Matt Bomer Vs. Jamie Dornan: ‘Fifty Shades Of Grey’ Fans Yearn For Actor After Trailer

“White Collar” star Matt Bomer was one of the early frontrunners, as chosen by fans, to land the role of Christian Grey from E.L. James’ best-selling novel “Fifty Shades of Grey.” The movie team ultimately cast Jamie Dornan from “Once Upon A Time” to play the sadistic Seattle billionaire, but after the trailer was released Thursday readers of the erotic novel again yearned for the dark-haired actor to play Anastasia Steele’s love interest.

Back in October, after it was already revealed the Irish actor had landed the lead role as the S&M businessman, 89,391 fans signed a petition asking for Bomer to star in “Fifty Shades of Grey,” Variety reported.

“Matt Bomer is the PERFECT DESCRIPTION OF CHRISTIAN GREY AND ALEXIS BLEDEL IS THE PERFECT ACTRESS TO REPRESENT ANASTASIA,” part of the petition read, Entertainment Weekly reported. Bomer, 36, even responded to his fans.

“I’m so grateful for the fans and touched,” he told the news site. “I’m looking forward to seeing the movie."

While there are plenty of people who were impressed with Dornan and Dakota Johnson’s portrayal of Christian and Ana, some felt it was lackluster and took to Twitter to post about their disappointment.

Some noted Bomer’s sexual orientation might have been the reason he did not land the role, but it did not stop thousands of fans from thinking he was perfect to play Grey. Variety wrote he would have made history if he were cast in the erotic film, as a gay actor playing a straight character in a lead role.

The news site noted there are plenty of out actors who play heterosexual characters on the small screen -- Neil Patrick Harris, Jane Lynch, Chris Colfer, Cynthia Nixon, T.R. Knight, Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Zachary Quinto, Sean Hayes and Bomer -- but the same progression hasn’t been seen on the silver screen.

“Fifty Shades of Grey” is slated to premiere in theaters nationwide on Feb. 13.

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