We caught up with Charlie Hunnam during the Sons of Anarchy press conference during San Diego’s Comic-Con. The number one question on most reporters’ minds was if Jax Teller is mentally and emotionally ready to be the next SAMCRO president in the show’s upcoming fifth season. And more importantly, what does Hunnam think about it?
“It’s been a four year process of Jax trying to figure out how he’s going to extricate himself from the club and the life. He’s now at the part where he assumes the role of president at the end of last season; I think it was a very concrete decision that that whole fantasy was being put to bed.”
Hunnam says Jax has put to bed the idea of extricating himself from the club and the life.
Hunnam had a busy weekend at Comic-Con but if he was tired or worn out, he didn’t show it. On Saturday, he was promoting the big Guillermo del Toro-directed blockbuster, Pacific Rim. Sunday, he was all about FX’s top hit drama, Sons of Anarchy. He hurriedly joined us at a large roundtable media format. He was calm yet moving in high gear, a fact further emphasized by his fast-talking. The interview formally began when he revealed Jax is staying with the club. “He’s going to do this for the rest of his life. I think clarity and fierceness grows in him after making that decision.”
Now that it’s official (the season four finale heavily hinted at this), I couldn’t help wondering if Jax was really a better or a stronger man because of his decision. I wasn’t the only one pondering that as the questions poured down quickly on Hunnam, like: How is Jax doing as the Club’s president?
“He’s an excellent president. He’s been watching this and fantasizing about being the president or leaving (one of the two) for years and years. Now that he’s here, he’s got all the skill-set to deal with it,” Hunnam explained. “What he hadn’t anticipated was just the level of compromise that is required to be a man in charge. There’s information that Jax has that he cannot share with the club and so now he finds himself right away in a position where he’s having to lie and manipulate his brothers which is shit that he vilified Clay for doing for years and now he’s finding himself in that same position.”
Hunnam was clearly fascinated by this new dynamic for his character as he discussed it further. “One of the most interesting psychological things that are going on as by a byproduct of that, within Jax, is although he absolutely, he hates Clay and wants to murder him, he’s starting to empathize how difficult it is to be at the head of the table and lead righteously,” he stated. “That’s all he wants to do—to be a good leader and to look out after his guys and whenever possible do the right thing. I think he’s realizing that more often than not it’s impossible to do the right thing, then you got to go on to plan B.”
According to Hunnam, Jax hadn’t anticipated the level of compromise that is required to be a man in charge.
As I recall, Jax seemed pretty angry at Clay indeed, but now there’s talk about a Plan B? How quickly things change. Hunnam had more to say about this: “I think that is one of the more interesting unexpected side-effects, and to empathize with and want to murder the same person is a complicated thing. Hopefully, I haven’t been fucking it up too much!”
I really enjoyed that last comment –the added touch of modesty which felt real. It was time to get my other important question in: Where is Jax in terms of his friendship with Opie and where is that heading in season five?
“It’s a hard breaking dynamic for me and the character. Opie is the one person that Jax truly loves and trusts in the club,” Hunnam stated. “It’s the area that creates the most sadness for Jax in this whole transition; it’s the fact he’s lost the love and respect of his best friend.”
Hunnam explained how far the Opie and Jax friendship goes and he thought the moment where Jax and Opie truly became brothers was after the death of Jax’s brother Thomas. However, as Hunnam spoke, there was the intermixing of “Jax” and “I,” which reveals how deeply he relates to his character. Therefore, it’s not surprising to hear him describe next how working these intense emotional scenes with Ryan Hurst actually affected him on a personal level. “Ryan is such a wonderful actor and such a soulful guy that when we’re doing these scenes where he’s disappointed in me and kind of a little disdainful of the way I’m operating, it really is difficult to play those scenes and be on the receiving end of that. I mean, I feel like ‘fuck man, I really wish I could be doing a better job!’”
Now that Jax is the president, is Jax going to try to turn the club around or get in line with his father’s vision?
“I’m happily signed up for seven years,” Hunnam says of his TV contract.
“I think John Teller, Jax’s father, has been definitely knocked off the pedestal. I think Jax really now, for the first time ever in his life, has a clear idea of who his dad was and what he was all about and understands it and respects it but also thinks his father was a little naïve in a fairy tale, righteous collection of dudes who really just wanted to like be free of the big brother’s element of society – it was just a dream, that’s not what this is nor is ever going to be.”
Hunnam explained that although Jax is much more realistic in a lot of ways than John Teller ever was, he will go through a process of realizing that as naïve as he thought John was, he’s still very naïve in thinking he can turn this club and take it far from where it is. “This psychological byproduct of it is actually realizing that all of the mistakes that Clay made weren’t all necessarily maliciously intended but it’s very difficult to be the boss and to make these decisions.”
Will Hunnam leave the show to rule the box office?
“There are a lot of obvious jokes I could make…” he said and then he made it clear he’s not leaving Sons of Anarchy to make films as many other actors tend to do. “In television you sign a contract as an actor for seven years, if you get offered a lead role. So, I’m happily signed up for seven years and I really hope that we make those seasons and beyond that, I will continue as long as all the guys are with me and we continue to have a good creative experience on the show. Then, I will continue making it.”
During both the Comic-Con Pacific Rim and FX press events, we got a fast-talking, humorous and attentive Charlie. He was coveted by the press and fans basically every second available. There was never a sign of tediousness in him during what had to be two very long days for him. Personally, I don’t think this means Charlie Hunnam enjoys the limelight but what is clear to me is that he’s a consummate professional, yet a very personable actor who cares about his fans.
I recall that in past interviews he’s given, he admitted to having had his heart ‘broken’ on several occasions when he wasn’t offered a role he coveted. Now, I think it’s safe to establish that those days are fading away. Although, industry insiders constantly speculate which actors are expected to be the next big thing and his name has been in the mix for a while. For example, Director Guillermo del Toro has stated he had Hunnam on his radar and had been wanting to work with him for a while.
I’m wondering if Hunnam knows he’s basically ‘arrived’ already because his attitude and demeanor shows he is ready to be the type of actor who can carry the weight of a blockbuster film. This should come as great news for Legendary Pictures and del Toro because my prediction is Hunnam is going to explode when Pacific Rim premieres July 12, 2013.
Season five of Sons of Anarchy premieres Tuesday, September 11, 2012. For more on the show visit: http://www.fxnetworks.com/shows/originals/soa/ On Twitter, follow @SonsofAnarchy, @sutterink, @FXNetworks and tweet using the hashtag #SOAFX
All photos © 2012 Yourentertainmentcorner.com and Elle Lutz. All Rights Reserved.
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