Dornan Jamie - Fifty Shades of Jamie Dornan - A Biography

T all, brooding and devilishly handsome with a mop of red-brown hair, Christian Grey slowly, methodically raps his fingers on the table. The pretty brunette sitting by his side moves uncomfortably in her seat, biting her lip seductively before flashing him the sweetest of smiles. Smoothing down his tailored designer suit, the man who has become the object of womens fantasies the whole world over glances nervously around the room.

Suddenly the room breaks into rapturous applause.

The Actor of the Year award goes to Jamie Dornan, a loud voice booms over a microphone.

With the broadest of grins, the smouldering actor plants an impassioned kiss on his wife Amelias lips before jumping onto a platform to receive his golden statue.

At just thirty-one, the age when boys become men, Jamie had achieved the unthinkable: he was a bona fide actor at last and this, his first award, was proof that the gruelling years of blood, sweat and tears had been well worth it. Undeniably, Jamie Dornan the man now recognised as the kinky billionaire in the hotly anticipated Fifty Shades of Grey movie had dreamt of this moment countless times before.

It had all started twenty years previously, in a school hall back home in Belfast, where a small, chronically shy schoolboy had climbed on stage to receive his first drama prize. He had pulled off a hilarious performance as Widow Twanky in the Christmas pantomime and, with the applause of parents, teacher and classmates ringing in his ears, little Jamie Dornan knew a Hollywood career was for him. However, what the young lad from Northern Ireland didnt know was that his path to fame and fortune would be far from easy.

To anybody in the outside world, his CV as an adult star was impressive. Dubbed The Golden Torso, Jamie was a hugely successful male model in his twenties, who became famous for dating actress Keira Knightley and commanding 10,000 a day as he posed for some of the worlds top designers.

A music career followed but acting seemed to be his forte and he soon landed a string of high profile roles including a serial killer in the BBC series The Fall, an outlaw in the US historical drama New Worlds and the formidable Christian Grey in the Fifty Shades of Grey trilogy, which would seal his place in Hollywood.

However, looks can be deceiving and behind the scenes his personal life would have as many twists and turns, exhilarating highs and devastating lows, as the shows that would make him famous.

The son of a doctor, Jamie and his two sisters had what would be considered a charmed childhood, growing up in a sprawling family home in an affluent area of Belfast, attending a top school and dreaming of treading the boards like his legendary great-aunt, Hollywood actress Greer Garson. But behind the sports trophies and amateur acting triumphs, a series of personal tragedies in his teenage years threatened to throw him off course. When his mother died from cancer and four friends were killed in a road crash a year later, Jamie was forced to seek help. Then years later, and just as the ex-model was making serious strides towards Hollywood, he suffered another blow when his devoted father was diagnosed with life-threatening leukaemia.

Jamie was very aware that life was precious and, following his dads lead, the star was determined to make the most of everything he had. Indeed, just a year after his thirtieth birthday, there was much to celebrate: not only had he been fortunate enough to land a lead role in the film adaptation of E. L. Jamess top-selling book, Jamie had also become a father.

His two greatest life ambitions had happened within weeks of each other; as his wife prepared to give birth, the actor had been gearing up to start filming on the Fifty Shades set.

While he would need some serious courage and drive to pull off both roles with aplomb, the tough times had taught Jamie that with the love and support of his devoted family he could achieve anything he wanted. And as the handsome actor stood in front of a star-studded audience at the 2014 Irish Film and Television Awards, golden statue in hand, he had everything to thank them for, saying: I want to thank my beautiful family for being really beautiful. I want to thank my wife Millie for being the best thing that ever happened to me. I want to thank my baby who is four months old and shes sleeping right now upstairs, shes beautiful too. And I want to thank everyone whos ever met me and whos been nice to me I guess. Thank you all.

As he addressed the crowd, Jamie looked every inch the beautiful Christian Grey to the legions of fans watching this special moment in his life. His lifestyle, though, couldnt be more different from that of the fictional character he plays: no swanky helicopter was waiting to whisk him away from the ceremony and no champagne on ice or team of blonde assistants was on hand to tend to his every whim. Modest to a fault, Jamie is a kind, thoughtful family man with a penchant for drinking Guinness.

He is so down to earth that he likes to tidy up before his cleaner comes round and keeps stamps in his wallet because he likes good old-fashioned letter-writing, especially to his dad.

A devoted father himself, he would rather spend the night rocking his daughter to sleep in his arms than party until dawn with the rich and famous. And not only that, he even described champagne as poo-flavoured sand.

However, while Jamie Dornans life seems as far from Christian Greys as it can possibly get, it is certainly not black-and-white either. In fact, not only have there been many shades to Jamies past, it has been very colourful indeed.