Charlie Hunnam and Dakota Johnson weren’t E.L. James’ first choice to play Christian Grey and Anastasia Steele in the “Fifty Shades” movie either, according to recent reports. Ryan Gosling, Garrett Hedlund and Shailene Woodley were all frontrunners for the roll, The Hollywood Reporter wrote.

So Ryan Gosling as the steamy Seattle billionaire? It’s hard to tell how fans would have reacted to that considering he doesn’t fit the description lovers of the groundbreaking erotica have been so dead-set on, but according to the celebrity new site, he was actually the original archetype for the 27-year-old billionaire with a taste for BDSM.

Clearly that didn’t work out. Gosling wasn’t interested, THR said, because “Fifty Shades” would undoubtedly turn into a sequel, since there are three books, and he doesn’t “do” sequels, the Business Insider added. Ah, well, perhaps that just means he could remain as hopeless romantic Noah Calhoon from “The Notebook.”

Now for Garrett Hedlund. The “Tron: Legacy” star was apparently heavily courted by Universal Studios, but as everyone very well knows now to no avail. He supposedly passed on the role because he couldn’t connect with the character. Hm, that must mean that Hedlund has yet to develop a penchant to ben-wah balls.

Like Gosling, Shailene Woodley of the “Descendants” was also a personal favorite of James but she unfortunately did not have the availability. It’s a shame, too, because the 21-year-old was reportedly willing to portray the character, even with all of the nudity and explicit sex scenes. One of her latest films “Divergent” is set to hit theaters March 2014 and will reportedly be a franchise. It would conflict with the “Fifty Shades” filming since they wanted to start in early fall for the Aug. 1, 2014 release date.