AppleTV has released new episodic stills from ‘Shantaram’ of Charlie from the episode four titled “Bad Medicine” which airs this Friday, October 21st. Head on over to the gallery now to view them in high quality.
Unless you’ve been living under a rock until recently, Charlie’s newest series ‘Shantaram’ premiered on AppleTV+ this Friday with the first three episodes available to stream immediately. I’ve added over 1,500+ high quality screen captures of Charlie as Lin Ford from those episodes into the gallery for viewing.
You can watch ‘Shantaram’ which is now available on AppleTV+ for $4.99 a month or you can take advantage of their 7-Day free trial!
EW.com — Years ago while on vacation in Thailand, Charlie Hunnam read Shantaram, the 2003 international best-selling novel from Australian author Gregory David Roberts. And ever since he finished it, he couldn’t stop thinking about it. He had “devoured” the 900 page book and couldn’t put it down — much to the detriment of the partner he was on vacation with — and knew it deserved to be brought to life onscreen. He felt passionately about producing a TV adaptation of it, but he ultimately had to wait a long time until the rights became available (a film version of Shantaram had been in the works for years from producer Johnny Depp).
“A couple of years later, they admitted defeat with that process — I think because of the length and complexity of the story, it’s really impossible to distill it down to two hours,” Hunnam tells EW. “After many, many noble attempts, Warner Brothers threw in the hat and the rights became available again, so the dream became alive again and here we are.”
Shantaram tells the story of fugitive Lin Ford’s (Hunnam) adventures in 1980s Bombay after escaping prison. Alone in an unfamiliar city, he falls for an enigmatic and intriguing woman while on the run from his past, and soon must choose between freedom or love, and the complications that come with it. Hunnam fell in love with the “magnificently written text” but admits that he didn’t expect — or even want — to play the lead role in the AppleTV+ series, preferring to stay behind the camera in a producer role until he ultimately decided to portray Lin later in the development process.
“I have a very not fully formed but kind of a philosophical view of these things, that ultimately stories want to get told, and they can get told at different times with different people,” Hunnam says. “I didn’t feel necessarily as though this is my role and I’m the only one who can play it, by any means. It’s an amazing role and an amazing story, and there were a lot of people that would have done a splendid job, but I felt very grateful and fortunate that I got to bring it to life.”
The first three episodes of Shantaram premiere Oct. 14 on Apple TV+ before moving to a weekly release through Dec. 16.
People.com — Charlie Hunnam may not be the biggest fan of long hair, but his beloved man bun still holds a special place in his heart.
The English actor, 42, opened up to PEOPLE about his most recent look, which came as a result of both the pandemic and as a part of his latest role in Shantaram. As Hunnam explains, he grew his hair out for two years, and decided to film with the look that best represent his character of Lin Ford, an Australian prison escapee who’s living a double life in 1980s Bombay throughout the Apple TV+ series. That look, he says, also required him to do away with his go-to beard.
“The bigger sacrifice for me was shaving my beard because this is my protection and I like looking at myself in the mirror more with the beard,” Hunmann says. “But I had a really strong conviction that Lin had to be sort of naked and stripped down to nothing when he arrived. I didn’t want to hide behind a beard or feel more handsome than I do without a beard. That was a very specific choice that I made.”
While Hunnam has grown accustomed to the man bun look, which sees its TV debut on Oct. 14 to kick off the 12-episode series, he’s also learned a thing or two about styling his long hair. Wearing it down is simply not an option, Hunnam explains.
“I look at Japanese culture, which I’m a big fan of, and I think those dudes, through the way they shape their hair and style their hair, is about the coolest look on the planet,” he says. “So I’m not at all mad at the man bun, but I’m very reluctant ever to wear it down.”
Shantaram, which is based on Gregory David Roberts’ international bestseller, allowed the actor to film in India, Thailand and Australia during the height of the pandemic. In the series, the Sons of Anarchy alum’s latest character runs a local health clinic while he’s in cahoots with the mafia in Bombay.
When it comes to his character, there’s not much more than hair styles that connects the two. Hunnam tells PEOPLE that he’s able to live out most of his “fantasies and desire for life” through his acting work, but his real life doesn’t see as much adventure as that of the fictional character of Lin.
“I’m much less adventurous in my regular life,” he says. “I spend about 10 months of the year on the road working, so when I’m not working, I tend to just want to be home with my lady.” His “lady,” Morgana McNelis, has been with him for over 15 years and Hunnam considers himself already married to her. The jewelry designer keeps a relatively low profile, and bought a ranch in California with her partner back in 2013.
Arriving this week, Shantaram is written and executive produced by showrunner Steve Lightfoot. Apple TV+ won the rights to adapt the novel in a 2018 bidding war. In the series Hunnam’s character of Lin is “committed to living under the radar and alone — a lifestyle that allows him to hold onto his freedom,” a description of the series reads. He eventually meets a woman named Karla, played by Antonia Desplat, and begins to weigh love and freedom.
“The book is a very rich exploration of the nature of faith, belief and how that informs us. I think within that, there’s a deep exploration of duality within the human condition of light and dark and how we navigate or surrender to one at the expense of the other,” Hunnam says. “That was the central theme that I was most excited to explore in Shantaram — this bigger idea percolating through the whole thing: what does all of this mean?”
