I am a big fan of “Sons of Anarchy.” I am curious, did Charlie Hunnam ride a motorcycle before he signed on for the series?
–Jeanne Goldberg, Westport, Connecticut
Hunnam, 33, was familiar with motorcycles before signing on to play Jax on the FX series “Sons of Anarchy,” but he never owned one.
“I’d ridden a couple times when I was a kid on dirt bikes, and my big brother is an avid power bike, sport bike rider,” he says. “He goes to track days and rides around at 200 mph with other guys that aren’t really good enough to be doing that. They invariably hurt each other and create a lot of collateral damage and expense. So I was always a little nervous about him doing that but hadn’t really thought a lot about riding myself.”
It was living in Los Angeles and being stuck in traffic on a daily basis that made Hunnam give the matter a serious second thought.
“I had this epiphany the first day on set that riding a bike around is the way I want to get around, and I just love it,” says the British actor/screenwriter, who was born in Newcastle upon Tyne. “There’s the sense of freedom and sense of being a part of the environment around you, and it’s fun. You smell the flowers. You smell the garbage. And, you know, you try not to get killed by a Prius. It’s fun.”
