Theo Rossi, Ryan Hurst and Kim Coates’ characters – Juice, Ryan and Tig – went through so much last season, leaving a myriad of unresolved issues that will have to be dealt with in the upcoming fifth season of Sons of Anarchy. Will things get better or worse for them with Jax Teller as the new SAMCRO president?  We sat down with the actors during San Diego’s Comic Con to discuss how are things were playing out so far.

The trio approached our roundtable interview group and the first thing I noticed was their contagious energy. After numerous jokes and pleasantries, we got ready to formally start the interview with the following question: “Where do you want to see your characters go?”

The friendship bonds between Theo Rossi, Ryan Hurst and Kim Coates appear to be pretty solid.

Coates: “That’s the mystery with Kurt Sutter, isn’t it?”

Hurst: “Hawaii!”

Rossi: “Barbados!”

The entire table erupted into laughter and it was up to Coates to transition us again into a serious discussion:  “We don’t know. We’re privy to a few things that Kurt sees happening in the future of the series but that is always the fun part of playing these guys. We really aren’t sure where we going but it’s been an epic year so far.”

Rossi, with that big smile of his that can light up an entire room, jumped in. “Where do we want to see them go?  We have ideas on where we think they’re going to go and you know what the greatest thing is? It always changes and that keeps everyone bringing in their A game, constantly doing the best they can on the show,” he explained. “Just like you guys and like the fans, we’re constantly surprised. Every script this season reads like a finale and the reason it does is because we are in season five now; we’re going to see how this is all going to play out.”

“We’re on the other side of the mountain and now it’s time to wrap this puppy up,” Coates said. “We’re not going to be doing this forever; Kurt has to wrap this up. It’s going to be explosive in its entirety.”

“It really is,” Hurst agreed. “If you’re going to pull in people for five years, the viewers are going to have a lot invested in what is going on and the show consistently delivers on that promise of ‘if you tune in to our show we’re going to blow your fucking minds.’ And for this season and for the seasons that follow it, the ante is up real high and the show is going to consistently deliver on that.”

The intensity of the conversation picked up and I noticed how careful the three actors were about not giving away any spoilers. I wonder if Kurt Sutter made them sign a no spoiler clause as a condition to coming to the Con.  I knew I had to try a different angle to see if I could get more specifics, so I asked Rossi, Hurst and Coates to elaborate on their characters’ mindset this season.

Rossi says Kurt Sutter has such a vision for the show that the actors just facilitate what he has in his mind for the show’s characters.

Rossi:  “If you can picture a pinball machine…”

Hurst:  “Yeah.” (laughs)

Rossi:  “…with pain and suffering.”

Hurst:  “Yeah.”

Rossi:  “…and a couple of comedians in there and then pure lunacy all over, that’s what would probably be going on.”

These guys know each other so well, they’re able to moderate their own interviews!  I always enjoy dynamics like these because it allows a glimpse at the talents’ personalities. On this occasion, their interpersonal connections led to some interesting commentary, particularly on Coates’ character.

“At the end of last season, Tig does something wrong again. He kills the wrong girl, again. He shoots first, asks questions later – with purpose – but always seeming to fuck up somehow,” Coates explained and then dished on an awesome Tig scoop. “He’s completely off the leash this year. There are no more loyalties to Clay. Clay lied through his teeth to him last year; we don’t know where that is going.  Jax is the new president. I’m not the sergeant of arms anymore.  So, Tig is on an island with the brotherhood; it’s still the brotherhood, but it’s an island this year so far.”

While Coates made me feel bad for Tig, it fueled Hurst’s thought process about the character too and he shared his insight. “He fucks this stuff up and that is such a counterpoint to his character. He isn’t wild enough; he’s very precise in what he does. It’s awful but he’s very precise, so when these accidents happen, I love watching it fuck with him. It’s not like he’s some crazy guy who walks into a place; he’s very methodical in his destruction.”

“Sutter told me in season two, Tig loses his way so bad over the death of Donna,” Coates revealed. “If you remember, he wasn’t in season two a lot but he was always doing mushrooms and crying. I never even showed him, but I have a tattoo of Donna on my chest with her holding a gun and a rose that actually came from me and Theo talking about this together.”

Coates says his character, Tig, no longer has any loyalties to Clay Morrow (Ron Perlman)

Rossi showed off a big grin before speaking. “To jump in, in this Tig orgy that we’re having here,” he joked, “…Imagine being that precise in every single thing you’re doing as this almost soldier and then the person you’re following you realize is kind of like a fraud, a fake—not the person that you thought he was. So watching him take that patch off and question him, it’s such a bigger moment than people understand and I think that’s why all this stuff started happening. Because if Tig is questioning you, God, you really did some bad stuff because he’s that guy who waits for that final single thing to pull that question out.  And that’s why I think that stuff is so powerful.”

I approached Hurst next with another question I’d been dying to ask: Where is Opie’s friendship with Jax at this stage of the game?

“Game night, every Wednesday!”  Rossi stated, practically singing.

Ryan let out a long, hard laugh but turned serious quickly. “Like with any friendship, it’s been tried and it’s going to continue to be tried. I think that’s what the base of any friendship is. Like, when you start a friendship with anybody. I remember with these guys, it’s like you’re not really a friend with somebody until your first fucking argument, fight, whatever and you let it out and then you patch it up.”

Here’s hoping Jax and Opie will be able to repair the damage and distrust caused by the decisions made on behalf of SAMCRO.

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

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