‘Sons of Anarchy’: Walton Goggins Learned to Walk in Heels on the Streets of New Orleans

During the heyday of Sons of Anarchy, Walton Goggins landed an unexpected role for a show about a biker gang. He portrayed a transgender woman named Venus Van Dam, who eventually became a love interest for Tig Trager. Venus appeared in multiple episodes of SOA, and Goggins committed to nailing the ability to walk in high heels.

Here’s where Kurt Sutter got the idea for Venus Van Dam

Kurt Sutter was a writer, producer, and director on the TV show The Shield, where he worked alongside actor Walton Goggins. When Sutter moved on to Sons of Anarchy, he tried to incorporate many actors from The Shield into the new show, including Goggins.

“A couple of actors that I felt would be really difficult to bring on as series regulars or guest stars — just because their characters were so ingrained in the memory of The Shield. And that was Walton’s character Shane Vendell and Chiklis’ character Vic Mackey,” Sutter said in a Twitter video.

“With Walton, we were joking, I said the only way I could ever put him in the show is if people didn’t recognize him. You know if he was in a wig and a dress.” Sutter went on to say that he later thought of Goggins for the role of Venus Van Dam. Additionally, he added that if he were casting the character today, he would absolutely use a transgender actor.

Walton Goggins learned to walk in heels for his role in ‘Sons of Anarchy’

While speaking with Conan O’Brien, Walton Goggins described the experience of portraying a transgender woman in Sons of Anarchy. In particular, he discussed learning how to walk in high heels for the part.

“Oddly enough we were actually doing Django in New Orleans and I got this call from Kurt Sutter who is the writer to the show [Sons of Anarchy] and he said ‘Will you play this role?'” Goggins stated, adding that he quickly accepted the part.

“And so I just immediately got some high heels, because you can get anything in New Orleans,” the actor added. “At night time I just got them and I walked around and it was great. I actually got pretty good at it, and then I saw a cobblestone street…”

Goggins continued, “I thought, ‘Oh well here you go watch this. I’ll really know how to walk in high heels if I can walk down a cobblestone street.'” Goggins may have fallen a few times, but he managed to look confident in heels by the time he appeared on Sons of Anarchy.

Venus Van Dam gives a subtle nod to ‘The Sheild’

Kurt Sutter couldn’t resist adding a nod to The Sheild with Goggins’ Sons of Anarchy character. “Walton’s character on The Sheild had an undercover alias whose name was Cletus Van Damme and that was the nod to The Sheild with calling that character, Venus Van Dam,” said Sutter on Twitter.

All episodes of Sons of Anarchy are currently streaming on Hulu.