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Evening Standard
Evening Standard
Entertainment
Lizzie Edmonds

Jamie Dornan says he was ‘jealous’ of friend Robert Pattinson’s early career success

Jamie Dornan has admitted he was “quite jealous” of his long-time friend Robert Pattinson’s early career success.

The Fifty Shades of Grey star, 41, has known Twilight actor Pattinson, 37, since before they were both famous.

But in the latest edition of Wired’s Autocomplete Interview video series, Dornan said he felt jealous of his friend when his acting career skyrocketed thanks to his pivotal role in the Twilight saga from 2008 to 2012.

“I’ve known Rob[ert] forever,” Dornan said. “He’s a really good friend. I love him. I think he’s one of the most interesting, exciting actors around.

“I probably at one point was quite jealous early on. We were all friends back in London and Rob was going places and we weren’t. I think he’s the nicest guy in the world.”

Robert Pattinson in 2022 (Getty Images)

Dornan is currently promoting new Netflix film Heart of Stone – which also stars Gal Gadot and Alia Bhatt.

The actor had various parts in his early career – but shot to fame when he was cast in the Fifty Shades of Grey series, which was adapted from the books of the same name.

Last month, the book’s author E. L. James said that it was a “traumatic time” when Fifty Shades was adapted for film.

Dornan starred alongside Dakota Johnson in the 2015 film, which was followed in succession by movies Fifty Shades Darker (2017) and Fifty Shades Freed (2018).

The erotic romance series follows Anastasia Steele (Johnson) as she begins a complicated relationship with young entrepreneur Christian Grey (Dornan), a billionaire who is fond of bondage.

Speaking on ITV programme Lorraine, James talked about the release of the films and said: “There were some good bits, there were some not so good bits, but it was a huge learning experience and I gained a lot out of it in those terms and hopefully we get to do it again.”

Jamie Dornan and Dakota Johnson in the Fifty Shades of Grey franchise (PA)

James also opened up about a bout of amnesia she had suffered from, following a period she termed “the great madness”.

She said: “In 2018, the stresses of all of this, the ‘great madness’ and the movies and everything, suddenly my brain just decided to reset.

“I lost seven years in terms of my memory and my husband found me sitting in our rather lovely beach house in Cornwall and asked me, ‘Are you okay?’ and I didn’t actually remember where I was, so it was a bit of a shock for him and he was quite scared that I’d had a stroke.”

The Fifty Shades Of Grey trilogy made James a millionaire many times over and in 2015 the Sunday Times Rich List estimated her fortune at £75 million.

In 2012, publishers said that Fifty Shades Of Grey, the first in the trilogy, was the best-selling book in the UK since records began.

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