Charlie Hunnam Reveals How Being Bullied As A Child Affected His Career

No matter which actor you ask, they will all have events from their childhood that helped shape who they’ve become as a professional. In the case of Sons of Anarchy star Charlie Hunnam, it was the negativity surrounding parts of his adolescence that helped mold his career.

Many know the actor for his rugged role as Jax Teller in Sons of Anarchy, but that wasn’t the only on-screen bad-ass he played. Hunnam also portrayed violent men in films like Green Street Hooligans, Cold Mountain, and Children of Men. Not to mention his turn as King Arthur in the upcoming Guy Ritchie movie, King Arthur: Legend of the Sword.

In a recent interview with The Red Bulletin, Hunnam revealed that he started taking these tougher roles in order to work through some of his childhood issues. Mainly, the fact that he was often bullied, and beaten up in school

Turning Pain Into Success

In the interview, Hunnam talks about using that childhood trauma to move forward in a positive direction. However, he didn’t get to a place of peace about it on his own. He needed some help in his journey of self-discovery.

“I’ve been lucky enough to have had several mentors, one of them being Guy Ritchie. He turned me on to a book by Napoleon Hill, titled Outwitting the Devil: The Secret to Freedom and Success. It’s a 350-page interview between the writer and the devil. What you realize is that the devil represents our own struggle with ourselves. You have to break down your innermost fears into digestible portions, then you can understand and overcome them. I must admit it’s not a particularly fun way to spend a Sunday afternoon, but it’s incredibly valuable in the long run.”

The actor went on to explain that these “devils” in his life stemmed from the beatings he often took in school.

“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.’ Hence you go out and learn how to fight.”

Martial Arts Helped

Instead of continuing to get angry, Hunnam took to the martial arts. He used the training methods to find ways to win these fights, and it helped him tremendously with the roles he’s taken now. 

His roles in Pacific Rim and King Arthur both required plenty of martial arts training ahead of time.

“I still do martial arts training and I’m eager to never let that happen again. 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.’But then you realize you’ve become a slave to the thing you’re afraid of. In a lot of ways, I started channeling my father.”

Speaking Of His Father

Hunnam channelled his hard-nosed father in every aspect of his life. He used the man as inspiration in his martial arts, as well as in the roles he began to take as an actor.

“He was a formidable guy, and when I was younger I was actively playing the role of my father, especially in my film work. A lot of people who have come into contact with violence and felt victimized in their childhood will grow into a person who perpetuates that cycle and themselves become 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. But that also bled into my perception of myself in real life—it’s not that I was a bully, but I identified with having the respect of the men in any circle I was a part of. Now I realize that’s just a bunch of nonsense, because I know who I really am.”

Charlie Hunnam’s newest film, King Arthur: Legend of the Sword, hits theaters on May 12.