Casting 'Fifty Shades of Grey' - 10 Actresses Dakota Johnson Beat to Play Anastasia (One Was 'Mortified' & 'Uncomfortable' During Her Audition)

You’ll be surprised to learn some of the stars who auditioned to play Anastasia Steele in the big-screen adaptation of Fifty Shades of Grey.

Of course, Dakota Johnson landed the role alongside Jamie Dornan‘s Christian Grey. The movie took her star power to the next level. However, she faced stiff competition in the audition process.

The risque plot, which flirted with BDSM and featured multiple intimate scenes, made the franchise a risk for Hollywood, but it was one that paid off. Years later, the movies remain some of the highest-grossing projects with R-ratings.

Casting such a big project generated a lot of buzz at the time. Though we have a hard time imagining anyone but Dakota playing Anastasia, she wasn’t the only actress in the running.

We were curious and did some digging.

Our search revealed 10 actress who were attached to the role. Some of them denied the claims while others confirmed that they auditioned but weren’t chosen. One became a famous Marvel star. Another explained that they turned down the offer out of fear of being pigeonholed, and quite a few of them discussed the audition process as an uncomfortable one.

Scroll through the slideshow to see all of the actresses who were reportedly considered for a starring role in Fifty Shades of Grey…