IT may be dominating the box office, but Fifty Shades Of Grey’s depiction of sadomasochism has already been scorned as disappointingly tame.
Yet nobody could accuse its star, Jamie Dornan, of not going the extra mile to make his performance as Christian Grey as accurate as possible.
The Irish actor spent a night at a real sex dungeon during filming in Vancouver, witnessing what happens in a den of depravity.
The Mail on Sunday can reveal the 32-year-old – whose role in the adaptation of EL James’s best-selling novels is set to bring him stardom – visited the city’s Rascal’s club, where willing participants can indulge in everything from floggings to being poked with cattle prods.
Previously best known for playing the sexually driven murderer Paul Spector in the BBC television drama The Fall, Dornan has dealt with more than his share of dark sexual fantasies in the course of his work – yet his night at the club proved an eye-opener. “He seemed shocked at what he saw,” says a source who wants to remain anonymous. “There were men bound at the wrists being whipped by leather-clad women, people in stocks, and others tied up in all sorts of ways. Almost everyone was dressed in leather or lingerie. It’s not your average night down the pub.”
Dornan visited the club last year while filming the movie in Canada.
The actor has spoken of meeting prostitutes and observing events at a dungeon in a private home during his research for the role. He admitted he was taken aback by some of the explicit activities.
“I went there, he offered me a beer, and they did… whatever they were into,” he recalled. “I saw a dominant with two submissives, and he became our ‘kink adviser’ on the film.”
But on his visit to Rascal’s, one of Vancouver’s longest-running clubs which offers BDSM (bondage, discipline, sado-masochism), what he saw was even more extreme.
Set in a former church hall, Rascal’s boasts 12 “play stations” where people can be tied down, strung up, whipped and chained.
Dornan took pains to make clear he was there for research purposes only. “He looked, but didn’t touch,” says the source.
Club owner Sandy said: “We opened in 2002 and have a large, loyal following and pride ourselves on confidentiality. What happens here, stays here. The book brought more people to the club. It’s been good for business, though I haven’t read it myself.
“Many actors and film crews have visited Rascal’s – because so many films are shot in Vancouver – for research, curiosity, or fun. We have custom-made equipment you can’t find anywhere else.”
The club issues free condoms and submissives are given “safe words”, like the film’s Anastasia Steele has, to use if they want to call a halt to any activity.
“Everything is consensual,” says Sandy. “Nobody does anything they don’t want to do.” – Mail On Sunday