QUEER AS FOLK ACTOR TAKES 50 SHADES LEAD

Charlie Hunnam, who became famous as a gay teen in the original British version of Queer as Folk, has scooped one of the most coveted roles in Hollywood.

On Monday, it was announced that Hunnam will star as 27-year-old billionaire Christian Grey, the lead male character in the highly anticipated film adaptation of Fifty Shades of Grey.

E L James’ novel follows the sexually charged relationship between Grey and college student Anastasia Steele.

The book has become a global phenomenon and the trilogy has been translated into 50 languages worldwide. To date, the Fifty Shades trilogy has sold over 70 million copies worldwide.

Hunnam will share the screen with Dakota Johnson (The Social Network, 21 Jump Street), who will star opposite him as Anastasia Steele. Johnson is the daughter of actor Don Johnson,

The hunky 33-year-old British born Hunnam recently starred in the blockbuster Pacific Rim and appears as a regular on the critically acclaimed series Sons of Anarchy.

His first rose to fame, however, at the age of eighteen when he was cast as fifteen-year-old gay schoolboy Nathan Maloney in Queer as Folk (1999 – 2000), which went on to become a success in the UK.

The show, about a trio of gay men, followed Nathan’s coming out and his relationship with an older gay man. At the time it was groundbreaking for its depiction of gay sexual intimacy on television.

An American-Canadian version of Queer as Folk, with other actors, went on to become an even bigger hit in the US.