“I didn’t find [Christian’s] character to be totally redeeming,” the “Arrow” star told Access Hollywood of E L James’ beloved-yet-flawed Christian, at the Monte-Carlo TV Festival. “And I actually didn’t find him to be that interesting.”

Stephen’s fans were surprised when — after enthusiastically revealing in a Facebook video that he’d had meetings about signing on for the film — he abruptly withdrew after reading the book (especially since he’d already dabbled in on-screen nudity in HBO’s “Hung”).

The 32-year-old star clarified his distaste for the BDSM lead, saying it had nothing to with the book’s graphic sex – he was just bored with Christian as a character!

“This is not a criticism on this particular piece of literature, this is simply, you know, I like to play roles that I find interesting. Jason on ‘Hung’ was a prostitute, but he was kind of an interesting prostitute!” he explained with a laugh. “Nothing about Christian Grey really spoke to me.”

As those who have read the trilogy know, Christian evolves greatly through the course of E L’s three books.

So, did Stephen read “Fifty Shades Darker” or “Fifty Shades Freed” to see if the character would become more appealing?

“No, one [book] was enough!” he told Access.

In related “Fifty Shades” news, on Wednesday, Focus Features confirmed to Access that Sam Taylor-Johnson has signed on to direct the film.