The Strange Way Sons Of Anarchy Changed Charlie Hunnam's Life Forever

When FX's "Sons of Anarchy" debuted in 2008, the TV series revved up a pop culture phenomenon. Created by Kurt Sutter, the action crime drama focuses on Jackson "Jax" Teller (Charlie Hunnam), the head of the Sons of Anarchy Motorcycle Club. In the show, he often struggles with the group's moral balance and his life with his family. "Sons of Anarchy" rides beyond the premise of an outlaw motorcycle group recklessly breaking the law. It also provides a thought-provoking and often tragic look at the ideas of brotherhood, redemption, and betrayal.

"Sons of Anarchy" ran for seven seasons before ending in 2014. But years after its finale, there's no denying the series left a noticeable impact on TV. There's also no denying that the series had a massive effect on its leading star, Hunnam. The actor, who presented Jax with equal parts shocking brutality and resonating vulnerability, elevated the character into a breakout role. The portrayal of Jax was so significant to Hunnam that he had quite some trouble moving on from the character. However, besides providing a career shift, there's another strange way that "Sons of Anarchy" changed Hunnam's life forever.

As good-natured as it might seem, sometimes the gifts that celebrities have received from fans have ventured into the bizarre. For instance, Kesha once received approximately 1,000 human teeth from fans and used them to make some weird clothing accessories. Because of his memorable role in "Sons of Anarchy," Hunnam is no exception to being presented with some strange items from his fans. However, in his case, the particular type of item he's received makes a bit more sense in the context of the TV series. In "Sons of Anarchy," many of the SAMCRO members are seen wearing and brandishing knives. So naturally, as Hunnam revealed in an interview for the U.K. edition of GQ, fans would feel the need to bestow the actor with even more blades. As Hunnam further noted in the interview, the knives are a big deal within biker culture and in the military, which both contain a lot of "Sons of Anarchy" fans.

So in its own way, it's one of the most endearing ways to celebrate your favorite "Sons of Anarchy" actor, except for the few moments when it gets a little gross. As Hunnam also said in the interview, "In the show, I carry a Ka-Bar, which is the U.S. Marine Corps' standard issue knife. So now I have dozens of Ka-Bars that military guys have given me, and I've been told that a couple of them 'have been used.' Which is a little bit ... grimy, you know? I'm not sure about the energy of that...."

With "Sons of Anarchy," Hunnam left the series with a stellar lead role on his resume (and probably a most impressive knife collection). Yet, in addition to those, Hunnam also got the chance to develop his acting chops. During an interview with People Magazine, the actor felt that his skills didn't truly develop until his lead role in the hit FX series, which he compared to studying at college. "I wasn't one of these people that were born enormously and innately talented, Hunnam said to People. "I had to really cultivate a skill set. And where I cultivated a lot of that skill set was going to work and shooting 10 pages a day on 'Sons of Anarchy' for seven years."

There's no denying that Hunnam's impressive effort on "Sons of Anarchy" probably prepared the actor for standout film roles he earned, later such as in "Pacific Rim," "King Arthur," and "Jungleland." Perhaps his skill set from shooting the series also extends to his more recent goals behind the camera. In 2020, the actor said that he shifted his focus to scriptwriting and producing, having already penned multiple projects, including a TV series.