Author of the popular erotic trilogy, Fifty Shades of Grey,shared why he has a change of opinion for one of her most popular characters, Christian Grey.
During her interview with TODAY.com, the author shared she came to the realisation while writing the sequel to her 2019 romance novel, The Mister, that Christian is ‘mentally exhausting.’
The Mister follows the story of Maxim Trevelyan, who unexpectedly inherits his family’s hereditary earl title after his brother dies suddenly. He then finds himself in love with Alessia Demachi, the woman hired to clean his London apartment.
In Fifty Shades, Christian Grey is affected by childhood trauma which turns him into what he is, while the protagonists in The Mister have external obstacles to deal with. Describing their differences, James shared how she truly feels about Christian.
“I would marry Maxim. He’s a reasonable human. I think you’d have to have the patience of a saint to marry someone like Christian,” she says. “I just find Christian mentally exhausting. physically exhausting. Utterly exhausting. Maxim is much more reasonable.”
James’ 2011 Fifty Shades of Grey novel was later adapted into a film, and the runaway hit erotic novel went on to have two sequels in 2012, Fifty Shades Darker and Fifty Shades Freed. Dakota Johnson and Jamie Dornan portrayed the main characters in the three films based on the books.
She then went on to release two retellings of the books from Grey’s perspective: Grey (2015) and Darker (2017).
James is not set to release the sequel ofThe Mistercalled The Missus, which is slated to release on June 20th, 2023.