5 Ways Charlie Hunnam Is Exactly Like His ‘Sons of Anarchy’ Character Jax Teller
Charlie Hunnam played bada** biker Jax Teller on Sons of Anarchy for seven action-packed, tense, heart-wrenching seasons. The role earned him a devoted fan base and made the British actor a huge star, but how much is he like his Sons of Anarchy character in real life? Here’s five ways that Charlie Hunnam is exactly like Jax Teller.
1. Charlie Hunnam dressed like Jax Teller for seven years
When Hunnam was doing research for Sons of Anarchy and the role of Jax, he went to Oakland to hang out with a well-known club, and that’s where he met the real-life Jax Teller.
He described the real-life Jax as the kind of guy that they just “don’t make” anymore. Hunnam told The Huffington Post that he was so inspired by this young man that he based Jax’s looks, style, and mannerisms — the “whole aesthetic” — on this 22-year-old.
Hunnam says that Jax “literally wears the jeans and the shoes” that this real-life Oakland biker wore, along with the flannel and the cut. Throughout the entire run of Sons of Anarchy, Hunnam made that look his own in real life.
“I pretty much wore nothing but plaid shirts for the last seven years, and then as soon as I finished, I just felt compelled [to] have a massive spring cleaning,” Hunnam told GQ Magazine in 2016.
2. The ‘Sons of Anarchy’ star drives the same motorcycle
Just like Jax Teller, Hunnam is an avid motorcyclist who takes riding seriously. In fact, he refused to ride in a car during the seven seasons he was making Sons of Anarchy.
“I put everything I had into that show. I lived it as much as I could. I never got in a car the whole seven years. I was only on my bike and rolling around with a bunch of real bikers and occasionally acting like a maniac.”
The bike that Hunnam rolled around on away from the set is the exact same motorcycle that Jax rode in Kurt Sutter’s motorcycle drama.
“I ride the same bike that I rode on Sons — a Harley Dyna Super Glide.” Hunnam said, per Rumble On. “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.
3. Charlie Hunnam went full Jax Teller on a burglar at his home
During an appearance on Conan in 2013, Hunnam revealed that he was nearly the victim of a burglar. But after watching the man try to get into his house by ripping his garage door open, Hunnam went into full Jax Teller mode. The only weapon he had was a baseball bat, which he grabbed to “see what’s gonna happen.”
Hunnam explained that he has worked hard for what he has, and he wasn’t going to back down. He lives with his longtime girlfriend Morgana McNelis, and he was going to protect what’s important.
When he went outside with the bat, Hunnam says the burglar came around the corner and stopped cold.
“So we got business motherf*cker?” Hunnam yelled.
The actor said it was annoying because he and the burglar “didn’t have business.” The thief casually turned to leave, and Hunnam wondered why he wasn’t running. The actor screamed at the burglar, telling him to run.
4. The ‘Sons of Anarchy’ star stopped another burglar ‘the next time’
Hunnam had to go into Jax Teller mode again when someone else tried to break into his home a few months later. He says he learned a lot from his first encounter and did things differently “the next time.”
He made it his business to “arm” himself and “take it up a notch” from just having a baseball bat. Hunnam explained that he started accumulating different items and found some interesting things at swap meets.
“I got a hatchet, I have a samurai sword, but I also have a machete,” Hunnam revealed. “But, it’s kind of old and rusted.”
Still, the machete works just fine, and Hunnam says he has one weapon in each room of the house.
The second burglary attempt happened at three in the morning when Hunnam was learning his lines. He says his cat saw something and ran off, which alerted him to an intruder. Hunnam grabbed his machete and walked out of the bedroom. When the burglar saw him, he quickly left the house.
5. Charlie Hunnam was expelled from high school
Hunnam says he was in a lot of fights when he was in school, and he did get expelled once. He says he was always getting picked on, and that led to him learning how to fight. But, he almost took things too far.
“As a kid, I got picked on. I got into a lot of fights, losing some and getting severely beaten a few times. When that happens to you, you just feel like, ‘I’m going to do everything in my power to never be in a situation like this again,'” he told Red Bulletin
“Hence you go out and learn how to fight…But then I developed this tendency to carry [that belligerence] into every room. I wanted people to know, ‘Look, if you’re going to f*ck with me, it’s going to go badly for you.'”
Hunnam says he ultimately realized that he had become a slave to thing he was afraid of. He explained to Esquire that a lot of people who have come into contact with violence and felt victimized during childhood will “grow into a person who perpetuates that cycle and themselves becomes a bully.”
“What I did was play a lot of really hard characters. I felt that I exorcized those fears by being a macho dude on screen,” Hunnam said.
All seven seasons of Sons of Anarchy are available on Hulu. Charlie Hunnam’s next TV series — Shantaram — is expected to premiere on AppleTV+ sometime in 2023. He will also be part of the ensemble cast starring in Zack Snyder’s new Netflix film series Rebel Moon.
