Charlie Talks Sex Appeal and Life After ‘Sons of Anarchy’ with InStyle

Charlie Talks Sex Appeal and Life After ‘Sons of Anarchy’ with InStyle

In person, Charlie Hunnam is pensive and brutally handsome, with a chiseled face and piercing eyes. He wears a dark blue cable-knit sweater over a white T-shirt and jeans, a nondescript choice, possibly on purpose. We meet in West Hollywood at one of his favorite haunts, Greenblatt’s Deli, and sit across from each other in the upstairs dining area. At a table just behind us, two men are talking, one so loudly it’s clear he wants everyone within earshot to know he has grand ambitions. He says he knows people in the business, and because we’re in Hollywood, I can only assume that he’s referring to show business.

Hunnam, on the other hand, does nothing to draw attention. As a reasonably successful actor and incredibly attractive man, he doesn’t need more notice than he already gets. He’s so suave and engaged throughout our conversation, I decide that either he’s being genuine or he’s an even better actor than I thought. The English accent also doesn’t hurt.

In person, Charlie Hunnam is pensive and brutally handsome, with a chiseled face and piercing eyes. He wears a dark blue cable-knit sweater over a white T-shirt and jeans, a nondescript choice, possibly on purpose. We meet in West Hollywood at one of his favorite haunts, Greenblatt’s Deli, and sit across from each other in the upstairs dining area. At a table just behind us, two men are talking, one so loudly it’s clear he wants everyone within earshot to know he has grand ambitions. He says he knows people in the business, and because we’re in Hollywood, I can only assume that he’s referring to show business.

Hunnam, on the other hand, does nothing to draw attention. As a reasonably successful actor and incredibly attractive man, he doesn’t need more notice than he already gets. He’s so suave and engaged throughout our conversation, I decide that either he’s being genuine or he’s an even better actor than I thought. The English accent also doesn’t hurt.

In FX’s Sons of Anarchy, which ran from 2008 through 2014, Hunnam played Jax Teller. As the brash but good-hearted leader of a motorcycle gang in the fictional town of Charming, Calif., Teller tried to understand his father’s legacy while raising a family, loving a woman not entirely thrilled with his gang activities, and dealing with a devious mother. There was a lot on Teller’s shoulders, and Hunnam—despite being born in the very non-biker-sounding Newcastle upon Tyne, in England—carried that burden well. Even three years later, the role still affects him. “[After the show ended] it was a painful process of what felt like real mourning, of grieving, to extricate him from my life,” he says. “I became very conscious of what a giant impact it had on me playing that guy—being with him for so long inside of me.”

With that career-making role behind him, Hunnam is thinking carefully about what’s next. He wants, in his words, to “change people’s perception of what I’m capable of.” This moment of insight intrigues me, so I ask Hunnam how he thinks he’s perceived. He’s quiet as he considers how to respond. Continue reading Charlie Talks Sex Appeal and Life After ‘Sons of Anarchy’ with InStyle

Charlie Admits He Hates Filming Sex Scenes & More with ELLE Magazine

Charlie Admits He Hates Filming Sex Scenes & More with ELLE Magazine

ELLE: A few stories I read described your dad as a “gangster.” True?

Charlie Hunnam: No, he was a scrap-metal man. If, say, a coal mine or a shipyard goes down, there’s an enormous opportunity to go and strip scrap metal and melt it down. It’s incredibly valuable, completely untraceable, and very desirable to steal. Everybody understands that if you fuck around, there will be serious consequences. That’s where his reputation came into play. He was very well known. Some might say even feared. But he wasn’t into making money illegally, which is my definition of a gangster.

How did the town react when you became the face of a Calvin Klein cologne?

I don’t know, because I left there when I was 12. I go back occasionally to see my dad. I think everybody is seduced by the film business, whether they’re tough, salty, Newcastle dudes or young dudes or whatever.

You’re often shirtless in movies. Has that given you some understanding of what it’s like to be a woman in Hollywood?

I never really thought about it in that context.

Okay, do you ever feel objectified?

Not at all. I don’t view myself that way. I obviously am cognizant of the fact that being handsome gives me greater breadth of opportunity. I’d hope that what I bring to the table far surpasses just being handsome.

Actors often describe sex scenes as awkward. What’s the truth?

I try to be sensitive to the fact that we’re doing something intimate, but also keep a clear boundary. Because I’m in a very committed relationship, and I’m also cognizant that it’s not my girlfriend’s favorite part of my job. It’s a delicate balance to strike—to be emotionally open enough to have an experience that feels honest between two people but also maintain that it’s just for the film. It’s not my favorite thing to do. I’m also a germaphobe.

Wait, seriously?

Yeah. I’ve been profoundly germophobic since I was a young child. I don’t want to kiss anyone but my girlfriend for my whole life.

Do you remember how it started?

When I was maybe eight or nine, there was a parasite from dogs in the north of England that, if you ingested it, could turn you blind. We had a thing in schools to educate the kids about the importance of hygiene, specifically around dogs, because we had a few kids who went blind. That horrified me. The point is, everyone thinks it’s great to be an actor and get to kiss a bunch of beautiful actresses in films, but I actually hate it.

Have you ever used your fame to get out of trouble?

There’s definitely a huge number of L.A. police who seem to like Sons of Anarchy. When the show was on, I’d ride my bike to work a little faster than California law would allow. And I got pulled over my fair share. It didn’t always work, but maybe two or three times I didn’t get a ticket. It was very handy.

You were cast in Fifty Shades of Grey but backed out because of scheduling conflicts. Have you seen the film?

I haven’t. I developed a friendship with [director Sam Taylor-Johnson], but that was a somewhat traumatic experience for me. I didn’t want to open that wound.

King Arthur is a story about destiny. Do you believe in fate?

Yes. I think we can affect our own fates, but there’s also a powerful energy that’s the universe or God or whatever your unconscious recognizes that helps along your way.

Is there a story from your own life that informed that view?

No, but I’ll tell you what Henry David Thoreau said: “I learned this, at least, by my experiment: that if one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams, and endeavors to live the life which he has imagined, he will meet with a success unexpected in common hours.” I think when you live your destiny, you allow yourself to get in touch with your inner essence. What’s difficult in life is the economic and social requirements that distract us from bringing forth our true passion.

Economic requirements! Don’t you have, like, 80 pairs of sneakers?

I did at a period in my life. Not anymore.

What changed?

I grew up. I spent an enormous amount of time sourcing the good shit. I needed really limited edition, blah blah blah. Then I thought, What the fuck am I doing? I took out six or seven pairs that I cared about, and I gave the rest to charity.

Source: Elle.com

Charlie Reminisces on Camping Trip with Girlfriend, Talks ‘Lost City of Z’ with Belfast Telegraph

Charlie Hunnam, the actor who turned down the Christian Grey role in Fifty Shades, tells Gemma Dunn he’s no action hero despite his latest movie about explorer Percy Fawcett, which was partly shot in Northern Ireland.

Charlie Hunnam is recalling a time when he embarked on a camping trip – sans mobile phone – with his long-term girlfriend, jewellery designer Morgana McNelis.

“We went into a big wilderness area in California called Kings Canyon”, begins the 36-year-old actor. “I didn’t take my phone with me and she kept saying, ‘Oh it’s going to be so romantic’, and I said, ‘It’s not romantic, it’s adventure, it’s survival’.

“We were going out into the wilderness for seven days,” he reports, animatedly. “And just three days in, we got horribly lost – and were completely lost for four days.

“I was feeling fairly confident two days in; by the third day I started to panic a little bit, and by the fourth, having no idea where we were and seeing no trace of humanity, I started to think, ‘Maybe I should have brought my mobile phone’.”

Holed up in a hotel room, Hunnam – best known as the fearless Jax Teller in the hit FX series Sons Of Anarchy – isn’t casually reeling off past misadventures.

His admission is in light of his latest role in director James Gray’s stirring big-screen tribute, The Lost City Of Z, partly filmed in Northern Ireland.

Swapping his motorbike leathers for camo chic, he leads the incredible true story of UK explorer Percy Fawcett, who journeyed into the Amazon at the dawn of the 20th century and discovered evidence of a previously unknown, and advanced, civilisation.

Despite being ridiculed by the scientific establishment, the adventurer – supported by his devoted wife (Sienna Miller), son (Tom Holland) and aide-de-camp (Robert Pattinson) – returned time and again to his beloved jungle in an attempt to prove his case, culminating in his mysterious disappearance in 1925.

Epicly scaled and multi-faceted, the drama – based on David Grann’s non-fiction bestseller of the same name – provided the change of pace Hunnam needed.

“I’ve been really lucky, particularly in the last few years, that I’ve been getting offered lots of diverse and really interesting things”, notes the actor, whose previous credits include Guillermo del Toro’s films Pacific Rim and Crimson Peak.

He also famously backed out of playing BDSM heart-throb Christian Grey in the film adaptation of 50 Shades Of Grey, which then went to Holywood-born actor Jamie Dornan.

He adds, though, this movie was about the acting rather than the great outdoors. “More than specifically looking for an adventure story per se, I was eager to work with a high-level director and work on a character that was really complex. Continue reading Charlie Reminisces on Camping Trip with Girlfriend, Talks ‘Lost City of Z’ with Belfast Telegraph