The original Christian Grey is not afraid to let his emotions show.
In a new interview with V Man magazine, the former "Sons of Anarchy" star opens up about having to drop out of "Fifty Shades of Grey," which he said had everything to do with scheduling and not reservations about playing the racy Christian Grey role.
"Oh, it was the worst professional experience of my life. It was the most emotionally destructive and difficult thing that I've ever had to deal with professionally," the 35-year-old actor told the mag. "It was heartbreaking."
PHOTOS: Charlie Hunnam’s Sexy V Man Spread
Charlie said he had committed to filming Guillermo Del Toro's "Crimson Peak," which was going to conflict with the filming of the big screen version of the S&M-filled bestseller.
"I'd given Guillermo my word, over a year before, that I was going to do this film. People were saying, 'Are you crazy? Guillermo still has got four months to recast, it's the fourth lead, you can go and do this [instead].' I said, 'I can't. He's my friend, I've done a film with him, I gave him my word.' I'm pretty mercurial and a very difficult, long-winded decision-maker at the best of times.
PHOTOS: ‘Fifty Shades Of Grey’ Hunk Jamie Dornan
"It was deeply unpleasant and challenging emotionally," he explained. "I really, really pride myself on being a professional and a man of keeping my word. It means a lot to me, truly."
When Charlie called director Sam Taylor-Johnson to tell her the bad news, the actor's emotions got the best of him.
"I called her and we both cried our eyes out on the phone for 20 minutes. I needed to tell her that this was not going to work… there was a lot of personal stuff going on in my life that left me on real emotional shaky ground and mentally weak. I just got myself so f **king overwhelmed and I was sort of having panic attacks about the whole thing. I just didn't know what to do," he continued.
The actor was quick to shoot down rumors that the film's sexual content was behind his decision to exit the project.
"The outside perception of that was that I got really cold feet and got scared of the explicit nature of the sexuality of the piece. When I was 18 I was getting f**ked in the a**, completely naked on national TV, you know?" he said, referring to his role on the British version of "Queer as Folk."
See Charlie in "Crimson Peak" with Jessica Chastain, Tom Hiddleston and Mia Wasikowska on October 16.
-- Jesse Spero
Copyright 2015 by NBC Universal, Inc. All rights reserved.
This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
