Category: Sons of Anarchy

Posted on

Press: Charlie Hunnam On Facing The Monster

Post Categories Articles Interviews Monster: The Lizzie Borden Story Photos Press Sons of Anarchy

For as long as the England-hailing star has been an actor, he’s favoured substance over stardom – at times, even forgoing billion-dollar franchises for roles he can really sink his teeth into. With Ryan Murphy’s Monster, he’s got the best of both worlds – playing one of history’s most notorious serial killers in one of the decade’s most talked about TV phenomena.

Manabouttown.tv — A rumbling train drowns out Charlie Hunnam just as he’s about to reveal the project he wishes he’d never taken. He laughs at the interruption, then doubles back – this time confessing the role he auditioned for but, thankfully, didn’t land. Before he can utter the project’s name, another blaring locomotive barrels past, silencing him again. “That train is my publicist!” he yells with a grin. “Preventing me from saying things I shouldn’t.”

Many people are lucky, but there’s more to it with Hunnam. Just a fleeting moment with him is enough to make you believe in karma, since karmic law tells us good things happen to good people, and, well, Charlie Hunnam is apparently very good. Hunnam is the kind of good that, instead of being tended to by a full staff, cleans his own home, pays his own bills, shops for his own groceries – despite being an international screen mainstay since his 2008 worldwide breakthrough as Jax Teller in Sons of Anarchy. “Fuck the glitz and glamour, hit ‘em with the Blitz and Hammer,” he says, quoting noughties UK rap legend Dizzee Rascal. Good like, when homophobia held strong through the 1990s, Hunnam attended equal rights demonstrations. “I was quite popular [there],” he smiles, although he probably understates. He’s so good that in this interview – one of many in which he will participate to promote his role as one of history’s most infamous serial killers in one of television’s most popular franchises – Hunnam is happily chatting well beyond our scheduled time, in direct defiance of his publicist (his officially appointed one, rather than the train).

Ed Gein, the actor’s latest lead role, was a two-time 1950s killer also famous for exhuming corpses, including that of his own mother. He has been the real-life inspiration for Norman Bates in Psycho, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre’s Leatherface, and now, Ryan Murphy’s exceedingly bingeable anthology series, Monster. The collaboration between Murphy and Hunnam was borne out of a two-hour lunch at Chateau Marmont, during which the former offered the Englishman the role on the spot. According to the star, it was a “mic drop” moment, and Hunnam instinctively accepted – script unseen. Over the next few weeks, the impostor syndrome had set in: “‘I don’t know what I’m going to be able to do if I can’t understand this guy,’” he thought.

But Murphy had done extensive research, presenting a show that unfurled mental illness with profound compassion. Hunnam approached the work in a similar vein, devouring any material that gave insight into Gein’s environment, activities and pathology. “I was thinking, ‘Why did he do what he did? How can I make him a human?’ He did horrendous things, but it’s also heartbreaking… I did find him to be a really tragic figure.”

Identifying with his characters – no matter their background, occupation, or sexuality – has become something of Hunnam’s superpower. Before roaring onto screens as Jax, the motorcycle gang leader in Sons of Anarchy, Hunnam was a 16-year-old from the Newcastle suburb of Byker (yes, really). He’d just been turned away by an acting agency when fate intervened: on Christmas Eve 1996, he happened to cross paths with the lone production manager of the only TV show filming within 200 miles. That chance meeting led to his first audition – 1999’s Queer As Folk, Russell T Davies’s groundbreaking drama about three gay friends in Manchester.

Queer As Folk ran for only two seasons, but its impact was seismic, cited as part of the cultural conversation that prompted the UK government to bring the age of consent for gay relationships in line with that of straight and lesbian couples in 2001. Hunnam, one of its three stars, was just 18 when it premiered.

“I was certainly aware when it came out that we felt like we were doing something important,” he says. “Prior to that show a gay character on television’s entire storyline was that they were HIV positive or something like that – always reductive, like ‘This is all this person is.’ [Our] show was about three human beings living their lives with a whole plethora of relatable, real-life issues who just happened to be gay.” Continue reading Press: Charlie Hunnam On Facing The Monster

Written by Carol
0 Comments 0
Posted on

Video: Charlie Discusses ‘Monster: The Ed Gein Story’ and ‘Sons of Anarchy’ Awards Snubs

Post Categories Interviews Monster: The Ed Gein Story Press Sons of Anarchy Video

In an interview with Gold Derby, Charlie discussed his role in ‘Monster: The Ed Gein Story,’ including the spontaneous way he was cast. He explained that what truly struck him about Ryan Murphy’s approach was the focus on exploring why Ed Gein did what he did, rather than just what he did. Ultimately, Charlie noted, the show poses a complex question: Is the monster truly Ed Gein, or was Hitchcock also the monster, who took inspiration from this boy who was abused and mentally ill and sensationalized his story or are we the audience now the monster for participating in telling the story of Hitchcock and Ed Gein?

Charlie went on to share his perspective on awards, comparing them to birthday gifts—something “nice to receive” but maybe “bad form to covet.” He emphasized his gratitude for working with talented people who help make him better and challenge him. He wrapped up the topic by saying that his real focus is doing better quality work and constantly growing as a craftsperson, viewing any potential award as simply a recognition that he is “on the right path.”

Written by Carol
0 Comments 0
Posted on

Press/Interview: Charlie Hunnam Talks ‘Shantaram’ Finale, Leaning Into Writing, and ‘Sons of Anarchy’s Jax Teller

Post Categories Interviews Press Projects Shantaram Sons of Anarchy Television

Collider.com — During this 1-on-1 interview with Collider, which was conducted prior to the official cancellation of the series, Hunnam talked about only telling one third of the story of Lin Ford, having the ability to be completely objective about his own performance, why he feels like a filmmaker trapped in an actor’s career, wanting to be challenged with his work, what he most enjoyed about working with this cast, and his desire to focus more of his time on writing. He also talked about how the music of Tom Waits has made it onto a few of his writing playlists, and what the deal is with that project he previously alluded to, in connection with Jax Teller.

Collider: I recently read that you’re a fan of Tom Waits and you said that he excites your imagination more than most other artists do. Being an enormous fan of Tom Waits myself, and his ability to get me to visualize whatever story he’s telling in any song of his, I’m curious whether you’ve ever used his music to inspire you for a role, or for any of the writing you do. Do you ever use his art as inspiration for your own art, in any way?

CHARLIE HUNNAM: Oh, Tom Waits has definitely appeared on a few writing playlists that I have. In particular, I’ve been working on something recently, and I was listening a lot to “Cold Water” from Mule Variations. It’s definitely in the top 20 of my favorite songs. Maybe not necessarily top five. But it was just a vibe that I was looking for. I would say that my introduction to great music was through Leonard Cohen and Tom Waits. They’ve both always been very, very important to me.

Ending the season of Shantaram with “To Be Continued” is certainly a bold move, especially when there are no guarantees in television. What led to that decision?

HUNNAM: Yeah. I can’t take any credit or blame for that. It was not my choice, nor my conviction, to do that. That was probably (showrunner) Steve Lightfoot. I’m not sure. I would think that was more Steve Lightfoot than our colleagues at Apple.

Listen, by virtue of the fact that this is an adaptation of a novel, and we’ve only told, at a maximum, one third of the story, our hope that this would be continued is somewhat self-evident, for those who actually know the novel and know that this isn’t where the story ends. When we get to the end of the season, I also don’t think it feels like the story’s over. I’m not so sure if we needed to put it in black and white, “to be continued,” but I think that the idea was that we would leave with a sense of unfinished business. Sometimes people worry that the devil might not actually be in the details, and that you need to put things in black and white to really punctuate the point.

As a producer on this, and just generally when you’re a producer on a project that you’re hoping will continue on, are you able to be objective in watching your own performance and figuring out what you might want to shift or change, from season to season? How do you handle that? Are you someone who can get out of your own head enough to think about it, and see what’s best for the show and for your own performance?

HUNNAM: Yes, I am. I definitely have the ability to be completely objective. I have a very clear view, or at least my own perspective and opinion, of what we did well and what we could do significantly better, as a show, at large, and that’s also true with my work. It’s a funny thing, within the hierarchy of television production, the people who are paying for it, get to make a lot of the decisions. And then, of course, the creator gets to make a lot of the decisions. By the time it gets to my position, even being a producing asset, most of the decisions have already been made. My experience is that I can have some latitude to be able to affect the small decisions, but the big stuff is way above my pay grade, unfortunately. I would love to be right in the kitchen, designing the menu, but I’m much more of a sous-chef, being told what to do.

I appreciate that metaphor, so thank you for that.

HUNNAM: There you go. I was wondering if it was a bit too rich. Continue reading Press/Interview: Charlie Hunnam Talks ‘Shantaram’ Finale, Leaning Into Writing, and ‘Sons of Anarchy’s Jax Teller

Written by Carol
4 Comments 4
Posted on

Press/Interview: Charlie reflects on his most iconic role and the long road to Apple TV+ epic Shantaram

Post Categories Articles Interviews Press Projects Shantaram Sons of Anarchy Television

RadioTimes.com — Nearly 25 years after his groundbreaking debut in Queer as Folk, Charlie Hunnam’s zeal for stories that seek to understand the human condition hasn’t wavered. He’s here to talk about his new series Shantaram, an Apple TV+ crime epic set in India, which the Sons of Anarchy star has long had his eyes on.

Based on a partly-fictional 936 page novel by Gregory David Roberts that spans continents, heroin addiction and arms smuggling for mujahideen freedom fighters, Shantaram has been a hot Hollywood property since its publication in 2003. Warner Bros splashed out $2m for the film rights, with Johnny Depp set to star as Lin, an Australian bank robber who breaks out of prison and flees to India. But that didn’t materialise, with Hunnam watching from the sidelines as others attempted to bring his dream project to life for two decades.

“It was always clear why this was an impossible task to adapt for film,” he says of the attempts to squeeze the expansive narrative into just two hours. But then streaming disrupted the film and TV industry as we once knew it, with enormous corporations such as Apple (who has funded the first season to the tune of $100m) wanting in on the entertainment boom.

Reflecting on the shifting industry economics that eventually made it possible to make Shantaram, Hunnam says: “It’s such an odyssey and in a film-centric world, I don’t think it was possible. By the time we nabbed the rights, we were in the golden age of television.”

Hunnam describes himself as an actor willing to give himself over entirely to his director and loves nothing more than immersing himself in the inner lives of his characters. “I was possessed by this material,” he says of Lin, who has seen hell but remains hopeful. Due to a COVID-enforced shutdown and a change in showrunner as a result of creative differences between Eric Singer and Apple, Hunnam was given the time and space to interrogate how he wanted to approach the character.

“I had this very powerful conviction that he needed to be a regular guy who had made a mistake that was going to dictate the next decade of his life,” he says. “In the beginning, I wanted him to be stripped down and naked. There were others who wanted to bring elements from later in the novel to earlier in the show, but I rejected that violently because it felt right to me to go on a journey.”

Hunnam remains committed to his vision for Lin but isn’t so sure it will work for everyone: “Whether or not my conviction was right, I don’t know. But it was right for me.” Continue reading Press/Interview: Charlie reflects on his most iconic role and the long road to Apple TV+ epic Shantaram

Written by Carol
1 Comment 1
Posted on

Press/Interview: Charlie Hunnam Teases Possible ‘Sons of Anarchy’ Revival as Jax Teller

Post Categories Articles Interviews Press Projects Shantaram Sons of Anarchy Television Video

ETOnline.com — Charlie Hunnam’s toying with the idea of life after death when it comes to the dangerously smart character he played in all seven seasons of Sons of Anarchy.

During the Los Angeles premiere for his new AppleTV+ series Shantaram, the ridiculously handsome 42-year-old actor opened up to ET’s Will Marfugi a bit — keyword, a bit — about the possible revival of Jackson “Jax” Teller in some way, shape or form. He recently said as much, and he acknowledged that speaking about it caused quite the commotion.

“Oh, did that get a little bit of traction,” quipped Hunnam. But when pressed on whether there’s a concrete idea or if reprising his role as Jax will come in a series or film, Hunnam played coy.

“I can’t, I can’t tell you. No, no,” said Hunnam with a bit of a grin on his face. “There’s nothing I can say at all, other than if it happens, it’ll happen.”

For what it’s worth, Hunnam says he still has one of the motorcycles he rode all those years on the hit FX show, which aired 92 episodes from 2008 to 2014.

“I have one of the Sons of Anarchy bikes,” Hunnam said. “I rode so hard for so long over that 10, 12-year period that I was riding all the time. I had a couple of close calls, and I just got a niggling voice in the back of my head saying, ‘Just take it easy for a minute,’ ya know? So, I put about five years where I’ve been riding so much but I’m starting to feel the urge to get back on the bike.” Continue reading Press/Interview: Charlie Hunnam Teases Possible ‘Sons of Anarchy’ Revival as Jax Teller

Written by Carol
Disabled Disabled
Posted on

Videos: Charlie Discusses ‘Shantaram’ (Press Interviews)

Post Categories Interviews Press Shantaram Sons of Anarchy Television Video

Charlie sat down with the press to discuss his upcoming series ‘Shantaram’ in addition to a variety of other topics. You can check out interviews below collected in a YouTube playlist for easy viewing!

I’ll add newer interviews to the playlist as they’re uploaded.

Written by Carol
Disabled Disabled
Posted on

Press: Charlie Hunnam Reflects on the Impact of ‘Sons of Anarchy’ 12 Years Later: “It Gave Me a Career”

Post Categories Articles Interviews Press Sons of Anarchy

People.com — Charlie Hunnam is reflecting on Sons of Anarchy’s impact over a decade after the series premiered.

Speaking to PEOPLE ahead of the release of his new film Jungleland, the 40-year-old actor opened up about how the hit FX drama launched his career.

“Well, frankly, it gave me a career,” Hunnam says. “And it gave me the ability to have confidence that I was going to be able to make [acting] work as a lifelong career.”

Hunnam starred as Jax Teller in the motorcycle gang show, which chronicled the lives of a close-knit motorcycle club that operated in a fictional Californian town. The series also starred Katey Sagal, Tommy Flanagan and Ron Perlman.

Looking back at his time on the show that made him a household name, the Newcastle, England native says it was almost like a college experience for him.

“I think I went into Sons of Anarchy being a pretty unaccomplished actor in terms of my skill set,” he says. “I wasn’t one of these people that were born enormously and innately talented. I had to really cultivate a skill set.”

“And where I cultivated a lot of that skill set was going to work and shooting 10 pages a day on Sons of Anarchy for seven years,” he continues. “I feel like that was my college days.”

Hunnam adds: “I went in knowing very little about the process of acting and came out knowing a little bit more.”

Now, six years after the series concluded, Hunnam says he’s often asked whether or not he would ever reprise his most famous role. But “I would never, ever put that cut back on,” he says. “I would never put his rings back on. Not even for Halloween.”

“It was a very deep experience,” he explains. “I lived with that character inside me for years, like, in a very real way. In a way that manifested in ways that I could never even [have] imagined.”

“He’s dead now,” he adds. “So there would be no ever bringing him back … When he died, he died.”

These days, Hunnam is now enjoying life and taking things day by day amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic with a renewed focus on creativity.

“I’ve been writing a great deal, which has been something that I’ve been sort of doing tangentially to my acting career for quite a while,” he says. “I’ve been writing 85 hours a week for the last seven months.”

Next up, in addition to Jungleland, Hunnam will head back to television screens with the previously announced series, Shantaram. And despite his many movie undertakings since the end of Sons of Anarchy, the actor notes that he does prefer TV roles over film ones.

“I really like long-form storytelling,” he says. “The experience of working with a group of actors for a long period of time is really, really exciting and rewarding.”

Jungleland opens in select theaters on Friday and hits video on demand platforms on Tuesday.

Written by Carol
Disabled Disabled
Posted on

Charlie Talks with Entertainment Weekly on SiriusXM at Comic-Con 2016

Post Categories Audio Interviews King Arthur: Legend of the Sword Sons of Anarchy

Written by Carol
Disabled Disabled
Posted on

Video: Charlie Hunnam shows off beard-trimming skills in King Arthur

Post Categories Articles Interviews King Arthur: Legend of the Sword Sons of Anarchy Video

For his role in King Arthur, former Sons of Anarchy star Charlie Hunnam gets the chance to wield the legendary sword, Excalibur, while kicking ass and delivering a “harder edge” to the king’s tale. And though it’s not the first time the actor has handled a pretty epic piece of weaponry, the movie gave him an opportunity to show off a few unique tricks he’d picked up in the past.

During EW’s cover shoot, the future King Arthur opened up about the Samurai sword he has at home, which his Sons of Anarchy costar Ryan Hurst coveted. So, when the series wrapped, the cast gifted Hurst with a Samurai sword of his own, but rather than put it on display, the blade was used for a very special purpose – trimming off Hurst’s beard.

Source: ew.com

Written by Carol
Disabled Disabled
Posted on

Men’s Journal: Riding High with Charlie Hunnam

Post Categories Articles Interviews King Arthur: Legend of the Sword Sons of Anarchy

First of all congratulations on the amazing run for Sons Of Anarchy. Did you have any idea it would go this far?
I had no idea. I remember when I got the first script sent to me by my team. I thought immediately, “Has it got this bad? Why are they sending me TV scripts?” They were like, “You really got to read this.” I did and my jaw dropped. They were some of the most daring, original and interesting pages I had ever read. Kurt [Sullor] knew exactly what he was doing.

Did you always know that Jax was going to die in the end?
Kurt and I had a conversation in the beginning of the final season. He was thinking that Jax would probably live through it and I was sort of with him. I was operating under that assumption for the whole season. Then I read the script for episode 7.12, and I read the words “a calm had come over Jax.” I knew immediately that Kurt was planning on killing him after that. I think I said, “Oh my God,” out loud. I knew he was going to kill himself. I was reading those pages and Jax was different. I called Kurt and we had a long conversation. At the end of it we both realized that it would have been more tragic to let him live after what he had gone through. In my heart Jax has found peace.

There’s another benefit to having Jax die, you don’t have to get hounded about reunions for the rest of your career now. Well not exactly, he’s trying to do a prequel, which I would love to see. Kurt is trying to get it going. Did you read that about Brad Pitt maybe playing my dad? Brad Pitt as John Teller. How awesome would that be?

So you’d be down for that as well?
I’m not sure when it would happen though, he’s got another TV show he’s working on. I don’t know if he needs me as a lead actor on that too. I love that guy but it was hard for us to work together sometimes because we’re both crazy fucks. Kurt and I never blasted each other in the face but I’ll say it got close. There has been security rushing onto set and pulling us apart before.

You’re about to work with Guy Ritchie on the new King Arthur movie. How excited are you about that?
I’m thrilled man. I’ve been watching Guy’s movies since he first came on the scene and I think you could say that the King Arthur story is why I got into acting in the first place. I fell in love with the story and would watch any of the movies about that story that played when I was a kid. It’s a real honor to be able to play this role.

Have you already begun sword training?
We’re getting right into it. I’m training hard. Luckily I already have a little experience with sword training for Pacific Rim, we had some intense stick fighting scenes that I had to prepare in that one.

Besides sword fighting are they’re any other great skills that you’ve picked up during your various acting projects?
You know I think one of the most abilities I’ve gained doing what I do is the ability to connect with emotions. After all the work I’ve done I feel like I’m something of an emotion-smith. We have to tap into places on a daily basis that usually people only go in a rare occasion. I’ve gained much in the currency of emotion and maybe the ability to have more control of them.

What did it feel like to be the face of Reveal? Is that the kind of scent you wear on a daily bases?
I wear Reveal. I really like a masculine base. I love scents with Earth notes, something grounded. This all came completely out of the blue; it was the first thing that came to me like this. I’d actually really grown up loving [Calvin Klein] and when I was a kid I had two posters from their campaigns hanging in my room. CK1 and Eternity. It feels perfect to be a part of something that I was staring at on my wall for 10 years.

Now that Sons Of Anarchy is wrapped up do you still get to ride?
I’ll be riding forever. I like riding alone. You don’t have to worry about anyone else keeping up and I like to ride pretty aggressive.

What is your bike?
I ride the same bike that I rode on Sons, a Harley Dyna Super Glide. You know I wish I wasn’t the guy who rode the same bike he rode on his show, but the problem is there’s no better bike out there.

Source: mensjournal.com

Written by Carol
Disabled Disabled