Jamie Dornan had a "crush" on Maid Marian the fox from Disney’s 1973 animation ‘Robin Hood’.
The 36-year-old actor found himself oddly attracted to the anthropomorphic animal character as a kid and he was reminded of his unusual crush when he was playing Will ‘Scarlet’ Tillman in Otto Bathurst’s new version of the English folklore tale about Robin who steals from the rich to feed the poor.
Speaking to Collider about whether his crush on Maid Marian was the real reason he took on the role in the movie, Dornan said: "The only motivation! No, but it is cool because I do love that and I definitely did/do have a crush on Maid Marian the fox in the Disney animated version.
"There is obviously so many other versions I wanted to do it, but it is cool because I’ve always loved this story. And I remember how excited I was to go and see ‘Prince of Thieves’ when I was 11 years old and I remember that like it was yesterday – the trip to the cinema, I remember the car journey there I just remember everything about it.
"To be involved in something where some kid somewhere will have a similar excitement to see it is a very cool feeling."
The ‘Fifty Shades Freed’ actor also confessed there will be a new take on the notorious "love triangle" that fans are used to seeing in the ‘Robin Hood’ movies which will have a "big effect" on his character’s journey.
Dornan added: "We wanted it to feel like nothing you’ve seen before depicted with a Robin Hood story and mess a bit with our idea of what we think it’s going to be. The love triangle is different to what we know with past Robin Hoods and it becomes about my character Will and Robin and Marian which adds a whole different dynamic to it, and obviously what happens within the love triangle has a big effect on the journey that my character goes through."
Dornan stars alongside Taron Egerton as Robin of Loxley, Jamie Foxx as Little John, Eve Hewson as Maid Marion, Tim Minchin as Friar Tuck and Ben Mendelsohn as the Sheriff of Nottingham in the movie which is in cinemas now.