Sons Of Anarchy Actors That Some Fans Couldn't Stand
The cast of Sons of Anarchy is a pretty talented bunch overall. We're not just saying that, either. The show has had five Emmy Award nominations over the years, and prompted millions to put two wheels to the pavement: A show couldn't pull that off if the actors were absolute crap.
If you need further proof, though, just look at the cast: you've got Ron Perlman as Clay Morrow, who has previously busted out performances ranging from the lovable, curmudgeonly demon Hellboy, to Pacific Rim, all the way to voicing a slew of characters in different cartoons. Then, there's Katey Sagal (of Married...With Children fame) as Gemma Teller-Morrow, who won a Golden Globe for her performance on the show, as well as Ryan Hurst, who plays Opie, a performance that took home a Satellite Award for Best Supporting Actor.
With such a long list of credentials, it might be hard to believe that certain Sons of Anarchy fans aren't too impressed with some of the acting talent on the show. However, there are a few of the actors that fans couldn't stand.
The kids can't catch a break
A Reddit conversation regarding the "NOT-SO-GOOD Actors in the Series" revealed that there were a number of stars who fans weren't fond of. Out of all the actors to get a bad wrap, the twins who played Jax and Tara's son Abel, were slammed pretty hard. Ryder Londo and Evan Londo took turns playing the young child from 2011 to 2014, and the fans on Reddit have some seriously harsh words about the kids' acting skills: for example, in another thread titled "Who's the worst actor or character (IYO)?", Possum_Pendulum responds, "How has nobody said Abel yet. Worst actor in the history of television."
Blueskymoon follows up the conversation, saying: "Yea Abel was not good! He would stare off into space and I was thinking 'wow he is supposed to be distant cause his mom died' but then I was like never mind he can't act."
If you hop over to the Sons of Anarchy Fandom, you'll see a similar sentiment being echoed. "Abel is ruining the show for me too. He is just a bad actor at this time. He is only 5 or something, so hopefully he will get better or get a better job :) Overall show is great but Abel is the weakest link," says one random commenter. Meanwhile, there's a lot of talk about how Abel's character was just creepy. As one now-deleted Reddit user thought when he posted five years ago, "That kid is either stoned or possessed. He freaks me out."
"He [Abel] gave me Children of the Corn vibes!" exclaims look-alive-sunshine.
Marilyn Manson was an unnecessary addition
Bringing Marilyn Manson onto the show to play Ron Tully of the Aryan Brotherhood, in Stockton State Prison, may have been a move to capitalize on the industrial metal vocalist's fan base ... or Manson could have simply auditioned and knocked the small role out of the park. Either way, the general vibe from the Sons of Anarchy Reddit is that Manson was an unnecessary addition to the show. "I think they were filling show with some famous people just to get the clicks, example Mary Manson was really needed , mehhh ?" one Reddit user wrote. He wasn't the only one who felt that Manson wasn't required to the storyline. "Felt like Manson was too unnessary to add on the show lol," said user Bachxl.
Some fans didn't just feel that Manson was unnecessary, but thought the musician wasn't a very good actor. "Truth told, Marilyn Manson's scenes were the only time I'd point out a lack of acting chops," were the thoughts of user whoaismebro, while commenting that all the other actors in the show were pretty good.
However, at least one fan thought that Manson improved as his role went on. "The first episode Manson was in," itsbruuh says, "he was sh*t. After that he got much better. But he was just trying so hard."
Some fans don't find Damon Pope believable
Damon Pope, played by Harold Perrineau, was a businessman, a drug kingpin, and the head of the organized crime syndicate that ran lower-level gangs throughout Oakland, California in the Sons of Anarchy universe. He was one of the most dangerous people in the show, who calculated his every move with near-perfect precision, including his most notorious act of putting an end to Opie. Pope's character is an oddity compared to the others on the list, though, since fans can't come to a consensus about him. Some fans think Perrineau did a fantastic job bringing Pope to life, while others blatantly disagreed.
The original poster in the aforementioned Reddit thread "NOT-SO-GOOD Actors in the Series (DISCUSSION)," claimed that Pope's character wasn't intimidating at all, and looked more like a common street gangster. "He's just not have this villainous catch for me.. other than that he's cool," the user admitted, later in the thread. On the other side of the coin, PunterProggie explained their view that Perrineau did a great job of making Pope a believable villain. "Sutter and producers wanted to go a different way, show someone who is not intimidating physically because he does not need to be, Pope looks like someone who is infinitely more dangerous holding court at a conference table, giving orders than he is with a gun and knife in his hand."
Criticism aside, Sons of Anarchy fans continue to hold the series, and most of the performances, in high regard.