Few television roles have defined an actor quite like Charlie Hunnam’s portrayal of Jax Teller in “Sons of Anarchy.” For seven seasons, the British actor led Kurt Sutter’s gritty FX biker drama, transforming from a little-known performer into the face of one of the most popular shows on cable television.
Charlie Hunnam’s Life-Changing Role as Jax Teller
When the series ended in 2014, Hunnam admitted that saying goodbye to Jax wasn’t easy. “I felt when I finished ‘Sons’ that it was a real process to get back to center, and try to exorcize him out of my psyche for as much as possible. Because I’d been living with him for eight years, you know, trying to bring him to life,” Hunnam told Cinema Blend in 2017 while promoting “King Arthur.”
He described the process as a form of grief. Speaking to Glamour, he revealed he even made excuses to visit the set after filming wrapped.
“I knew the security guards and for a couple of days said, ‘Oh, I forgot something.’ So they’d let me onto the set, and I’d just walk around at night because I wanted to be in that environment and go through a personal process of saying goodbye.”
How ‘Sons of Anarchy’ Became His Training Ground
Reflecting in 2020, Hunnam told People that “Sons of Anarchy” gave him confidence in his craft and career. “I think I went into ‘Sons of Anarchy’ being a pretty unaccomplished actor in terms of my skill set,” he admitted.
“I wasn’t one of these people that were born enormously and innately talented. I had to really cultivate a skill set.”
He compared his seven years on set to a college education.
“I cultivated a lot of my skill set by going to work and shooting 10 pages a day for seven years. Those were my college days. I went in knowing very little about the process of acting and came out knowing a little bit more.”
But as much as the series gave to him, Hunnam consistently said there was one thing he would never do—return to Jax.
Charlie Humman Once Declared: ‘I Would Never, Ever Put That Cut Back On’
For years, Hunnam was adamant that Jax Teller’s story was over. In the same People interview, he was direct about fans constantly asking him about reprising the role.
“I would never, ever put that cut back on,” he said. He wouldn’t even wear the character’s rings for Halloween.
“It was a very deep experience,” Hunnam explained. “I lived with that character inside me for years, in a very real way. In a way that manifested in ways that I could never even [have] imagined. When he died, he died.”
That meant no cameo on the FX spinoff “Mayans MC,” either. In 2018, he told Entertainment Tonight that he wouldn’t consider it.
“I had become that character, had become so deeply integrated into who I was, I literally didn’t realize until the day we wrapped and we put him to rest … I went through a period of two or three weeks of, like, real bereavement.”
A Change of Heart on Jax’s Future
Now, though, Hunnam seems to be softening his stance. In 2023, during an interview with Access Hollywood, he hinted that he was considering a return to the role that defined his career.
“Since you asked, I have an idea that I’m exploring in its infancy where [Jax’s return] could be a possibility,” Hunnam said. “It would be something that I would be incredibly excited about, so we’re sort of, like I said, in the infancy of exploring the viability of the idea. But next time I talk to you, hopefully I’ll have more information on that.”
All seven seasons of “Sons of Anarchy” are currently streaming on Hulu.
Charlie Hunnam will next appear in “Monster: The Ed Gein Story,” premiering October 3, 2025, on Netflix.
