, but often gave it a twist. It ran from 2011 to 2017 and was nominated for and won numerous awards during that time.
Dornan played the famous Huntsmen character in season one and was a guest star in season two, playing the role of a sheriff. His performances were solid in both and contributed to the show's early success.
9 My dinner with Herve
My dinner with Herve was an HBO TV movie starring the brilliant Peter Dinklage. It was well received and Jamie Dornan played his role as Danny, a struggling journalist battling addiction issues, quite well.
The story has a real-life basis and a tragic twist that helped further its acclaim. As a key figure in it, Dornan's role certainly cannot be overlooked and has contributed much to its praise.
8 Death and Nightingales
The 2018 show is set in Ireland Death and Nightingaleswas a historical drama series that paired Dornan with Welsh actor Matthew Rhys. Ann Skelly (also known for her role in The Nevers)starred, with Dornan and Rhys supporting her role as Beth.
Rhys decided to leave her unfulfilling existence behind and played her father while Dornan played the man who helps her achieve her plans. There's a lot of conflict and drama along the way, making it an intriguing watch as it went on to become one of Dornan's most highly regarded performances.
7 The Siege of Jadotville
At its peak Fifty Shades fame, Dornan played the lead role in the 2016 war film The Siege of Jadotville. The film gave a poignant look at the role of an Irish unit as part of a United Nations peacekeeping mission in the Congo.
Dornan's role as Commander Pat Quinlan was particularly praised for adding a certain charm to the role that was vastly different from the roles that made him famous. The Belfast Telegraph had this to say about his performance in the film:
As for Dornan, it undoubtedly contributed to his sympathy. In his public appearances, he comes across as humble, self-deprecating, who takes pains to downplay his success and his status as an object of lust (he is married with two young daughters). He's also, counterintuitively, built a career playing cold, obnoxious men - first as a charming serial killer in The Fall, then as the whips and chains - happy romantic interest in Fifty Shades. Thus, Jadotville offers his many fans a rare opportunity to see him as the straightforward good guy.
6 Trolls World Tour
In 2020, Dornan had already proven himself to be quite versatile as an actor. Then he lent his voice to the animated film Trolls World Tour, he once again showed that his true acting range went far beyond what people generally thought they knew him best for.
By voicing the character of Chaz, Dornan proved that he was just as comfortable in these types of roles as he was as a sex symbol or action star. While the film bombed at the box office, Dornan's role in it was generally well received.
5 In sync
The year before his turn as a voice actor, Dornan took on the sci-fi action movie, In sync next to Anthony Mackie. The movie saw the pair playing paramedics who were constantly called in for scenes where people appeared to be hit by some sort of designer drug that killed them.
Although the characters they played were polar opposites, Dornan's character, Dennis, was the family man, while Mackie's role was that of the ladies' man. In reality, despite Dornan's sultry appeal from his most famous films, this role was probably more reflective of his real life than the others, as he is a family man and has three daughters.
4 Belfast
Dornan went back to his Irish roots when he played the role of "Pa" in the Kenneth Branagh directed film Belfast. The film revolved around a young boy during a tumultuous period in Irish history in the 1960s. Dornan's role in it was critically acclaimed, as was the film itself as a whole.
He was later nominated for a Golden Globe and a Screen Actor's Guild Award for Best Actor in Motion Picture. While he won neither, he did win a number of awards for the role, including a Critics Choice Award.
3 The tourist
Last year, Dornan signed on to star in the popular HBO show The tourist. The show has been doing extremely well ever since and currently holds a 97% audience approval rating. Playing an amnesiac man who must solve the mysterious circumstances he finds himself in, Dornan has been almost universally praised for his role on the show thus far.
2 The fall
In addition to the very talented Gillian Anderson (The X files) in The fall, Dornan has won both an Irish Film and Television Award and a BAFTA for Best Actor for his role in the show. Because he plays a psychopath in it, Dornan brought a degree of likability and sex appeal to the character that few other actors could, given his backstory.
After many people found him a bit lackluster as Christian Grey, it led to the opinion that his range as an actor may be limited or not suitable for other roles. His appearance in The fall proved this view wrong. Indiewire's Zack Sharf had this to say about his role in it:
If you find yourself falling into the second camp this weekend, don't let your disappointment in Dornan stop you from thinking that the former model-turned-actor's talents are a complete bust. Instead, let Dornan's newfound fame lead you to his stellar BBC crime thriller 'The Fall', as this is where his 'bland' acting skills are revived in 'Fifty Shades' as menacing double entendres.
1 Fifty Shades of Gray franchise
So if this list was about Jamie Dornan's most acclaimed performances purely from an acting point of view, his most famous role as Christian Gray in the Fifty Shades of grey franchise probably wouldn't occur at all.
The reason was that these movies and the EL James books they were based on, while wildly popular, involve little more than cheap erotic thrills that benefit from a little provocation. The movies were just plain bad on their own, and if it weren't for the huge pop culture phenomenon that propelled them from the success of the books, they probably would have been complete flops by all accounts.
Anyway, their huge popularity made them blockbusters and pretty much introduced the whole world to Jamie Dornan and his co-star, the beautiful Dakota Johnson. With a character equally mysterious and somehow seductive to a mostly female audience, Dornan's role as Gray will undoubtedly remain his greatest legacy as an actor.
This is perhaps a shame, as the character is a dull and extremely toxic person, and Dornan has proven to be immensely talented and versatile as an actor. However, the huge popularity and love he gets for this character alone has got to make it his most famous performance, even if it was arguably far from his best.
Here are just a few examples of the love Christian Gray gets on Twitter:
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