Lucy Hale Was ‘Mortified’ Reading Racy Monologue During ‘Fifty Shades of Grey’ Audition

Dakota Johnson landed the role of Anastasia Steele in the 2015 “Fifty Shades of Grey” movie and went on to reprise her role in the remaining two films in the trilogy. However, Lucy Hale recently admitted that she still remembers feeling “mortified” after she auditioned for the same role.

The film, which was based on the E. L. James book, followed the life of an inexperienced college graduate, who began an erotic relationship with successful businessman Christian Grey, who was portrayed by Jamie Dornan.

During an interview with the Associated Press, Hale revealed that she still feels embarrassing over her audition for the film. “I was very young. It had to have been, not 10 years ago, it was a while ago, and I was mortified,” she explained.

“It wasn’t actual scenes from the movie, but it was a very sexually forward monologue, and I didn’t really even know what I was saying in the audition.”

In hindsight, the “Pretty Little Liars” alum admitted that it was probably best that the role went to someone else who was more comfortable with the topics that were explored in the movie.

“I was a little naive about it all, but yes, I did audition. I obviously didn’t get the part. But it was good for me because it scared the crap out of me to do an audition [like that],” she said.

In 2017, when Johnson and Dornan were filming the second film, “Fifty Shades Darker,” the two told Entertainment Tonight that they used alcohol to get through their uncomfortable sex scenes.

“It never gets [easy], but because we’ve become so close it was a lot easier to make [the scenes} special,” Johnson said at the time.

The actress revealed that the two had a “pre-game ritual” for filming the steamy scenes. “Shot of whiskey [and] mints. He does pushups and I just lay there and drink whiskey,” she shared.

Although Hale didn’t land the role of Anastasia, she went on to star in The CW’s Katy Keene and landed the lead role in the film “A Nice Girl Like You.”