Jamie Dornan was recently approached by a woman who credited his movie Fifty Shades Of Grey for helping her fall pregnant after years of struggling to conceive.
The 34-year-old actor starred as S&M loving Christian Grey in the 2015 film and reprises his role in the upcoming sequel Fifty Shades Darker, due for release next month (Feb17). Discussing the role during an interview on The Ellen DeGeneres Show on Monday (30Jan17), the host asked Jamie if he was aware there had been a significant worldwide baby boom around nine months after the release of the first film.
"I heard one genuinely touching and sincere story when a woman spoke to me, she recognized me," Jamie said. "She told me that she had had trouble conceiving and then after Fifty Shades came out it all sort of clicked into place for them and they had a baby."
Jamie once again stars alongside Dakota Johnson, who plays Anastasia Steele, in Fifty Shades Darker, with the story following Christian and Ana's love story as they attempt to satisfy his fetishes in their relationship. Christian has a "Red Room" in his house, full of sexual instruments, and Ellen asked the Northern Irish star if he had ever got to grips with the toys in his own life before taking on the role.
"I mean, the funny thing is - pretty much everything you find in the Red Room you’ve used a version of - but not for the same effect," Jamie explained. "It’s more like what you’d use to ride a horse or to do up a bag that’s particularly full - like a buckle. So you have the skill set and you kind of surprise yourself.
"But most of it, I have to admit, I was very green about it."
When it comes to his personal life, Jamie doesn't share Christian's penchant for a bit of rough and tumble. And he also hasn't resorted to taking home any of the film’s toys to use with wife Amelia Warner in the comfort of their own home, laughing when Ellen asked him: "I don’t think she wants some used prop!"