Jamie Dornan has admitted he was terrified about improvising on his latest movie and "genuinely wanted to run for the hills the first night".
The 37-year-old actor stars in Drake Doremus' Endings, Beginnings, which sees Shailene Woodley's character Daphne torn between two friends Jack (Dornan) and Frank (Sebastian Stan), and Dornan admitted the director's improv methodology left him scared.
Speaking to Variety, the County Down born actor said he "was actually thinking of running away" because he was so out of his comfort zone.
''I genuinely wanted to run for the hills the first night. There was a night shoot in L.A., and I was like, 'I'm so scared'. I was actually thinking of running away, like legitimately running away.
"I was terrified, because you're so out of your comfort zone. The first scene I had was the first time Daphne [Shailene Woodley] and Jack meet.
"It's a party scene. There's a lot of extras there. There's music so you have to raise your levels, talk loudly. I just felt so exposed, and I was like, 'F**k!' I sort of had no idea what was going to happen.''
Dornan revealed that after some initial fear, he soon got into improvising the scenes.
''There is a skeleton script. I feel like the first take, whatever is in the script came out of my mouth. You do one thing, and Drake comes over and goes: 'Hey, forget everything on the page. Do whatever you want here.' And you're even more terrified than you were the first time. But then, that gives way to ... I don't know, truth. You're suddenly standing there just trying to tell the truth of these two characters and these two situations.
''We'd sort of get into it. It's mad, it's amazing, it's unique and none of us had worked like that before. I'd done a tiny bit of improv in a funny way, but this wasn't meant to be funny. So yeah, it was crazy, but it was beautiful.''
The Fifty Shades of Grey actor also opened up about being in self-isolation, saying having a routine and schedule, especially with three young children, is key.
"Listen, I think there's nobody in the world who isn’t affected, some greater than others. It’s a time for hope and there will be an end to this and we all will be able to be together again. I’m a pretty positive person, but I’m acutely aware of the heartbreak, what so many people are going through in losing loved ones and not even being able to say goodbye to them.
I think, 'Just get through today.' You need a schedule. You need a plan. It’s harder if you’re by yourself, but I’ve got three young kids and my wife. We’ve got a proper schedule and we’re sticking to that because I think without that, we’d go mad. If you have a schedule, some sort of focus to get through the day, that definitely helps."
