Parks and Recreation actress and comedian Mara Marini puts the casted and fan favorite Christian Grey’s head-to-head in this Fifty Shades battle for our weekly debate and asks you to decide: Who’s hotter?
Jamie Dornan
Handsome and tall with smokey gray eyes, Dornan was born May 1, 1981, in Belfast, Northern Ireland. He isn’t the only one in the family to be bitten by the acting bug; his father actually considered becoming an actor (but became an obstetrician instead) and his great aunt was Academy Award-winning actress, Greer Garson.
Nick Bateman
Born in Burlington, Ontario, Nov. 18, 1986, Nicholas Yunge-Bateman is best known for steaming up the still-camera lens in campaigns for brands such as Calvin Klein, Abercrombie & Fitch, Fila and Jockey. Speaking of Jockey, many were jockeying for the buff young Canuck to play Christian Grey. Although he did lose out to Dornan, Bateman has a huge fan base and offers seem to be piling up for the hunk to start heating up the big screen, too.
Talent
Jamie Dornan: Dornan got his first big break playing Axel von Ferson in Sofia Coppola’s
Marie Antoinette. He had an impressive modeling career and acted in a few films, but he really started getting noticed while recurring on ABC’s
Once Upon a Time in 2011. Now, as we all know, he has
replaced Charlie Hunnam as sexy Christian Grey in Fifty Shades of Grey. With a release date of Aug. 1, 2014, I am sure fans around the world have already started counting down.
Nick Bateman: Bateman became a regional champion for karate in 1998, and he began to compete at the world level. He won his first world championship in 2003 and went on to win three more titles. He placed second against 10 world champions in ESPN’s International Best of the Best Martial Arts competition. He has a few commercials and guest star credits under his belt and is slated to star in two upcoming feature films that infuse his acting and martial arts capabilities.
Trivia
Jamie Dornan: He is the face of Dior Homme perfume and has modeled with
Kate Moss and
Eva Mendes for brands like Armani and Calvin Klein. He holds season tickets to Manchester United games and is a big fan of the team, and his grandparents on both sides were Methodist lay preachers.
Nick Bateman: He got his start in karate because he wanted to be a ninja turtle. While competing at a martial arts contest, a Model Universe competition was going on at the same time and at the same venue. A friend signed Bateman up as a joke, and he placed fifth out of 100 models. That led him to meeting Calvin Klein and beginning his modeling career.
Fitness
Jamie Dornan: He likes playing rugby in the summer and skiing in the winter, and really enjoys getting into the gym to blow off steam. He admits to being open to trying anything once and has even given yoga and pilates a whirl, although they didn’t turn him into a
yogi like Adam Levine. He also always makes sure to drink a ton of water.
Nick Bateman: He trains every day in martial arts and has a real passion for all things fitness and it shows. He would rather play sports than watch them, although he loves a good UFC fight. Not one for clubbing or bars, he prefers BBQing or wakeboarding. He admits bacon is a guilty pleasure, but he either eats it once in a while as a special treat or he has the metabolism of a hummingbird. You should check out his online combat technique videos. He sure knows how to work a bo staff!
Kindness
Jamie Dornan: He is a benefactor of TinyLife, a Northern Ireland charity devoted to helping premature and vulnerable babies.
Nick Bateman: Described as a nice, well-mannered family boy with a good sense of humor (of course he is, he’s Canadian! 😉 ), Nick even planted a lilac tree at his mother’s house to surprise her for Mother’s Day.
Pets
Jamie Dornan: None at the moment.
Nick Bateman: He has a little puppy named Joey.
Intelligence
Jamie Dornan: He was educated at Methodist College in Belfast and then attended Teesside University in Middelsbrough, England. He dropped out of Teesside and moved to London to begin acting training.
Nick Bateman: In 2006, he moved to Vancouver, British Columbia and enrolled in a business program at Capilano College. In 2008, he moved back to Burlington and opened his own karate school. He continued to model while running his business, but closed it in 2011 to pursue acting full time.
Commitment
Jamie Dornan: From 2003-2005, Jamie dated Kiera Knightley, followed by Lindsay Lohan, Kate Moss and Sienna Miller. This April, he married singer Amelia Warner, and she is currently pregnant with their first baby.
Nick Bateman: He admits to loving cheesy romance stuff and thinks a relationship should be like a fairy tale. I don’t think any female would object to him being their Prince Charming! He reveals that a girl “should be kept on her toes and always reminded how special she is.” If he is dating someone, he’s keeping it on the DL, and if he isn’t, some lucky girl better nab him up soon… What a catch!
Vote now
Who would you rather have seen don Christian Grey’s sexy suit? Take our poll below!
Keep voting!
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Mara Marini is a Canadian film, television and theater actress perhaps best known for her recurring role as Brandi Maxxxx on the hit NBC comedy series Parks and Recreation. Marini has also appeared in a number of indie comedy and horror films. In 2013, she launched a popular digital comedy video series called Inside Dating on Break.com, will soon be guest-starring on Disney’s Kickin’ It and shooting a politically incorrect feature comedy this fall. For more information on Mara, check out her official website www.maramarini.com, follow her on Facebook or on Twitter at @popgloss.
Photo credits: WENN.com, Nick Bateman via Facebook
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