‘Fifty Shades Darker’ Star Jamie Dornan Opens Up About Filming Sequels After Nice Terror Attack

Moving on in the wake of tragedy is difficult — this is a lesson the people of Nice, France, and Jamie Dornan learned the hard way in July. While people celebrated Bastille Day, a terrorist plowed through a crowd, killing 84 and injuring 120 more.

The attack, which was one of many that have occurred in Europe in recent months, affected all who heard about it but hit especially close to home for Dornan. The Holywood, United Kingdom, native was in France filming both “Fifty Shades Darker” and “Fifty Shades Freed” with his co-stars when tragedy struck. While a majority of the cast was safe and sound in Monaco, Dornan — who had gotten a visit from wife Amelia Warner and their two daughters — was much closer to the action at the time. During an interview with ComingSoon.net, he called the situation “bloody awful” adding that he struggled to go back to work the following day.

“The first thing everyone has to work out was is everybody safe, is the whole crew and cast safe. Then you have the strange thing of the next day still trying to make this movie that’s costing millions of dollars to put together. There’s this contractual obligation to work the next day, which is a very strange environment to work in,” Dornan explained. “It felt very frivolous and wrong to be making something as silly as a f---ing movie the day after something like that happened.”

Although getting back to work was a struggle for Dornan, 34, and his co-stars, they were able to finish filming and seem pleased with how both movies came out. During an appearance on “Good Morning America,” Dornan discussed the added stress of filming not one, but two movies at the same time. He told the show’s hosts that while tackling both projects at one time was not easy, it was the right decision for them. Dornan added that the energy of his co-stars, especially Dakota Johnson (Anastasia Steele) helped him push through to the end.

“We have a lot of fun together. Dakota’s funny and we’ve been through this mad sort of journey together and I’m very thankful that I’ve done it with someone who is easy to do it with,” he said. “It could have been a very different experience had we not got on.”

In addition to the “Fifty Shades” franchise, which is complete now that “Fifty Shades Darker” and “Fifty Shades Freed” have ceased production, Dornan and Johnson can focus on other projects. Dornan will appear in “Anthropoid,” which hits theaters Friday, Aug. 12. The film is a biographical thriller, based on the true story of Operation Anthropoid in WWII. Dornan plays Jan Kubiš in the film and stars alongside Cillian Murphy, who plays Jozef Gabcík.