Lucy Hale Was ‘Mortified’ by Her ’50 Shades of Grey’ Audition, but It Was Still ‘Good’ for Her

Fans of Lucy Hale may find it completely impossible to imagine her playing the Anastasia Rose Steele in 50 Shades of Grey. But, there was a time, not too long ago, when it was a definite possibility. The Katy Keene star actually auditioned for the popular film (which was based on the eponymous book) and its two subsequent sequels. But, she has a less than ideal experience auditioning for the role.

Recently, while Hale was promoting her latest film, A Nice Girl Like You, she reminisced about her audition for 50 Shades of Grey. Citing that she was quite young, in her mid-20s at the time, Hale stated that she underestimated just how graphic the film would be. Of course, fans of the book series will note that there are plenty of sex scenes that occur between Anastasia and her love interest, Christian Grey. But, Hale was a little in the dark about just how overtly sexual the role was.

Lucy Hale was mortified in her ’50 Shades of Grey’ audition

“I was very young. It had to have been, not 10 years ago, it was a while ago and I was mortified,” the Pretty Little Liars alum revealed in the interview with AP Entertainment. While Hale admits that she didn’t have to audition with scenes that would actually end up in 50 Shades of Grey, the monologue was explicit enough for her to be quite embarrassed by it.

“It wasn’t actual scenes from the movie, but it was a very sexually forward monologue and I didn’t really even know what I was saying in the audition. I was a little naive about it all, but yes, I did audition,” Hale recalled. Of course, this isn’t the first time that Hale recounted that she was embarrassed by the audition. Back in 2014, Hale spoke with Cosmopolitan about her 50 Shades of Grey audition.

The ‘Pretty Little Liars’ alum committed to her audition for the raunchy movies

“It’s exactly what you thought it would be: a big monologue but very, very sexual. There were some things that I was so embarrassed to be reading out loud, but it’s one of those things where you have to commit wholeheartedly or you’re going to make a fool of yourself,” Hale revealed, citing her determination to commit to the audition even though she was completely embarrassed by it.

Of course, we now know that the once-coveted role of Anastasia Steele went to Dakota Johnson. But, just because Hale was mortified by her 50 Shades of Grey audition doesn’t mean it wasn’t good for her. Hale looks at the audition as a learning experience and appreciates that it was able to catapult her out of her comfort zone. “I obviously didn’t get the part, “But it was good for me because it scared the crap out of me to do an audition,” the Katy Keene star shared.

Hale stepped outside her comfort zone for her new movie, ‘A Nice Girl Like You’

Hale may not have been used to doing such overtly sexual things on camera. But, she has taken on a few roles that required her to do something a bit scandalous. For Hale’s most famous role (Aria Montgomery in Pretty Little Liars), Hale played a high school student who was tasked with having an affair with her English teacher. In her most recent role, (Lucy Neal in A Nice Girl Like You) Hale plays a woman who creates a sexual to-do list to spite an ex-boyfriend who calls her boring in bed. It’s clear that Hale is willing to step outside her comfort zone for the sake of acting. While she may have been mortified by her 50 Shades of Grey audition, at least she was willing to go for it.