'Sons of Anarchy': How and Why Marilyn Manson Joined the Cast

Over the course of its seven incredible seasons, Sons of Anarchy featured a number of memorible [...]

By Stephen Andrew

Over the course of its seven incredible seasons, Sons of Anarchy featured a number of memorible guest stars and cameos. One such guest was iconic shock-rocker Marilyn Manson. Now, series creator Kurt Sutter has revealed how and why Manson's involvement became a reality.

On Instagram, Sutter was asked by a fan, "Huge fan of SoA and Manson, how did he get cast on the show?" Sutter replied, "I found out through a mutual friend, Shooter Jennings, that Manson was a fan of the show. I guess it was something he and his dad had bonded over. Shooter set a meeting. We all hung out. He wanted to be part of it. Who better to play an eccentric neo-Nazi than Marilyn Manson. He was awesome. And he served the best pie."

Manson appeared in about half of the seventh, and final, season of SoA, playing Ron Tully, the leader of a group of Aryan Brotherhood members in Stockton State Prison. Jax made a deal with Tully while incarcerated, but Tully's main connection to SAMCRO was through his relationship with Juan Carlos "Juice" Ortiz (Theo Rossi). The pair had a close relationship, that was even sexual at times, though it is unclear if this was consensual on Juice's part. Eventually, Juice is presented the opportunity to kill Tully, but opts not to, as it would be bad for SAMCRO. Instead, he gave Tully the knife he was supposed to use, and allowed himself to be murdered by Tully. All he asked was that Tully let him finish his pie first, thus the reference that Sutter made in his answer.

After Sons of Anarchy, Sutter created the medieval series The Bastard Executioner, which was canceled. He then went on to co-create Mayans M.C., a SoA spinoff. In 2019, Sutter opened up about The Bastard Executioner and shared how he felt about FX not renewing the show for a second season. During a conversation with Deadline, Sutter summed up the situation by saying, "Not taking any down time was a mistake."

He continued, "I should have listened to my wife and my friend Paris Barclay, who advised me to take a season off. I think a part of me was afraid of losing the momentum of Sons. But mainly, I don't like down time. I don't relax, I just obsess. And when we didn't get picked up for Season 2, I saw it as a failure. So fear and ego kicked in again. I felt I needed a win. So again, no down time."

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