Charlie Hunnam Reveals ‘Sons of Anarchy’ Break Helped Him Land ‘King Arthur’ Role

Charlie Hunnam has Sons of Anarchy to thank for much of his current success as a movie star.

The actor, who will next be seen in the Guy Ritchie film The Gentlemen, recently recalled how a break from filming the beloved FX motorcycle drama led to his first project with the acclaimed director.

“I worked with Guy on King Arthur [Legend of the Sword] and he absolutely did not want to hire me for that,” Hunnam said during a CinemaCon panel. “So, I was shooting a TV show that I was doing at the time, Sons of Anarchy. He was casting this right at the time and he was taking a week of meetings right at the time that I coincidentally had my hiatus.”

“So, although he said he wasn’t really interested in meeting me, I said, ‘Fuck that, I’ll fly myself over and can we just have a cup of tea together,’ because I felt if I got into a room with him I could sort of ‘wow him’ with my insight and passion for the script,” he added, as first reported by CinemaBlend.

Despite not being interested in casting Hunnam at first, Hunnam revealed that after a three-and-a-half hour long meeting, both parties ended up agreeing it would be the best decision to have him join the cast.

King Arthur: Legend of the Sword ended up being one of Hunnam’s first film projects since wrapping up his iconic role as Jax Teller on Sons of Anarchy in 2014. This year, Ritchie and Hunnam – along with Crazy Rich Asians star Henry Golding — teamed up once again for the upcoming film, The Gentlemen.

The film was described by Indiewire as a “drug-infused, crime-laden tale about a “very British drug lord” intent on selling off his fortune, and having plenty of trouble doing it.”

The film also stars Hugh Grant, Matthew McConaghey, Colin Farrell, Jeremy Strong and Michelle Dockery.

“When I read the script, it’s sort of vintage Guy Ritchie,” Hunnam previously said of the new movie. “I grew up on Snatch and [Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels], so when he sent me this script and invited me to be a part of it, I just jumped at the chance.”

The Gentleman does not have an official theatrical release date so far, but is set to premiere sometime in 2020. Hunnam also recently starred alongside Ben Affleck in the film Triple Frontier, currently streaming on Netflix. The actor also has two films waiting for release, True History of the Kelly Gang and Jungleland, which are also awaiting official release dates.