Why Jamie Dornan Was Completely Cut out of the Bradley Cooper Film ‘Burnt’

Bradley Cooper was supposed to team up with Fifty Shades of Grey star Jamie Dornan briefly for this 2015 drama. But it was a collaboration that never came to be.

Jamie Dornan was supposed to cameo in this little known Bradley Cooper film

In the same year audiences saw him star in Fifty Shades of Grey, Dornan almost appeared in one of Cooper’s quieter films. In 2015, The Star Is Born actor played a tormented chef looking for redemption in the drama Burnt. The feature boasted an ensemble cast that included Daniel Bruhl, Alicia Vikander, and Uma Thurman. Dornan was initially recruited to be a part of the ensemble.

But Dornan’s scenes were soon cut from the feature, which led to a lot of speculation. In a 2015 interview with Entertainment Weekly (via Cinemablend), Burnt director John Wells cleared the air about Dornan’s lost scene.

“In making every film, cuts and adjustments in storylines inevitably occur. In the case of Burnt, Jamie’s role was a small cameo that he was kind enough to do for us and was part of Sienna Miller’s character’s backstory. We ultimately decided to focus on Adam Jones’ redemption story,” Wells said.

Wells further shared there weren’t any hidden agendas regarding Dornan’s exit from the project, and praised the star’s performance.

Although the scene was omitted from the film’s theatrical release, it was included in the Blu-Ray and DVDs of the film.

How Bradley Cooper related to his ‘Burnt’ character

Cooper’s character in Burnt was portrayed as a very temperamental, volatile personality. Cooper’s character was based on real-life chef Marco Pierre White, who was considered the first celebrity chef according to Marie Claire.

“To have a guy talk about food in such a passionate way was a whole new thing,” Cooper told the publication about White. “This guy was the youngest chef at that time to earn three Michelin stars. He was from London—he had never cooked in France but he was making French cuisine.”

Cooper confided that he had little in common with his Burnt role. Similar to his character in the film, Cooper also had battles with substance abuse before cleaning himself up at 29. Still, he confided the only thing he shared with the tyrannical chef he was playing was their obsession.

“If I related to anything, it’s that idea of trying to have a goal that you’re setting out to do; an obsession to do the best you can. I can definitely relate to that,” Cooper said. “But I think more than any other character I’ve played, I really saw how different I was from this guy because he lost the joy in what he did. That’s a hell of a thing to lose, as I’m sure you concur, because food is so joyful and if you’ve lost joy in cooking then, wow, you were lost.”

Bradley Cooper’s ‘Burnt’ co-star joked that he saved the actor’s life on set

Among the actors Cooper collaborated with was The Americans star Matthew Rhys. Rhys felt Cooper was lucky he was there, as the actor joked he saved his co-star from an accidental death. Cooper ended up with a plastic bag over his head while filming the movie, and found himself really suffocating inside of it. It was here Rhys shared that he came to the actor’s rescue.

“There was no acting,” Cooper once told Fox 5 (via Female First). “I was required to do was tear the plastic bag from his face before he killed himself. So there was no acting required on my behalf, it was genuine panic. He’s fearless in his improvisation.”

Rhys also confided that he was very much concerned for Cooper’s well-being during the incident.

“He had a very tight plastic bag over his head and obviously I don’t recommend it.”