One year ago, Congress defunded public media. Now that we're 100% community funded, please become a sustaining member or increase your existing membership today.
This is an archival story that predates current editorial management.
This archival content was written, edited, and published prior to LAist's acquisition by its current owner, Southern California Public Radio ("SCPR"). Content, such as language choice and subject matter, in archival articles therefore may not align with SCPR's current editorial standards. To learn more about those standards and why we make this distinction, please click here.
'50 Shades Of Grey' To Be Directed By Sam Taylor-Johnson
Sam Taylor-Johnson and husband Aaron Taylor-Johnson (Featureflash / Shutterstock.com)
A director has finally been picked to helm "50 Shades of Grey," and as more information comes out about her, it looks like she's a total badass.
Deadline broke the news that Sam Taylor-Johnson, the woman behind 2009's "Nowhere Boy," will take the reigns for bringing EL James' best-selling erotica novel to the big screen. The story, in case you have been living under a rock, tells of the kinky, S&M-ish relationship between a 27-year-old billionaire and a college student.
According to Deadline, Taylor-Johnson is a curious pick in part because she doesn't have a whole lot of experience under her belt:
...Taylor-Johnson is a surprise choice. In addition to Nowhere Boy, which garnered her a pair of BAFTA nominations and an eventual husband in that film’s star Aaron Taylor-Johnson (of Kick-Ass fame), she had only directed the short film Love You More which was in Cannes in 2008.
But part of what's compelling about her, it seems, is her personal life. Prior to becoming a director, reports The Daily Beast, she worked as a visual artist, and the topics she focused on were of the deeply human, complicated, and sensual variety:
Much of her early video artwork tackled madness, death, power, and sexuality. There’s Brontosaurus, where a naked man flails his body about like he’s possessed to a classical score; Knackered, where a naked woman acts out opera scenes; and Pieta, where Taylor-Wood cradles Robert Downey Jr. in her arms.
And then, there's her husband. The Daily Beast notes that she met Aaron Taylor-Johnson on the set of a movie when she was 42 and he was just 18.
Sponsored message
That might be part of the reason that producer Michael De Luca liked her, given the material she'll be dealing with.
“Sam’s unique ability to gracefully showcase complex relationships dealing with love, emotion and sexual chemistry make her the ideal director to bring Christian and Anastasia’s relationship to life,” De Luca told Deadline. “EL James’ characters and vivid storytelling require a director who is willing to take risks and push the envelope where needed, and Sam is a natural fit.”
One year ago, Congress voted to defund public media, eliminating a critical $1.7 million from our budget every year going forward. But they couldn’t silence us, and we’re not going anywhere. LAist is now 100% community funded and that means we’re taking our future into our own hands and turning to you to keep local reporting strong.
You come to LAist because you want independent reporting and trustworthy local information. Our nonprofit newsroom doesn’t answer to shareholders looking to turn a profit. Instead, we answer to you and our communities. We are free to follow facts wherever they lead and to hold power to account without fear or favor. Our only loyalty is to our readers and listeners and our mission: to inform, engage, and strengthen Southern California’s communities.
If this story helped you, please become a monthly member today to help sustain this mission. It just takes 1 minute to donate below.
You come to LAist because you want independent reporting and trustworthy local information. Our nonprofit newsroom doesn’t answer to shareholders looking to turn a profit. Instead, we answer to you and our communities. We are free to follow facts wherever they lead and to hold power to account without fear or favor. Our only loyalty is to our readers and listeners and our mission: to inform, engage, and strengthen Southern California’s communities.
If this story helped you, please become a monthly member today to help sustain this mission. It just takes 1 minute to donate below.
Senior Vice President News, Editor in Chief
