The hit FX series "Sons of Anarchy" presents as a drama filled testosterone-tinged tale of “bros” on bikes, with actress Katey Sagal’s matriarch Gemma Morrow as the reigning queen who oversees her son Jax (Charlie Hunnam) and their crime syndicate family.
08/24/2008 - Charlie Hunnam - "Sons of Anarchy" Los Angeles Premiere - Arrivals - Paramount Theater - Los Angeles, CA, USA © Tony Lowe / PR Photos
Set out in the remote aridness of Northeastern California, the FX series is a ratings bonanza for the network and has been greenlit for a second season.
Ron Perlman as Clay Morrow. CR: Timothy White / FX.
Sagal’s Gemma Teller is now the wife of Anarchy’s president Clay Morrow (Ron Perlman), president of the Sons of Anarchy (SAMCRO); he was her late first husband’s aide-de-camp when the biker group started out.
The crack cast delivers authentic dialogue that never feels false; the actors all are given great moments to reveal their unique qualities and organic placement within the gang hierarchy.
Jax (Charlie Hunnam) is the golden-haired prince to Anarchy’s drugs and arms-sales operations, the heir-apparent who will ultimately face of with Gemma's husband Clay for leadership of SAMRO.
Jax is complex - no saint - he cannot bring himself to execute in cold-blooded fashion. He is presented as a paradox and given intelligence and sex appeal that is feral, always under the surface. He is both unpredictable and predictable; his mother Gemma knows him best.
Creator and executive producer Kurt Sutter and his producers have taken a revealing look inside motorcycle club culture that shows they did their homework. There are no caricatures, simply characters who all were disenfranchised one way or another and were drawn to the Anarchy coda that lets them exist comfortably outside the grid.
"Sons of Anarchy" is a no-miss series for mature audiences that airs Wednesday nights at 10:00 p.m. on FX through November 26th.
Monsters and Critics spoke to Charlie Hunnam about his role as Jax, and what we can expect in the series.
I’m so enjoying the series.
C. Hunnam Oh, good.
Your character Jax is quite complex, can you talk Jax’s point of view about what we can expect as far as the IRA elements with the gun running from Ireland?
C. Hunnam From my character’s point of view? I mean it’s a continuation along the same trends that I’ve been taking. You know I feel like the way – you know as opposed to the guys that founded this club I was born into it.
And my overall feeling is that we’ve come a long way from the original genesis of the idea for the club, which is a simple social rebellion and living outside the box away from the constraints of regular society.
Charlie Hunnam as Jackson "Jax" Teller.. - Ray Mickshaw/ FX
I think a little bit more of the same until really just a kind of a questioning and a slight reluctance to fully get involved in the darker elements of our business, until I think probably ultimately I’m going to realize that until I become president or until something dramatically changes.
There’s a dramatic shift in the overall psychology of the club.
I’m fighting a losing battle and I’m going to ultimately I think probably have to bide my time and for the meantime just succumb to the realities of this club a little bit more than I have been doing.
Charlie, are there societies or clubs like this in England? I know you’re from Newcastle. Are there outlaw bicycle clubs that are all over the UK and the sort of white organized crime syndicate?
C. Hunnam No, I think funnily enough it’s one of America’s - prior to I guess MTV taking over –long before that it was one of America’s biggest exports were motorcycle clubs.
And motorcycle clubs all over I think there are several different American-based or American started motorcycle clubs you know all over Great Britain. And they’re definitely - as far as I believe they’re definitely that reaches up as far as Newcastle and Scotland, too.
It seems that you and Katey Sagal are a tribe of two – your characters.
C. Hunnam Right.
Tommy Flanagan as Filip "Chibs" Telford. CR: Timothy White / FX.
Can you talk about Chibs - Tommy Flanagan’s character and Kim Coates as Tig, their great work and tell me about some of your favorite scenes and some of your favorite characters on Sons of Anarchy?
C. Hunnam Well, you know it’s tough because I haven't really watched any of them. I mean I can definitely talk from you know my experience shooting the scenes.
But it would be really interesting seeing all of it. I’ll probably be a little more informed once I’ve watched them all.
But right off the bat – Mark Boone Junior you know has become a dear friend of mine and is a real favorite of mine to work with and to hang with.
Mark Boone Jr. as Robert "Bobby" Munson. CR: Timothy White / FX.
That’s Bobby, right?
C. Hunnam: Yes, it’s Bobby. We spend a lot of time together kind of talking this world through and riding bikes together before we started.
I have a long history with Tommy Flanagan.
I’ve known him for years and we’ve been really, really actively looking to do something together for years and years. In fact, we actually have been attached to two projects together that neither of them actually got made and both of them we had gotten each other involved in.
And my initial audition for Sons of Anarchy – Tommy Flanagan was walking out of the room as I was walking in.
That’s a riot.
C. Hunnam: We gave each other a big hug and everything. And then the first piece of press that came out about the show was a piece in Variety and it was accompanied by a photograph of me and Tommy together.
The only two members of the show on the photograph were me and Tommy riding our bikes together. So it was a nice little detail for us.
But Tommy’s wonderful, but I really actually love all of them.
I think it’s by far and away the best cast I’ve ever worked with and certainly have stronger relationships in this cast than I’ve ever had with any group of actors I’ve worked with before.
So it’s really a delight and everyone’s so different.
I mean I love working with Maggie Siff also and of course Katey Sagal and you know Ron. And really there’s not one of them that I don’t enjoy.
They’re all very different and they bring different energy. Today is where I work with Casey and Tara and Maggie Siff or you know energetically very different from the days when you have all the boys in. So it’s nice. I get to do it all a little bit.
Kim Coates Alex "Tig" Trager. CR: Timothy White / FX.
Jax and Gemma are definitely a very quiet unspoken tribe of two. And do you feel that in your character?
C. Hunnam" Yes, to a certain degree. I mean I definitely feel out of myself. I haven't – I mean like I say I haven't watched the show and so I don’t see Katey’s work outside of the dynamic we have together.
And she’s pretty outspoken in her dynamic. But, yes, I mean I think that the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree. And I think that you know that wouldn't surprise me at all.
Will SAMRO travel outside of the country?
C. Hunnam I hope so. I don't think the budget would allow for that of our show in the first couple seasons. But it would definitely be you know an interesting thing and a very true and real thing from what I understand about these clubs.
It’s one of the kind of founding tenets of being in a motorcycle clubs is the kind of is wanderlust and you know the joys of the open road. And that doesn’t you know necessarily constrain these members you know or keep them just in America you know.
They go far and wide. So it would be a really smart thing and I think very true thing for us to explore, but I think it would just be a monetary issue whether we could eventually afford to do that or not.
Will Jax run things while Clay is being detained?
C. Hunnam I think that that’s one of the kind of ironic things is that Jax would like to do things in a much more quiet and methodical thought-out way and a much more sensible way.
And he realizes once he gets in that position where he has to deal with a couple of things - very quickly realizes that he’s going to have to take a kind of a page out of Clay’s book and the way he handles the situation because Rome wasn’t built in a day. And it didn’t fall in a day either.
It is going to take me a little while to be able to pull back from what we’ve evolved into. And unfortunately I’m not able to you know do that in the timeframe that I’m dealing with.
So you know something comes up and has to be dealt with and I actually definitely follow Clay’s lead on how to handle it.
Did you have any riding experience prior to this series?
C. Hunnam: Very limited riding experience. I’d done like a few days on a dirt bike you know many years ago. But, yes, I mean I guess my brother and my father both ride. So I’ve grown up around bikes.
The reason I’d done you know only dirt bikes – not out of kind of desire to ride to myself, but through professional obligations I’d ridden on ‘Children of Men.’
I had to ride a dirt bike on that. So that’s where my dirt bike introduction came from, but I’d always been much more interested in big dogs. So it was good to get on a hog. It was exciting, especially to take it out onto the road for the first time.
But as soon as I have the time and I feel like it’s already time to do it, I’m going to get myself a Harley Super Glide. I mean a Dyna Super Glide.
What piqued your interest in the series?
C. Hunnam I think it was originally it was Kurt’s great script. I hadn't really been thinking about doing a TV show. I’d really been exclusively pursuing film. It’s somewhat of a straining process because often filmmakers –the director of the film would end up falling in love with me and decide that he wanted to use me. And then the studio would feel like I wasn’t exciting enough to the financiers and I wouldn't get it.
So my agent got sent this and hadn't sent it me for a few weeks. And he sent it to me and I took a look at it and just thought the quality of the writing was just as good as the majority of screen plays that I’d been reading.
I just got very excited about the whole thing. I thought that it was such a seldom explored world – the world of outlaw motorcycle clubs – and it wasn’t a world that I was particularly familiar with, but instantly got very interested in and felt like this show could potentially have a long run.
Kurt Sutter, Creator /Executive Producer / Writer. CR: Prashant Gupta / FX
I just thought surreally – I’m waffling a little bit, but what initially got me very excited was the quality of Kurt’s work. And then I met with him and we’d kind of confer. He’d ask me if I was interested or if I was willing to make a seven year commitment to something as like being – coming from really only doing film and a couple of mini-series.
And I just said, look, man, as long as the quality stays the same, I would be happy to do this for 15 years. So he made a deal with me that he was definitely not going to go anywhere or turn the show over to anyone and would continue to be writing to try to match the same quality through the course of the show.
Any scenes on the written page of the script shock you?
C. Hunnam: Yes. I mean a couple of moments –the most shocking moment that has happened so far for me, which has already been adds to see castration of the clown I found fairly shocking.
I thought that as the day became closer and closer to us actually shooting it, I just kept expecting to get a rewrite out where it was suggested or we did something else that wasn’t quite as dastardly as that.
But that day never came.
We went and shot it exactly the way it was written. And then I haven't actually seen the show because I don’t watch them. I haven't been watching them while we’re filming. I’ll watch them more when we finish, but I believe that it was add pretty much exactly the way we shot it. So that was fairly shocking.
Then even this last episode that had the burning off of the (club insignia) back tattoo was fairly brutal and shocking. But in terms of you know some of the story points, I – Kurt is fairly brilliant and I’d said that in my initial meeting.
And he basically talked me through his idea in detail for the first 13 episodes and then in slightly less detail for the second 13 if we got picked up for a second series.
So in terms of storytelling and the story points, I hadn't really had the opportunity to be shocked by too much of that because Kurt had already filled me in beat by beat what was going to happen.
What did Jax’s father want for his son’s leadership and the club future?
C. Hunnam: I think that we had very similar souls – John Teller and Jax Teller.
As I move up through the ranks and if and when I would become president, it’s definitely Jax’s intention to just try to pull back and make money in slightly smarter ways.
I mean it’s not any of the politics of the club. We’re always going to have enemies and we’re always going to run into various problems.
But the fundamental problem I have with the club is the way in which we generate our money, which is the arming – the armed feeling because not only are we putting ourselves in bed with terrorism –dealing guns with the IRA, which will put us all in jail for a long, long, long time.
We’re also – the underworld of California and the surrounding area is relatively infamous to work. We’re arming ultimately what are – I’m sure at some point – inevitably we’re going to become our competition, which is just a bloody and ill-conceived plan.
So mainly that and I think I myself have a few ideas for what Jax - the direction in which Jax would take our business. But I’m not sure exactly what Kurt’s planning and if and when that will all come about because while Clay’s in the picture, I don't think there’s too much room for change.
So he’s either going to have to have a heart attack or I’m going to have to whack him.
How does the Jax and Abel storyline play out?
C. Hunnam: Eventually Abel is going to come out of the hospital and I’m going to become a full time Dad.
And a lot of the storyline, which I really love this idea – a lot of my storyline is how I’m juggling being a full time Dad – single parents with being the vice president of this club, which I like.
I like any storylines in the show a lot that become immediately relatable to the general public –the people that aren't necessarily living in the underworld, but see that these guys experience all of the same problems that everybody does.
So the family side of it I think makes it instantly relatable. I’m sure there are hundreds of thousands of single parents out there that are struggling to raise enough money to raise their children well –actually raising their children.
I think that will be some really interesting meaty stuff.
Is it difficult is it for an actor from England to play an America motorcycle dude?
C. Hunnam: I don't think so. I mean it’s something that I always felt confident that I could do you know given the right environment. It’s just a process. I mean it requires a lot of work and I worked with a coach certainly a lot more in the beginning of shooting the show.
And it really just requires when everyone else goes home and maybe does half an hour to an hour’s work looking over the scenes for the next day. I have to go home and do two and a half to three hours work because I look over everything and then have to run the scenes a lot and figure out the ways to deliver it all in the American dialect.
Then if I have any problems with that, I call my dialect coach and she’ll talk me through some difficult sound combinations and stuff.
I mean it’s not particularly easy. It’s just one extra thing to have to worry about, but it’s not been getting in my way too much having to do the accent. And my accent – because I’ve traveled around so much – doesn’t really exist anywhere in the world. You know it’s very – a big mixture of both northern and southern English and then a lot of California.
So generally no matter what project I’m doing – whether it be England or America – I’m always having to do some form of an accent. So it’s kind of part of my process at this point.
Do you have preference for classic versus modern material or English versus American?
C. Hunnam: Yes, I do. I prefer modern material than classic and American material over English in general.
I mean I came to America to move when I was 18 –ten years ago really looking to have an American career.
I think there’s some truly phenomenal British films. The industry is so small there that you can't –it’s much easier to do it over here – and much more opportunity.
But I grew up obsessed with film and although you know a portion of that was English films, the vast majority of it were the great American filmmakers whose work I would watch over and over.
Any motorcycle accidents with either yourself or your costars?
C. Hunnam Yes, there’s been a couple of bikes have gone down - none at any great speed thankfully. I actually have put the bike down once myself. Ron Perlman I think holds the record for dropping motorcycles.
He’s up there you know in double figures at this point. So he’s pretty good at putting the bike down. But thankfully we’ve actually managed – knock on wood – to avoid all injuries so far. Wow.
Can you talk about the bloody scene with Jay Carnes?
C. Hunnam: When you’re doing a fight sequence, if you’re throwing punches or kicks – they’re very, very easy to fake for the camera.
But any kind of wrestling you know or rough-housing like in close proximity gets much more difficult to fake and usually have to kind of actually do it a little more. And Jay Carnes and I ended up getting into a little bit of a tussle.
I was supposed to pull him out of a barber’s chair and spin him round and throw him against the wall.
Long story short, he ended up hitting the wall a lot harder than we had intended to – face first - and cracked the bridge of his nose and I didn’t realize.
So I continued the scene where I just throw him up another wall and spin him around and then pretend to throw him through a window.
And he was going ouch, ouch. And I said… This guy is a really good actor. And then once we finished the take – by the time 15 seconds later – both nostrils were pouring with blood and the bridge of his nose was cracked completely open. So I guess that also could be considered a minor mishap.
Will you participate in the Love Ride?
C. Hunnam: Yes, absolutely. I’m excited!
I don't know how it happened. I think actually vice versa – I think that effects brought it to us. I wasn’t aware of the Love Ride because I don't know too much about the world of bikes and bikers.
But, yes, it got brought to our attention. As soon as I heard about it, I was really eager to ride in it. And I already have my license, but I know some of the other cast are feverishly going and taking tests now so they can ride in it, too, because I think you have to have a full California license to ride in it.
Have you consulted with any real Hells Angels?
C. Hunnam Yes, I mean I’ve met a lot of different people – a lot of different club members from a lot of different clubs. I mean I wouldn't feel comfortable naming any one specifically.
But, yes, I’ve been fortunate enough to meet a lot of different guys like I say they’re from all different clubs –some of the very kind of – I’m trying to think of the right like maybe – I can't think of the right way to describe it, but all different types of clubs.
It’s been a wonderful education and everybody you know has been very gracious in giving time and their information and thoughts on what this world is and what this lifestyle is.
And even from the aesthetic point of view I was fortunate enough before we started shooting to hang out with like a lot of various people that were living this lifestyle or at least close to it.
I was able to put together an aesthetic that really made sense to me and I really enjoyed. I mean a lot of people have been…because I don’t read any press or reviews or anything like that.
There’s been some debate as to the legitimacy of my wardrobe in the show, which I like because it obviously is flying in the face of people’s preconceived notion of what this world is.
And it’s obviously coming from people that don’t know this world because if they knew the world they wouldn't be questioning the wardrobe because in reality it’s absolutely correct because I saw many, many guys my age dressing exactly the way I dress in the show, which is why I dress in the show.
So I take a certain amount of satisfaction in people’s doubts because to me – which is the exciting thing about the show – is educating people in a world that they don’t necessarily know anything about.
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