The Low down on the two stars of 'Fifty Shades of Grey'

So, Fifty Shades has been cast, here’s what you need to know about the two stars.

Christian Grey is being played by British actor Charlie Hunnam.

Charles Matthew Hunnam was born April 10, 1980. He is known for his roles as Nathan Maloney from Queer as Folk, Raleigh Becket in the film Pacific Rim and more famously for FX series Jackson “Jax” Teller, Sons of Anarchy.

Charlie was born in Newcastle, England the younger of two sons, of what he has described as a “tough-guy” father and a bohemian mother; who split when he was just two years old. He moved to the Lake Distict when he was 12, when he mother remarried. Hunnam said, “People started trying to prove their worth by fighting me on the playground to prove that they could have the Newcastle kid. So I ended up having a horrible childhood, a horrible time in school having to defend myself a lot.”

He has said, “Had that not happened to me, I think I would still have been ambitious, but I may not have been as disciplined and as driven as I am now.”

Hunnam attended Cumbria College of Art and Design, where he graduated with a degree in the theory and history of film with a side in performing arts

Discovered on Christmas Eve while clowning around in a shoe shop buying shoes for his brother by a production manager for the British children's show Byker Grove, Hunnam was cast in his first role as Jason in three episodes of the show. Aged eighteen, his first major role came when he was cast by Russell T. Davies as fifteen-year-old schoolboy Nathan Maloney in Davies' Channel 4 drama Queer as Folk. He followed this up with his role as Daz in Whatever Happened to Harold Smith? and then relocated to Los Angeles.

His career expanded to include a recurring role as Gregor Ryder in the WB Television Network series Young Americans. He then appeared in the short-lived Fox series Undeclared as an English drama student called Lloyd Haythe. Despite critical acclaim, the series was cancelled after one season. Hunnam then appeared in Abandon, Nicholas Nickleby, and Cold Mountain. Hunnam has stated that he does not wish to simply take any role that he is offered: "I have 60 years to make the money, but the choices I make in the next five years are really going to define my career." This decision resulted in his return to the UK to take the lead role of Pete Dunham in Green Street, however his attempts at delivering a Cockney accent resulted in his inclusion in many critics' 'worst accents in movie history' lists. 

Hunnam played the role of Patric, a member of "The Fishes", in Children of Men (2006). Hunnam states that this role was the final part in his "trilogy of mad men". "I played the psycho in Cold Mountain, my character in Green Street is fairly psychotic and now I've got this role." Hunnam currently stars as Jackson "Jax" Tellerin Sons of Anarchy, a show about a prominent motorcycle club in a small fictional California town. Hunnam was cast after Kurt Sutter, the creator of the show, saw him in Green Street.

In 2009, he sold his screenplay Vlad to Summit Entertainment with Brad Pitt's Plan B Studios co-producing. The film is being directed by music video director and photographer Anthony Mandler, and will focus on Dracula as a young prince.

In 2013, Hunnam was featured in the men's magazine, Man of the World where he discussed a brief history of his career along with current and future projects including his screenplay, "Vlad.” Which brings us to today’s news from E.L. James that Charlie was cast to star in the film adaptation of Fifty Shades of Grey as the lead Christian Grey.

Now on to our leading lady, Dakota Johnson, who is 23 and the daughter of Melanie Griffith and Miami Vice legend Don Johnson.

Dakota Mayi Johnson was born October 4, 1989. She is an American fashion model and actress. She may be best known for her lead role in the short-lived FOX sitcom Ben and Kate (2012-2013).

Johnson was born in Austin, Texas, the daughter of actors Don Johnson and Melanie Griffith. She is a granddaughter of actress Tippi Hedren. She is a stepdaughter of Antonio Banderas.

Johnson attended Aspen Community School in Aspen, Colorado. She was an avid dancer as a youngster.

She first became interested in modeling at age 12 after a photo shoot with other children of celebrities for Teen Vogue.

In 1999, she made her film debut in Crazy in Alabama where she and her half-sister, Stella Banderas, played daughters to their real-life mother, Melanie Griffith. The film was directed by her stepfather, Antonio Banderas.

She was voted Miss Golden Globe 2006, where she served as the first second-generation Miss Golden Globe in the Globes' history. 

In 2006, she signed with IMG Models. In 2009, she modeled for MANGO brand's jeans line. 

Once she graduated from high school, she signed with William Morris Agency and started her acting career. She had her first box office hit in 2010 with David Fincher's film The Social Network, in which she had a scene with Justin Timberlake. The film received eight Oscar nominations, including one for Best Picture. She also appeared in four additional films: Beastly; Ezna Sands' film Theo. She has roles in several 2012 films: Christopher Neil's film Goats, with David Duchovny; Nicholas Stoller's film Five Year Engagement for producer Judd Apatow, and the feature film version of the 1987 hit television show 21 Jump Street. She also won the female lead in Chris Nelson's film "Gay Dude," written by Alan Yang.

In her first television series, she had a lead role as Kate on Ben & Kate. The show was canceled after one season in 2013, airing for four months. Johnson resumed her film career, joining the cast of Need for Speed.  In 2010, Dakota traveled to Sydney, Australia, where she shot the "Rising Star" campaign for fashion label Wish.

In 2013, she made a cameo appearance as one of the new hires on the finale of The Office.

On September 2, 2013 Dakota was cast as Anastasia Steele in the film adaption of E.L. James’ book Fifty Shades of Grey.