‘Sons of Anarchy’ Alum Walton Goggins Bitten by Snake While Filming New Movie ‘Them That Follow’

Former Sons of Anarchy star Walton Goggins‘ worst fear came true while he was filming his latest movie, Them That Follow: He was bitten by a snake.

During an interview with Variety at the Sundance Film Festival, where the movie premiered, Goggins explained that he has a constant fear of snakes. However, the film required the actors to film a scene with snakes in their hands. To get over his fear, Goggins just put himself in the mindset of his character, Lemuel.

At first, everything was going well, but after 12 hours into working on the scene, Goggins got very tired and popped out of his “imaginary state” for a second and suddenly his fear came back. Unfortunately at this moment, the directors called “action” and he had to go over to the box to pick up the snake.

“As soon as I picked it up, I’m like, ‘Oh my God, there’s a snake… there’s a damn snake in my hand! Oh my god!’” Goggins recalled.

Then, the snake “reared back” and bit his hand. Goggins dropped the snake. Thankfully the snake and the actor were both fine, but Goggins believed the snake bit him because it could feel his fear.

“He felt, for the first time in 12 hours, my fear of him and my reticence of picking him up,” Goggins said. “It just goes to show you, whenever you’re O.K. and you’re relaxed in any situation, it makes it ok for the animal or person that you’re dealing with.”

Them That Follow was written and directed by Britt Poulton and Dan Madison Savage, and stars The Favourite‘s Olivia Colman and Last Man Standing‘s Kaitlyn Dever. It is set in Appalachia, where a group of believers handle snakes to prove their devotion to God. The pastor’s daughter, played by Alice Englert, has a secret that could rip the community apart.

Jim Gaffigan, Thomas Mann and Lewis Pullman also star.

Poutlon and Madison Savage told Filmmaker Magazine that one of their favorite scenes did not make the final cut.

“It wasn’t an easy decision. Our collaborators had given us their very best work, and we hated for those five minutes of extraordinary craftsmanship to go unseen. But for the sake of the film, we knew we had to let it go,” the directors said.

Goggins starred in six episodes of Sons of Anarchy as Venus Van Dam from 2012 to 2014. He is best known for his roles in Justified, The Hateful Eight, Vice Principals, Ant-Man and the Wasp and Tomb Raider. He recently starred in the History Channel’s series Six, about the Navy SEAL Team Six.

Them That Follow does not have a release date yet.

Photo credit: Michael Tran/Getty Images