Holywood actor Jamie Dornan has expressed he is “the happiest I have ever been” as he talked about his wife and three children and reminisced about growing up in Northern Ireland.
Dornan — known for his starring roles in the Fifty Shades franchise and crime drama The Fall — also spoke about his career and love of golf with broadcaster Iona Stephen on her YouTube channel ‘On The Road With Iona’.
The 42-year-old joins a host of famous faces such as Jon Rahm, Niall Horan, Rick Shiels, Bronte Law and Martin Slumbers who were previously interviewed by former professional golfer Iona on her YouTube channel, which she describes as “profound conversations with incredible people who share a love of the game of golf.”
During their conversation, he was asked if he was happy with where his life is at the moment.
“I’m so happy with my family; I married an incredible woman and we have three healthy girls and I love that stability and I’m thankful for it,” he said.
“Career-wise I’m also the happiest I’ve ever been, getting to do really cool work and work with cool people.”
Dornan also paid tribute to Northern Ireland and growing up in the country for staying grounded in the film and TV industry.
“I’m so grateful for where I’m from, it’s a big part of me, and I really care about that part of the world,” he said.
“I think it’s been beneficial to me to be from Northern Ireland and to have an environment where ego isn’t allowed. I’m not saying it doesn’t exist, but it’s not received well, people don’t like it.”
“We’re a real culture of putting each other down in a fun and grounding way and it’s super important I think,” he added.
“I’ve had the same group of friends since I was a kid and it’s a total necessity for keeping your head, especially in the line of work I’m in.”
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Dornan’s most recent TV stint was starring the second series of BBC thriller The Tourist.
When asked about his career’s “breakthrough moment”, without hesitation he said The Fall – his 2013 thriller series set in Belfast, starring opposite Gillian Anderson.
“The Fall changed my life totally overnight, and everything after that really was all down to that one job and people taking a risk to cast me,” he said.
He also revealed that, while he never officially trained as an actor after working as a model for many years, he said a lot of it was learned “on the job”.
“I did a bit of youth theatre both in school and out of it, a bit of am-dram, it’s not like I was a model and decided I wanted to be an actor, I did it to various degrees and did my first movie when I was 22 and had an agent from then but didn’t knuckle down and think about it until my late 20s,” he said.
“I also did some classes in LA, but you really learn so much on the job — both successes and failures.”
He told host Iona that, while he doesn’t regret starring in the 50 Shades movies, he said the criticism helped him “tune out the noise” that comes with big roles in Hollywood.
“I don’t regret the movies at all but there was a lot of awful stuff said about the movies and about me at that time,” he added.
“It’s just noise though and you have to find a way of turning that noise down and try and live a normal life.
“I think I’ve come out the back of that experience having learnt a lot and maybe knowing that I don’t want to find myself in that position that often,” he added.
“There’s a lot of pressure that comes with those sorts of tentpole movies.”
Turning to golf, Dornan — an avid golfer — revealed he loves the “constant challenge” of the sport.
“I love the pursuit of trying to get it right; it’s a really good thing to have in your life,” he said.
“To have this thing that you’re always trying to get better at is great.”
Given the audience, the actor also touched on his fellow Holywood native more well-known in golfing circles
In the video Dornan expressed his previous doubts over whether or not Rory McIlroy “would make it” in the world of golf.
McIlroy hit headlines recently after reconciling with his wife Erica following their initial filing for divorce.
The actor admitted that he had doubts about the future of McIlroy’s golfing career.
“I remember being about 16 and I was in Holywood town centre and there was all this stuff in shop windows about this under-10s world champion Rory McIlroy,” he told Iona.
“I remember thinking to myself: ‘He isn’t going to make it as a golfer, he’s a kid, he’s 9 years old’ and I remember thinking who is this kid we’re all getting excited about?
“He’s clearly going to fall out of love with the game when he hits secondary school, but clearly that wasn’t the case.”
Last month it was revealed that the Co Down actor is set to star in a new heist series on Apple TV+.
The actor is also set to be an executive producer on the series '12 12 12', according to US publication Variety.
