The New York City subway got “Fifty Shades” greyer this week.
A Little Neck actor and his friend, dressed as construction workers, decided to read passages from “Fifty Shades of Grey” to subway riders — while secretly filming their reactions — before the release of the movie version this Friday.
The results, a combination of laughter, annoyance and blank stares the other way, were compiled in a YouTube video posted on Wednesday
Two movie sequels are already planned for “Fifty Shades of Grey,” based on the popularity of the book series.
Johnny Solo decided to finally see what the fuss was about when he saw a waitress who works at Grand Cafe, the Astoria restaurant he owns, reading it recently.
The actor, who rides the subway to Manhattan for auditions, often passes the time by reading, but says it’s easy to feel “vulnerable” when others see what he’s reading on the train.
Fellow riders immediately noticed the “big guy” reading the female-oriented novel, he said.
“When I had the book I felt I was getting a lot of reaction without even being filmed.”
The idea of typically masculine men, like construction workers, reading the book in public then popped into his head and the video concept was born.
“The 21st-century man has changed — we are a lot more sensitive,” Solo said.
Together with Matt Flynn, who is also an actor, and Astoria resident Court Dunn, who handled the hidden cameras and editing, Solo filmed the video “Even Construction Guys Moan Over ‘Fifty Shades,’” on Monday and Tuesday.
They shot the footage on the 1, C and N trains, crossing into Queens at times, and were mostly ignored by riders.
“We got a lot more of the New York City glance,” Solo said describing the straphangers’ reactions as the two men moaned reading passages, commented on its erotic details and even got emotional at some points.
But others did react and even ran away.
“The best part was when people really laughed and enjoyed it,” Solo said.
One woman, who said Solo was “crazy” to read the book, burst into laughter when she heard the line “It’s intoxicating. I inhaled deeply.”
Despite all the time spent reading “Fifty Shades of Grey,” on the subway, Solo is still only three-quarters of the way through the novel.
“It’s kind of redundant,” he said.
Once he does finish the book, he plans on seeing the film — not because he likes the story, but because it inspired him to do something different as a performer.
“It gave me enough creative feeling to do something,” he said. “I almost feel like I owe it.”
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