A lot of fun and sexy things are going to happen in Fifty Shades Darker — the masquerade ball, the Charlie Tango sabotage, (maybe) the Ben Wa incident — but none of that will be as exciting as the introduction of several new characters. If the first movie was all about the establishment of Christian and Ana’s relationship, the second will focus on what happens when outside parties test that relationship. The most important of these newcomers is probably Elena, the original Dominant to Christian’s submissive, whom Ana sarcastically refers to as “Mrs. Robinson,” but there will also be interference from Christian’s former submissive Leila, Ana’s new boss Jack, and a Seattle Independent Press author named Boyce.
Fifty Shades fans have in the past been very vocal about their approval (or disapproval) of casting choices, but casting director Laray Mayfield says she wasn’t too worried about upsetting fans because she knew she and director James Foley had chosen great people for the new roles. “I don’t mean that in a flippant or dismissive way,” she explained, but “we’re more than likely not going to cast someone that fans wouldn’t like. We have too many people shepherding the project to be true to what the fans expect.” Below, Laray shares her insights on casting the four most important new players in Darker.
Elena Lincoln, played by Kim Basinger:
“We wanted someone who was exactly like Kim Basinger, so it’s exactly why we cast her — strong and beautiful and attractive, but attractive in the sense that she draws people into her. From the get-go, she was very much someone that we were really hoping that we would be interested in the role. She was the person. When you have the opportunity to work with Kim Basinger, you don’t need to look further. She’s maybe one of the nicest, easiest, most delightful people I’ve ever met.”
Leila Williams, played by Bella Heathcote:
“We wanted an amazing actress who would just embody the role, and really be brave and step out there — make the material seem really real. Even though there is probably some fear that goes along with her character, you want to have some sort of compassion as well. Bella’s everything that I described. She’s incredibly talented, she’s very brave, she’s a very hard worker. She listens so well, takes amazing direction, and she is a multifaceted person herself, so it’s very easy for her to bring layers to characters that make them deeper or more emotional perhaps than they might just look on paper.”
Jack Hyde, played by Eric Johnson:
“That was a tricky role. You needed someone who could be identified very easily as different than Christian, but there were also things about him that were very similar to Christian — his age, what he did for work, how he looked, and things like that. It was really finding the person who was just perfectly complementary to Christian. Eric is so nice. He is lovely. The thing about Eric that’s really interesting is he has this quiet nature to him, so it’s a little unexpected when you see these turns in him. That was also really important, because you didn’t want to cast somebody that was completely ominous from the very beginning. You want to see that unravel come up as a surprise, and Eric is wonderful with that. Many people who see the movie know the books very well, but they didn’t realize [Jack’s dark side] in the beginning. That character unfolded for them in the books, so you still want to give them that in the movie.”
Boyce Fox, played by Tyler Hoechlin:
“We wanted somebody you might think could be the first real threat to Christian’s position in Anastasia’s life. Someone with confidence, who’s maybe closer to who Anastasia was or is. Maybe the two of them have more in common [than Ana and Christian]. Tyler usually plays much bigger roles, but the director did not have another choice. Tyler was his first choice!”
Follow Eliza on Twitter.
