Jamie Dornan has spent his career mastering the art of transformation—from his breakout role in the FIFTY SHADES franchise to his chilling performance in the BBC’s PSYCHO adaptation. But lately, the Irish actor, model, and international heartthrob finds himself thinking less about awards and accolades and more about something far simpler: being a semi-cool dad. It’s a refreshing admission from someone who has scaled the heights of Hollywood, and it sets the tone for what promises to be one of the biggest years of his career.

The actor recently became the face of Moncler’s “Puffy Summer” campaign, but his real excitement lies elsewhere. Dornan is juggling an ambitious slate of projects that represent some of the most challenging and rewarding work of his professional life. There’s a palpable sense of both terror and exhilaration in how he discusses what’s ahead, a duality that reveals the kind of actor he’s become—one who doesn’t shy away from difficulty but actively seeks it out.

The first major project is 12 12 12, a collaboration between Skydance and Apple that pairs Dornan with Anthony Mackie in a globe-trotting cat-and-mouse heist thriller. The film spans multiple continents and was shot in Budapest, an experience Dornan describes as incredible. His history with Mackie—they worked together about eight years ago—meant the chemistry was already there, transforming what could have been a grueling shoot into something genuinely fun. There’s a comfort in that kind of professional familiarity, a shorthand that allows actors to dig deeper into their characters without wasting energy on getting to know each other.

But it’s his Netflix series THE UNDERTOW that seems to genuinely unsettle him, in the best possible way. In it, Dornan plays identical twins, a role that represents a rare career opportunity. Most actors never get the chance to inhabit two distinct human beings within a single narrative, and Dornan approaches it with appropriate humility and dread. The pressure stems not from external expectations but from his own internal drive to make both characters feel wholly separate, to ensure that despite their biological similarity, they register as entirely different entities to the audience. It’s the kind of technical and emotional challenge that separates good actors from great ones.

What’s striking about Dornan’s approach to both projects is his willingness to lean into the fear. He doesn’t pretend to have all the answers or present a facade of unshakeable confidence. Instead, he acknowledges the terror head-on and lets it fuel his work. This same vulnerability emerged during his recent hosting stint on Saturday Night Live, where he admitted to the cast that he was terrified—only to discover that they were scared too. That collective acknowledgment of shared fear transformed the experience from something isolating into something collaborative and ultimately liberating. By dress rehearsal with a live audience, when genuine laughter filled the room, Dornan knew everything would be fine.

It’s that same philosophy he’s bringing to THE UNDERTOW. He’s deliberately trying to embrace the madness of playing twins, to let the enormity of the opportunity sink in and actually savor it rather than simply endure it. There’s an intentionality there, a conscious decision to enjoy the moment rather than merely survive it. For an actor at this stage of his career, with a young family at home and the freedom to be selective about his roles, that mindset represents a kind of professional wisdom that can only come with experience.

As Dornan looks ahead to 12 12 12, THE UNDERTOW, and whatever comes next, it’s clear that he’s not chasing stardom or trying to prove anything to anyone. Instead, he’s pursuing work that excites him, collaborations with talented people, and opportunities that scare him just enough to remind him why he fell in love with acting in the first place. And if he manages to be a semi-cool dad along the way, well, that’s perhaps the greatest achievement of all.

Netflix’s upcoming adaptation of the Norwegian series Twin, retitled THE UNDERTOW, promises to deliver the kind of delicious psychological thriller that has audiences on the edge of their seats. The concept alone—identical twins, hidden identities, and the question of which brother is really dead—taps into a rich tradition of twin narratives that have captivated viewers for decades. With Jamie Dornan taking on the dual role of brothers Adam and Lee, the streamer is banking on the kind of complicated, morally gray character work that made him unforgettable in FIFTY SHADES OF GREY, only this time with considerably higher stakes and far more intrigue.

The series follows Nicola, a woman trapped in a loveless marriage to Adam, whose arrival is upended when Lee—Adam’s long-estranged identical twin—suddenly reappears in her life. The complication that elevates this premise from standard thriller fare is that Nicola and Lee share a romantic history, a detail that simmers beneath the surface and threatens to ignite the entire narrative. When a split-second accident kills Adam, Nicola faces an impossible choice, and the one she makes with Lee sets off a chain reaction that unspools across a single, breathless week. Together, they decide to manipulate the investigation by falsifying which twin actually died, betting that authorities will assume the carefree Lee is the victim while the more reserved Adam lived. What unfolds is equal parts messy and tense—a high-wire act of deception where the emotional boundaries between Nicola and Lee blur dangerously as their buried feelings resurface amid the chaos of maintaining their lie.

Dornan carries the series as both brothers, a demanding dual performance that requires him to embody two distinct personalities while suggesting the psychological and emotional toll of his character’s descent into deception. Mackenzie Davis plays Nicola with what promises to be a nuanced intensity, anchoring the narrative as the woman who becomes the linchpin of the conspiracy. Supporting players including Iain de Caestecker as Marty Munro and Gary Lewis round out an ensemble that feels distinctly Scottish and wonderfully noir in its sensibilities, lending the production a moody, atmospheric quality that complements its dark subject matter.

As for when viewers can actually watch this unhinged identity swap unfold, THE UNDERTOW is slated for a 2026 release on Netflix, having shifted from its originally planned 2025 UK slate. Filming wrapped in 2024 after production across the Scottish Highlands, Sutherland, and the Isle of Mull, so the project has been in post-production for some time, allowing the streamer to fine-tune what could be one of its most compelling crime dramas in years.

Jamie Dornan is stepping into sharper, more provocative territory with THE WORST, a British dark comedy that’s already creating serious industry anticipation ahead of its debut at the European Film Market in Berlin. This isn’t another glossy franchise entry or formulaic thriller—it’s a caustic class satire that positions Dornan alongside Alicia Vikander in what promises to be one of the year’s most viciously entertaining ensemble pieces. For an actor who has spent recent years carefully diversifying his portfolio beyond the shadow of FIFTY SHADES, THE WORST represents exactly the kind of risk that could redefine how audiences see him.

The film follows a single catastrophic night at a French chateau, where Vikander’s Emily Fisher, a wealthy socialite with impeccable taste and questionable judgment, has gathered her closest friends for what should be an enviable escape from reality. Her husband Max plays co-host, and together they’ve curated the kind of gathering that looks flawless on the surface but conceals fractures deep enough to swallow everyone whole. Dornan plays Danny, a talent agent so consumed by his own mythology that he can’t stop name-dropping and self-promoting even as the evening collapses around him. It’s a role that requires precision—Danny is both absurd and recognizable, a walking embodiment of ambition curdled into performance art.

What makes THE WORST particularly compelling for Dornan’s career trajectory is its distance from the romantic leads and tortured antiheroes that have dominated his recent work. Whether he was navigating the psychological complexity of THE TOURIST, anchoring Kenneth Branagh’s BELFAST with quiet emotional gravity, or diving into the true-crime darkness of projects like A SERIAL KILLER’S GUIDE TO LIFE, Dornan has been methodically building a reputation as an actor willing to inhabit uncomfortable spaces. THE WORST pushes that instinct further, asking him to be not just morally ambiguous but outright ridiculous—a character whose flaws aren’t tragic but comic, whose delusions aren’t dangerous but pathetic. It’s the kind of performance that could showcase range he hasn’t been asked to demonstrate on this scale before.

This pivot toward dark comedy and satire also signals something larger about where Dornan’s career is heading. He’s no longer chasing blockbuster validation or trying to prove himself capable of dramatic heft—he’s already done both. Now he’s hunting for projects that challenge assumptions, that let him disappear into characters who aren’t designed to be likable or sympathetic. Danny in THE WORST is a figure of ridicule, but he’s also a mirror held up to an entire class of people who mistake proximity to success for success itself, who confuse networking with intimacy, who believe their own publicity. Dornan has to make that character funny without softening him, has to let the audience laugh at Danny while recognizing pieces of themselves in his desperation.

For Dornan, THE WORST isn’t just another role—it’s a declaration of intent. After years of navigating the aftermath of FIFTY SHADES, of proving he could anchor prestige television and deliver nuanced film work, he’s choosing projects that refuse to play it safe. This is an actor betting on his ability to make people uncomfortable in ways that feel thrilling rather than alienating, to inhabit characters who are both absurd and achingly real. If THE WORST delivers on its promise, it won’t just be a successful dark comedy—it will be the moment Jamie Dornan fully stepped into the next phase of his career, one where he’s no longer defined by what he’s moved past but by what he’s bold enough to chase.