Actor Charlie Hunnam has revealed how the new Sons of Anarchy spinoff series Legends was created to reunite the original cast over ten years after the flagship drama ended. Speaking to E! News reporter Will Marfuggi in an exclusive interview, the British actor explained that network FX greenlit the show after he adapted a spec film script he had previously written.
Hunnam said that recurring dreams of being back on set with his former castmates led him to realize his subconscious wanted to bring the group together again. Having written scripts since 2005, Hunnam noted that getting projects produced in Hollywood is difficult, particularly when back-to-back acting commitments interrupt momentum and cause projects to lose inertia nine months later.
Before stepping back into his role as motorcycle club leader Jax Teller, the 46-year-old actor appears in the Netflix series Monster: The Lizzie Borden Story, premiering on September 17. Created by Ryan Murphy, the drama stars Ella Beatty as murderer Lizzie Borden and Hunnam as her father and victim, Andrew Borden. Hunnam said playing a murder victim involved far less responsibility than leading a series, adding that he enjoyed portraying Andrew as a nasty character dealing with unprocessed grief and resentment over losing his first wife and child.
Sons of Anarchy Origins and Original Pitch
The original Sons of Anarchy series was created by Kurt Sutter, who was working as a writer on the FX cop drama The Shield when father-and-son producing team Art Linson and John Linson pitched him the idea for a show about an outlaw motorcycle gang. Sutter recalled to The Hollywood Reporter in 2015 that he initially felt he was not the right person to adapt outside material because his best asset was his imagination. FX allowed him creative freedom, and the show ultimately became the network's biggest traditional hit, drawing 10 million weekly viewers at peak viewership.
Sutter wrote the role of tough matriarch Gemma Teller specifically for his wife, actress Katey Sagal. Sagal told NPR's Fresh Air in 2013 that Sutter mentioned he had a role for her while writing, though she only understood the character after reading the script. The couple married in 2004, marking his first marriage and her third. Sagal had two children from a previous marriage, and Sutter became their stepparent. Sagal explained that her protective maternal energy served as the springboard for Gemma, whose core motivation was protecting her child and motorcycle club at any cost.
Casting for central character Jax Teller took shape when Sutter watched Hunnam in the 2005 football crime drama Green Street Hooligans. Sutter envisioned the story as a motorcycle club adaptation of Shakespeare's Hamlet, casting Hunnam as Jax, whose mother Gemma married the man who replaced Jax's deceased father as club president under murky circumstances.
Casting Clay Morrow and Riding Motorcycles
The role of Sons of Anarchy Motorcycle Club Redwood Original (SAMCRO) president Clay Morrow was initially played by Scott Glenn in the pilot episode. Sutter later informed Glenn that the network wanted a different direction for the character. Ron Perlman, who subsequently took over the role, told Fresh Air in 2015 that producers were looking for a more operatic version of the character, while praising Glenn's performance as brilliant and subtle. Glenn told The Hollywood Reporter in 2020 that missing out on the role allowed him to star in the 2014 series The Leftovers, calling it the single best acting experience of his career.
Perlman faced a steep learning curve riding motorcycles for the show. The New York native had previously learned to ride for a movie that was never made, but told NPR that he never rode afterwards until joining Sons of Anarchy, joking that he would rather be eating Haagen-Dazs than riding a motorcycle.
Production Challenges and Audition Secrets
Maintaining network approval and protecting storylines presented ongoing challenges during the original show's seven-season run. Sutter told Entertainment Weekly ahead of the 2014 series finale that network Standards and Practices regularly issued notes regarding violence, nudity, and language beyond restrictions on the F-word, noting that guidelines changed arbitrarily each year.
To prevent plot twists from leaking during the casting process, producers began writing fake audition scenes that captured the required emotional range without revealing actual story points. Sutter explained that while leaks would not stop fans from watching, he wanted to protect the unexpected turns that defined the show.
Major Character Deaths and Fan Reactions
One of the show's most dramatic moments occurred in the season six finale when Gemma killed Jax's wife, Tara Knowles, played by Maggie Siff, by stabbing her in the head with a carving fork under the mistaken belief that Tara had betrayed the club. Sagal told People she feared viewers would reject Gemma after the brutal scene, but fans began bringing carving forks for her to sign at an autograph session the very next day.
Siff recalled discovering her character's fate at the start of season six after asking Sutter about Tara's storyline. She told The Hollywood Reporter in 2013 that filming the technical scene alongside stunt doubles was surreal and challenging, but described the dramatic exit as an amazing way for an actor to leave a show.
Series Finale Music and Cast Departures
For the series finale, Sutter co-wrote the closing song "Come Join the Murder," which was performed by The White Buffalo and the show's house band, The Forest Rangers, who also recorded the theme song "This Life." Sutter shared an Emmy nomination for Outstanding Original Music and Lyrics for the track. He also spent years securing the rights to Bruce Springsteen's "Adam Raised a Cane" to open the final episode, as he revealed to Vanity Fair.
Cast turnover also stemmed from contract negotiations. Taylor Sheridan, who played Deputy Chief Hale before creating the television series Yellowstone, left the show following a salary dispute. Sheridan told Deadline in 2021 that he was paid less than almost everyone else on the cast and not enough to leave his second job. When negotiations stalled, he departed the show, and his character was written off by being run over.
Behind the Scenes and Series Climax
Sutter also cast actor Walton Goggins, known for his work on The Shield and later The White Lotus, as transgender sex worker Venus Van Dam. Venus formed a romantic relationship with club member Tig, played by Kim Coates. Goggins noted that exploring the relationship through the curiosity and humor of ultra-masculine men allowed the storyline to feel genuine and authentic.
On-set production required specialized technical skills, particularly from head of makeup Tracey Anderson and makeup artist Michelle Garbin. Garbin told Entertainment Weekly in 2014 that Anderson once applied six realistic bullet hole prosthetics in six minutes while working in a pit in the middle of the night so the crew could finish filming.
Saying goodbye to the series was an emotional process for Hunnam after playing Jax Teller for eight years. He told Glamour UK in 2017 that after filming wrapped, he repeatedly returned to the set at night, telling security guards he had forgotten something so he could walk around the location and personally process the end of the show.
Sutter told Entertainment Weekly in 2014 that he always planned for Jax to meet a fate similar to his father's on the road, but debated whether to leave the ending ambiguous. He ultimately decided to show Jax's explicit death because the series was built on direct choices and consequences, calling it the ultimate sacrifice. Hunnam agreed with the resolution, stating that his character's violent end felt like the greatest celebration of who Jax Teller was.
