10 Stars Considered to Play Anastasia in 'Fifty Shades of Grey' Before Dakota Johnson was Cast (Including a Marvel Actress!)

Fifty Shades of Grey shook up the industry when it premiered back in 2015, and we’re still talking about it nearly a decade later.

Inspired by the steamy novels from E.L. James, the franchise starred Dakota Johnson as Anastasia Steel and Jamie Dornan as Christian Grey, the domineering man she fell in love with. Their chemistry centered the story across three movies.

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-grossed 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.

In fact, we were able to round up 10 actress who were considered for the role. 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…