Aisling Franciosi

TV Series The Fall

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2294189/

When 20-year-old Aisling Franciosi got cast as the babysitter in BBC's The Fall, she had no idea that the man she'd act opposite, Jamie Dornan, would eventually sign on to play Christian Grey in Fifty Shades. Nobody did. Now she's not only his co-star in the series — about a serial killer (Dornan) being hunted by a detective (Gillian Anderson) — she's been tied to a bed by him. And yet, somehow, her character is fascinating for so much more than her proximity to Dornan: She's playing a 16-year-old obsessed with a murderer, willing to lie to the police for him, hoping to lose her virginity to him. It's insane. Cosmopolitan.com spoke to Franciosi about the role, working alongside so many wonderful actresses, and — because I'm only human — what it was like to get bound by Christian Grey.

I think that was such a smart move to cast Jamie. Jamie's a brilliant actor and I always get protective of him in interviews because it's like, Oh, he's so good-looking. And I'm like, Yeah, but he's an amazing actor. But it is interesting to have such a good-looking person play such a horrible, twisted man. People attribute certain qualities to people for the way they look, and it's almost worrying how you sometimes almost find yourself going, "Quick! They're coming closer. Get away." And then you're like, "What am I doing? I'm egging on a serial killer …" It really made me question how we attribute good qualities to good-looking people.

Did Jamie getting cast in Fifty Shades affect your working experience?

I was kind of aware that I would probably get some hate or some reaction, shall we say, particularly from female viewers [laughs]. But, generally, when I was working with him, no. We just got on really well, and we worked together very well, and once you know a person, you know them, and you're aware that it's just another job. It's just that they're in the limelight. I mean, there were minor things, like if we were doing an outdoor scene, there'd be some people waiting around wanting to take a picture. And in the restaurant scene, when he walked in, there were definitely some urgent whisperings from the female extras. After the hotel room scene, my brother was like, So, do you think you're going to break Twitter tonight? And I was like, Oh god, I hope not.

BBC

Well, he does tie you up with a tie in that scene — it was practically begging for a Fifty Shades comparison. Did you guys acknowledge that?

Someone cracked a joke about it. There were a few jokes like, "You should be real good about tying knots at this stage, yeah?" Other than that, the joke kind of got old. It's so funny, because when I watched TV or films when I was younger, I'd be like, "Oh my god, that scene, it's so romantic" — anything that involves kissing or any of those kinds of things. And then it's all so technical on set that's it's never sexy in any way. But I did think, There are definitely gonna be some female fans who are going to want my guts for this.