Could Ryan Gosling be the new star of Fifty Shades of Grey? In an interview with Now Magazine, the husband of the book's author has let slip that the Drive star is first choice for the role. And we're pretty sure he'll be a popular choice with cinema-goers and fans of the 'mummy-porn' novels, too. Niall Leonard, the husband of EL James, told the magazine that "the last [he] heard," Gosling was still the favourite to land the raunchy role.
Other actors thought to be in contention to play the role of Christian Grey include Chris Pine, Ian Somerhalder and Alexander Skarsgard but Gosling would undoubtedly be a bigger draw than any of his contenders. In the interview, Niall denied being the inspiration for his wife's literary creation: "I'm glad I'm not him" said the author's husband, "because he's actually damaged. I wouldn't have liked to go through what he went through."
Casting for the Fifty Shades of Grey roles have been at the forefront of this summer's Hollywood gossip columns, ever since the success of the original books - which were themselves borne as works of fan fiction dedicated to Stephenie Meyer's Twilight novels - began to snowball. Sales of Fifty Shades of Grey have now reached unprecedented levels and it's now become the fastest-selling paperback of all time, beating Meyer's Twilight series and even eclipsing (if you'll excuse the pun) the success of Jk Rowling's Harry Potter novels.