Charlie Hunnam: ‘Sons of Anarchy’ Alum Dishes on His Directing Dreams

While Charlie Hunnam did not get many opportunities to talk during a recent Today Show interview, the former Sons of Anarchy actor did share his dreams of becoming a director.

Hunnam told Hoda Kotb he picked Ben Affleck‘s brain on the set of their new Netflix movie, Triple Frontier.

“It’s one of the things that Ben was really generous [with],” Hunnam said. “I made it my business to grill him as much as possible about that transition from actor to director.”

Before Hunnam got a chance to further explain his dreams of climbing up the Hollywood ladder though, Kotb moved the discussion on and asked Affleck how he reacted to working with Hunnam. Affleck said he would get the “biggest reaction” from people when he mentioned he was working with Hunnam.

During the 10-minute Today Show interview on March 4, Kotb mostly focused on Affleck, asking the Oscar-winner about his thoughts on Netflix’s film release strategies, fatherhood and his battle with alcoholism. Kotb was criticized by some for not asking many questions about Triple Frontier, although Affleck respectfully discussed his recent health struggles.

“Being an alcoholic, it’s part of my life, it’s something that I deal with. It doesn’t have to subsume my whole identity and be everything but it is something that you have to work at,” Affleck said.

The Argo director continued, “I had a problem and I really want to address it and I take some pride in that. It’s about yourself, your life, your family… we encounter these kinds of hurdles and we have to deal with them.”

In an interview with The Hollywood Reporter, Hunnam said he sometimes feels jealous when he sees other actors jump into the writing, producing and directing game. While he has had scripts successfully sold to studios, Hunnam’s busy schedule keeps him out of Los Angeles, which makes producing difficult.

“I have a pretty impressive track record of being able to set stuff up, but an appalling track record of being able to get it across the finishing line. Part of that is because I find it very, very difficult to split my focus,” Hunnam explained. “I’ve been enjoying a really lovely tear as an actor right now; I made four films last year and spent fifty weeks of the year out of LA.”

He added, “So, it’s very difficult to continue producing which really requires you to be in L.A., taking meetings and pushing the boulder up the mountain every day. It’s just very, very difficult for me to do that while I’m in Australia, Hawaii or all of the other places that I was working last year.”

J.C. Chandor’s Triple Frontier stars Affleck, Hunnam, Pedro Pascal, Oscar Isaac and Garrett Hedlund as a group of former Special Forces operatives who plan a heist in South America to take home the millions of dollars they never earned while fighting for their country. The film will be released on March 13.

Photo credit: NBC