As the provocative Fifty Shades of Grey book trilogy was brought to life on the big screen, fans may have been curious about the real-world ages of leads Dakota Johnson and Jamie Dornan compared to their characters Ana Steele and Christian Grey. While both actors were well-suited to portray the young, intense lovers, there were some notable age gaps between the performers and their fictional counterparts.

When the first Fifty Shades film hit theaters in February 2015, Dakota Johnson was 25 years old – several years older than her character Ana, who was depicted as a naive 21-year-old college graduate in the story’s initial events. As the sequels Fifty Shades Darker (2017) and Fifty Shades Freed (2018) unfolded, Johnson continued playing the role while naturally aging several years beyond Ana’s written timeline.

By the time of Freed’s filming and depiction of a short epilogue jump three years into the future, Johnson was portraying an Ana meant to be 25, while the actress herself was already 28. Still, Johnson proved adept at capturing Ana’s youthful essence despite the increasing gap.

On the other side of the story’s central relationship, Jamie Dornan embodied the enigmatic billionaire Christian Grey while reasonably closer to, but still older than, the character’s stated age of 27 at the outset. Dornan was already 32 years old during filming of the 2015 original, portraying Grey as a few years younger.

As the trilogy progressed and Christian celebrated birthdays that took him to ages 28 and 31 (in the epilogue), Dornan grew into his mid-30s, starring as Grey at 34 in Darker and 35 in Freed. The disparity grew by the final film but remained less pronounced than with Johnson’s take on the younger Ana.

While featuring leads slightly older than their book counterparts, the first-hand experience and maturity brought by Johnson and Dornan undoubtedly benefited the intense, adult-themed material of the globally popular Fifty Shades adaptations. Their natural chemistry and commitment to the roles allowed for believable portrayals that kept audience’s inhibitions…tied up.

Tags: Dakota Johnson Erotic Fifty Shades of Grey Focus Features Jamie Dornan Luke Grimes Romance Sam Taylor-Johnson Seamus McGarvey Universal Pictures