50 Shades of Grey Movie Cast: Henry Cavill and Ryan Gosling Duel Over Christian Grey Role

It’s on. The battle for the coveted role of S&M business tycoon Christian Grey, in the upcoming film version of E.L. James’ novel Fifty Shades of Grey, has fans divided between two of the strongest contenders to date: Man of Steel’s Henry Cavil and The Gangster Squad’s Ryan Gosling.

Gosling, who’s built a gallant persona thanks to the romantic and sensible roles he’s played in movies such as The Notebook and Crazy, Stupid, Love, became an instant favorite since talks about casting the CEO of Grey Enterprises first surged online. His name recognition and popularity among the ladies would be enough to make Fifty Shades of Grey the movie a smash hit on screen and in the box office.

However, Christian Grey is not sensible towards women. He abuses them, and makes them his fetish sexual slaves. By casting Gosling as Grey, producers De Luca & Brunetti (The Social Network), as well as the actor, could potentially face backlash from angry fans turned off by the transformation of hot nice guy Gosling (Hey girl, anyone?) into a BSDM monster. It could backfire, big time.

Cavill, on the other hand, is a relative newcomer. Introduced to American audiences by Showtime’s historical drama The Tudors, the British actor’s big break is expected to be Christopher Nolan-produced Man of Steel – the new installment of Superman to be released in summer 2013. And despite of no being as famous as Gosling, Cavill has skyrocketed in the “Christian Grey sweepstakes,” with even a Pinterest page – “Christian Grey (Henry Cavill)” – vying for the stud to be cast as E.L. James’ popular character. 

Fans say a newcomer should play the obscure role of Christian Grey, as a Hollywood heavyweight could outshine the much anticipated film adaptation with his larger-than-life celebrity persona and innumerable gossip magazine covers and red carpet appearances. If that were the case, Henry Cavill would be better than Ryan Gosling to bring Christian Grey to the big screen. 

However, if the part ends up being written and directed with an emphasis on acting; then Gosling would have the chance to show his acting prowess and versatility to play the seductive king of S&M without damaging his “vanilla” persona or alienating his millions of teenage fans.