Amid the seemingly continuous Fifty Shades of Grey movie buzz circulating throughout the Internet, a new actor has recently surfaced as a prospect for the role of the S&M-crazed billionaire, Christian Grey, Ed Westwick of Gossip Girl. 

In an online fan poll conducted by Wet Paint on Feb. 5, the handsome Englishman shockingly prevailed in the voting with a score of 43 percent, a number that most candidates never reached in any of the Fifty Shades polls.

Westwick even overcame some serious competition in the process. The actors in the voting also included True Blood's Alexander Skarsgard, Henry Cavill of The Tudors and Supernatural's Jensen Ackles.

While Gossip Girl was Westwick's longest run on a project, he's since gone on to star on the big screen, most recently in the film Romeo and Juliet, donning the role of the hot-headed Tybalt.  The movie recently wrapped production.

Mostly known for playing the part of the upper class weirdo Chuck Bass on his CW hit TV series, Westwick could fit quite naturally into the role of Grey.  Much like the billionaire character, Bass is also emotionally unavailable.

The sexually dominated Fifty Shades of Grey premise revolves around the powerful, rich and kinky Grey, who gets himself involved in a dominant and submissive sexual relationship with a shy college graduate named Anastasia Steele. Through an "agreement," the two delve into the kinky world of bondage and masochism.

Other fan favorites for the Grey role include Les Miserables Eddie Redmayne, Gossip Girl's Chace Crawford and Twilight's Robert Pattinson, among many others.

The producers attached to the movie continue to remain tight-lipped on how their casting approach will ultimately unfold.

Focus Features and Universal Pictures had purchased the rights to the film in early 2012. To date, E.L. James' saucy books have now sold well over 60 million copies and the flick is expected to perform just as well.

CLICK HERE to view the Ed Westwick Fifty Shades of Grey slideshow.

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