Tag: charlie hunnam interview
Name: Charlie Hunnam
Age: 32
Provenance: Newcastle, England
Relationship status: In a Relationship (with Morgana McNelis)
On the “Brad Pitt” curse: “I was playing pretty boys and these angelic roles like Nicholas Nickleby and all that stuff. And I was like, ‘What am I doing? This isn’t who I am, as a man or an artist.’ I had to overcome people’s belief that I was too pretty to be a badass.”
On initially resisting the role of Frankie: “It seemed too much of a stretch. I’ve been playing Jax Teller for so long and these other aggressive roles. I thought it would take me awhile to get out of that and into a place where I could play this meek, put-upon, dorky guy.”
On Vespa versus Harley: “I don’t think I’ve been on a Vespa? Oh, that’s right…for this movie! I have two motorcycles. This is my pride and joy [reveals a picture of his Harley Davidson]. No comparison. I would rather be the guy steering the big Harley. It’s empowering and makes you feel like a badass. [The Vespa] is really humiliating and makes you feel like an idiot.”
On similarities to Jax Teller: “A lot of my friends are gangsters. Not like gangsters–well, yeah, all sorts of levels of criminality—but not the types that are preying on innocent people. I have no interest in the type of criminality that has no respect for collateral damage. But I don’t condemn the guys who say, ‘This society we’ve created is kind of [messed up], and I’m willing to take it down—for selfish gain—but also to make a point.'”.
On receiving jewelry from his girlfriend: “She told me she was making me a diamond encrusted ring—she’s a jewelry designer, not an actor—and I was like ‘Uh-oh. This is not going to go well for me.’ But I love it. It’s so discrete and beautiful. Her company is Maison de Morgana.
You can check out this fantastic interview in full over at PLAYBOY.com
Playboy.com: What was the most bizarre scene to film in FGB?
Hunnam: I think having to wrestle that pig, it was a harrowing experience. They are very aggressive, strong, loud creatures. I mean you can’t even believe the noise and ferociousness of this little beast. He was so placid before I picked him up, and the second I did he pissed all over me. Screaming and crying and wriggling and tried to bite me! I was like wow; could we not get a prosthetic pig? But then he got used to me and was a little better to work with.
Playboy.com: The fifth season of Sons of Anarchy just started up, what can we look forward to this season?
Hunnam: It has felt to me like a fresh, really new dynamic within the club. Now that I’m President, it went from overnight, the old school dictatorship – to the new, cool democracy. The young and up-and-coming guys in the club like me and Chibs and Tig and those guys are really starting to run the show a little bit more. Of course Clay (Ron Pearlman) still has a dangerous presence hanging over the guys, and you never know what to expect from that guy but it really feels..and Pearlman actually just walked into this room – it’s always going to be a little bit contentious between them.
Playboy.com: Sons’ creator Kurt Sutter is known to be very transparent in his opinion of the media, the industry and entertainment as a whole. What is it like working with him and how does it affects his role on the show compared to working on other projects?
Hunnam: Of course I have a great relationship with Kurt and interact with him often. But in terms of the day-to-day making of the show, he’s not that involved with my part of it. He writes every episode, and he edits every episode; but he only directs the finale. When’s he not directing he doesn’t come to set.
He’s a very opinionated guy; we have a different strategy in that regard. I only want to be known for my work. I’m an actor and I’m a writer and that’s all I want. I have no interest in being a celebrity or a personality – or even to share my opinions publically. I want to share my opinion as a character in a film, not my opinion as an actor in the world. But that’s fine if he wants to go out and kind of make his narration on how he sees things. That’s his prerogative; I just have a different approach personally. That’s because I’m not so sure about my opinions. For an actor, anonymity is the absolute best friend, because then you can reside solely in the world of the characters you play.
After a while, in the period when Tom Cruise was out talking about his stuff, you get the sense – that when you’re walking into a Tom Cruise movie, you do that with baggage. I like the Daniel Day Lewis route, where you go in and you show up every three years, and you never hear anything otherwise. Though, there’s absolutely part of an actor’s life where he’s required to go out and publicize his movie. But still that’s not me talking about myself, that’s me talking about my movie.
I’ve added 4 high quality scans of Charlie’s ‘Frankie Go Boom’ interview with Backstage Magazine, which I posted earlier in case you missed it.
Gallery Link:
– Magazines / Publications > Backstage Magazine – October 2012
Be sure to check out the entire interview over at Backstage.com!
How did you go about landing your roles?
Charlie Hunnam: I wasn’t really looking to do comedy, because I’m not really very funny. But Jordan approached me, and for some reason he came to the conclusion I was the guy he wanted and pursued me relentlessly. And it just seemed like there was no risk, really. We made this film for $400,000 in 19 days, and I thought, Why not? It’s either going to be a piece of shit and no one will see it, or it will be great and a fun experience.
Ron Perlman: Little did we know it was going to fall somewhere in the middle, which is our worst nightmare. It’s just good enough that we have to promote it!
Lizzy Caplan: I read the script and thought it was really funny. I think this was around the time I wasn’t super pumped about doing a tiny, tiny movie, but I heard Charlie was attached, and it was an interesting choice because they weren’t going for…
Hunnam: A funny guy?
Caplan: Well, I thought it was a great choice. And I thought it would be a challenge to do some of the weird shit Lassie has to do.
Perlman: I was brought in by Charlie, actually. We had just finished a season of “Sons,” and he said, “This is my summer vacation project, my arts and crafts thing, and the director would like me to pass it on to you.” I was supposed to look at the role Chris Noth ended up playing, but I then get to Phyllis. And there’s this gesture when he meets Frankie—I ask for my hand to be kissed. And I was just thinking of all those “Sons of Anarchy” fans. And I realized that even if I blow this performance, that shot alone will be worth the price of admission.
Caplan: I feel like we all got to play against type, and it was fun to take a swing at something with very low stakes.
Perlman: That’s why one does these little films; you get a chance to do things you wouldn’t normally get to do if the film was more mainstream.So is Charlie really not funny?
Caplan: No. Not on purpose.
Hunnam: I’m not. Not in the least.
Perlman: I think he can be, but you can never predict it. And actually, comedy only works if you don’t play it for the laughs. You have to immerse yourself in the seriousness of it; therein lies the incongruity.
