Lucy Hale reveals why she was 'mortified' during her 'Fifty Shades of Grey' audition: "It scared..."
Lucy Hale disclosed that she once auditioned for the role of Anastasia Steele in the 2015 film 'Fifty Shades of Grey'! While speaking with the Associated Press, Hale spilled the beans on how "mortified" she was. "I was very young. It had to have been, not 10 years ago, but it was a while ago, and I was like, mortified," Hale confessed. The casting, production, and filming for 'Fifty Shades of Grey' began in 2013, with the first movie hitting theaters on February 13, 2015. Meanwhile, the sequels, 'Fifty Shades Darker' and 'Fifty Shades Freed', were released in 2017 and 2018, respectively.
Speaking of her audition, the 'Pretty Little Liars' alum mentioned that she didn't perform an actual scene from the film. Then, Hale was asked to deliver a "very sexually forward monologue." Hale recalled, "I didn't really even know what I was saying in the audition. I was a little naive about it all, but yes, I did audition." In the scene, the girl was having a chat with her friends about a "sexcapade." Hale further added. "I obviously didn't get the part. But it was good for me because it scared the c**p out of me to do an audition [like that].” Ultimately, Dakota Johnson bagged the role and appeared in the erotic romance trilogy alongside Jamie Dornan.
In the past, Hale has opened up about her 'Fifty Shades of Grey' audition in multiple interviews. While talking to Cosmopolitan, Hale described the whole audition experience as "uncomfortable." She explained, "It's exactly what you thought it would be: a big monologue but very, very sexual. There were some things that I was so embarrassed to be reading out loud, but it’s one of those things where you have to commit wholeheartedly or you’re going to make a fool of yourself."
Earlier, in an interview with E! News, Hale stated that after going through the script of the movie she was "so embarrassed and blushing the whole time." She added, "The whole time I was reading it, I was just laughing my butt off." Hale also revealed that while preparing for the film, she and her co-stars attended "an actual sex convention," calling it "wild" and recalling, "Stuff I'd never seen before."
For the unversed, 'Fifty Shades of Grey' is a romance erotic drama based on E. L. James' 2011 novel of the same name. The movie chronicles the story of a college graduate student named Anastasia Steele (played by Dakota Johnson) who gets involved in a sadomasochistic relationship with a young business tycoon Christian Grey (essayed by Jamie Dornan). Despite getting negative reviews from critics, the movie was a box-office success. If you're interested, 'Fifty Shades of Grey' is available for streaming on Amazon Prime Video and Peacock.