Charlie Hunnam Admits to Being 'Big Fan' of Controversial Men's Rights Hero Jordan Peterson

Charlie Hunnam had some fans scratching their heads this week when he called himself a 'big fan' [...]

By Michael Hein

Charlie Hunnam had some fans scratching their heads this week when he called himself a "big fan" of men's rights activist Jordan Peterson.

Hunnam has been hard at work promoting Triple Frontier, the new A-list action film that just dropped on Netflix. In a recent interview with Men's Health, Hunnam spoke about his admiration for Peterson, the author and psychologist known as a leading voice in the men's rights community.

"I'm a big fan of Jordan Peterson, as are a lot of people right now," Hunnam said. "He's become quite an internet phenomenon, a card-carrying member of the intellectual dark web. I love the message that he promotes, which is, 'Take your life seriously.' Carry as much responsibility as possible. I think in his words he says, pick up the heaviest thing that you can and carry it."

Hunnam argued that Peterson's rhetoric matches mentality of the Special Forces operatives he and his castmates play in Triple Frontier and suggested that studying Peterson's work was even a part of his preparation for the film.

"In this day and age, everyone's grown soft and entitled," the actor said. "It's like, no, guys, you're not entitled to anything."

Peterson's work is a mix of self-help tips and critical thinking lessons interspersed with controversial takes on social and cultural issues. According to a report by The New York Times, Peterson first gained widespread notoriety when he spoke out against a Canadian bill that would outlaw discrimination based on gender identity and expression, feeling that it was an infringement of free speech to mandate that transgender people be referred to by their preferred pronouns.

Peterson has also been associated with the volatile online "incel" community, arguing in favor of "enforced monogamy." He believes mass shootings and violent attacks are the result of frustrated men unable to find sexual partners. He spoke to the Times about Alex Minassian, the self-proclaimed incel — or, "involuntary celibate" — who killed ten people with his van in Toronto, Canada. Peterson believed that Minassian would have been less violent if he had had a sexual partner.

"He was angry at God because women were rejecting him," Peterson said. "The cure for that is enforced monogamy. That's actually why monogamy emerges."

Peterson's rhetoric has been widely condemned by his academic peers. According to a report by the Washington Times last month, a student was disqualified from a debate contest at Arizona State University for citing Peterson's work. He is an unpopular figure in many social media circles as well, so Hunnam's sudden support for him was met with eye-rolling and outrage over the weekend.

"Charlie Hunnam loving Jordan Peterson is so f—ing obvious," one person tweeted, "what a d—head."

"Oh #CharlieHunnam, NOOOO. Not Jordan Peterson," wrote another. "He's an Alt-Right lunatic. I work in the same industry as him. He's not well-respected and even the professor that helped get him his job at UofT deeply regrets it."

So far, Hunnam's words have not had much of an effect on Triple Frontier, which holds a 72 percent approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes. The movie is streaming now on Netflix.

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