Jamie Dornan Dubs 2021 The ‘Worst Year Of My Life’ For This Reason

Jamie Dornan looked back at 2021 with pain in his heart because the year had been the “hardest” one for him ever since his father died.

While reflecting on the previous year in an exclusive interview with the Telegraph published over the weekend, the 39-year-old actor dubbed 2021 “the worst year of my life.”

In March, the “Fifty Shades” actor lost his dad, Dr. Jim Dornan, to COVID-19. The obstetrician and gynecologist was 73 at the time of his passing.

Speaking of his late father, Dornan said Jim was a “beacon of positivity” despite the trials in his life. Jim lost his first wife and Jamie’s mom, Lorna, in 1998 due to pancreatic cancer. He also battled lymphocytic leukemia in 2005, according to People.

“Truly, you could search far and wide and it would be very hard to find something negative to say about my dad. He was a beacon of positivity — that is my overriding takeaway,” Dornan said of his father.

The actor continued, “His kindness, his willingness to talk to anybody and everybody," he continued. "He used to say, 'You treat the person who cleans the court the same as you treat the judge.' Dad had time for everybody.”

Career-wise, Dornan had a great year after receiving a lot of praise for his performances in “The Tourist” and “Belfast.” However, his deep sorrow over his dad’s demise overshadowed the positive response.

“It's a strange thing to end the year with all this positivity — with so much praise for ‘Belfast’ and a lot of good talk about ‘The Tourist.’ Because on many levels it's been the worst year of my life, and the hardest,” he said.

Jamie admitted that he is still processing the loss of his father since they were apart for more than a year before his death because of the pandemic restrictions, as per Us Weekly.

Despite this, the Hollywood star is moving forward with the lessons his dad instilled in him; one of them Jim gave when they were both coping with the loss of Lorna.

“Don’t let [grief] be the thing that defines you,” Jamie recalled his dad’s words to him. “[Your] life will never be the same again, but you can’t lead with it.”