X17 photographers snapped Charlie Hunnam cruising around Hollywood on his Harley Davidson on Saturday, and the Sons of Anarchy star was in a great mood. And why shouldn't he be? After the news hit the web last week that the British actor was cast as the male lead in the big screen adaptation of Fifty Shades of Grey, he's totally blown up!

Later in the evening Charlie appeared at the season six premiere of SOA at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood, and he chatted with The Hollywood Reporter about his upcoming role.

When asked how he gets along with co-star Dakota Johnson, Charlie said, “As soon as we got in the room and started reading with Dakota, I knew that I definitely wanted to do it, because there was a tangible chemistry between us. It felt kind of exciting and fun and weird and compelling, and so that was it.”

So what about the sex scenes? “My first job was on a Channel 4 miniseries called Queer as Folk," Charlie said. "It was incredibly explicit sexual scenes with a man. I mean I’m 16 and 17 years wiser now. So if I could do it when I was 18 with a guy, I can certainly do it at 33 with a lady.”

And how does his longtime girlfriend Morgana McNelis feel about it? “It’s very hard to be with an actor. She’s required to share parts of me that she wouldn’t really want to share. With the nature of this role, that’s going to be times 10 … She read them and loved them and was really excited about the potential of the opportunity for me. If anything, I think it will make us closer," he said.