When Katey Sagal won the prize for best actress in TV drama series at the 2011 Golden Globe Awards (for her portrayal of tough motorcycle-club maven Gemma Morrow on “Sons of Anarchy”), the biggest thanks in her acceptance speech went to her husband, Kurt Sutter, creator/executive producer of “Son of Anarchy.” It's a partnership that works well on screen as wel as off screen. Season 4 of “Sons of Anarchy” premieres September 21, 2011, on FX at 10 p.m. Eastern/Pacific Time.
A lot has happened to the show’s characters off-screen in between Season 3 and Season 4. For starters, Gemma’s husband, Clay Morrow (played by Ron Perlman), and her son, Jax Teller (played by Charlie Hunnam), are among the motorcycle club’s members who have spent 14 months in prison. Season 4 begins with the release of Clay and Jax from prison and returning to their home base of Charming, California. I sat down with Sagal and Sutter for this interview before they took the stage for the annual “Sons of Anarchy” panel at Comic-Con-Con International 2011 in San Diego.
Which character in “Sons of Anarchy” is going to be changed the most after this prison sentence?
Sagal: I would say Clay. What would you say?
Sutter: Maybe. Yeah. We can’t tell you much.
What can you say about Season 4 of “Sons of Anarchy”?
Sutter: There are new cast members: Rockmond Dunbar and Ray McKenna — two TV guys, but who are virtually unknown — and I don’t mean that they’ve been in obscurity, but in terms of bigger names. They’ll be playing two law-enforcement characters.
Rockmond is literally the new sheriff in town. And we get to play out some racial issues this season, which I’ve always wanted to do. So that will be a component with a thing that’s going on in law enforcement.
And what kind of role will Danny Trejo have?
Sutter: Danny Trejo’s role is not as big as Ray’s and Rockmond’s, but Danny will be playing a badass Mexican.
What’s going to happen to Wayne Unser, the police chief of Charming (played by Dayton Callie)?
Sutter: We were all trying to figure out where Unser’s character would be this season. I don’t want to give it away, but I’ll just put it this way: Dayton is such a soulful guy, such a soulful actor that we really get to take Unser on an interesting, emotional journey, with all the loss he’s had over the past two years, between the cancer and the club going away and losing his job.
We make reference to his marriage being on the rocks in Season 3. He’ll actually play this very interesting, pivotal role [in Season 4]. He sort of gets put in between the club and the family in a very interesting way.
Are we going to see more of a development between Unser and Jenna?
Sutter: Yes.
How will the letters factor into Season 4?
Sutter: The letters will come to play out. The letters that were introduced in Episode 12 and that which Tara finds in the finale, that will definitely inform an arc that happens this season. So yeah, it’ll come to play.
How do you feel about interaction with “Sons of Anarchy” fans through the Internet now, compared to when “Sons of Anarchy” first went on the air?
Sagal: It’s been amazing. But I’m not big into social media. He [Kurt Sutter] is. I’m not a Facebook/Twitter gal, but my husband is.
Do you incorporate any ideas or suggestions from fans in your writing for “Sons of Anarchy”?
Sutter: I don’t. I don’t take story input from fans. All their input is: “More naked Jax,” which I understand completely.
Sagal: And you do comply.
Sutter: It’s odd. I really don’t get more “We’d like some naked Otto.”
Sagal: He keeps losing limbs.
Sutter: Obviously, with the popularity of the show, we get to see firsthand through social media. And it’s changed a lot, but I think social media has changed a lot since the show began as well. If social media were a straight line, it would probably be over the charts, but it’s all changing so rapidly, it’s hard to tell.
[NOTE: A few weeks after this interview took place, Sutter closed his Twitter account because he said too many of his uncensored thoughts on Twitter were creating controversy. He still has a blog at sutterink.blogspot.com]
What kind of Charming will the Sons becoming back to after they leave prison?
Sagal: What I’ve always loved is that the name Charming implies that it’s a charming little secluded town. There’s some expansion going on that they come to find when they get out of prison. That’s a conflict for them. They’re not so down on that.
I think one of the reasons why Charming has always loved the Sons is that they kept Charming charming in their own special way. That’s part of why the town supported them. So you’re going to see some splintering of that, in terms of what that means to be expanded on. The whole season is about the inner workings of the club — much more how like Kurt was saying before, it’s a bigger foe when the internal workings start to implode a little bit. We’ll see stuff with that.
Katey, what about your character Gemma? What’s her state of mind when these guys get out of prison?
Sagal: Gemma is pretty happy when things start. It doesn’t last long. [She laughs.] But she’s pretty content when the guys are coming home and she’s got her grandchildren. She’s not on house arrest anymore. She gets to go out and get her hair and nails done and do all the things she couldn’t do when they were in Ireland, which in my opinion, those are important things to her.
She’s pretty happy until something starts to unwind, as it does, that gets her a little bit hot and bothered, as she does. And we’ll follow along. I can’t give away too much. [She says to Sutter] Am I doing OK?
Sutter: All I heard was “hot and bothered.”
Sagal: He likes to keep her that way. The scripts are amazing. My husband is doing an amazing job. It’s going to be great.
Katey, how much does who you are in real life inform Gemma as a character?
Sagal: Gemma’s maternal instinct is what drives her in all ways. She’s all about getting that club together, keeping her grandchildren together. And for me, personally, I have a very strong maternal instinct. I have three kids, and they are central to my life. So I think that forms some of what initially had started. I’d like to say though that she’s not a not like me.
And that’s what’s so fun about playing her. Her instincts are like me, but I really have to sometimes remind [myself] that it’s Gemma; it’s not me. Gemma is a real survivalist. This is a person that goes on instinct, is always on guard.
They live in that world of, “Who’s watching me now?” I don’t live in that world. Well, I guess a little paparazzi, but it’s definitely not like someone’s coming at me with a gun. These are people who live that way.
So it’s just a very different point of view. She’s very alert. She’s always going to see what’s going to happen next and looking over her shoulders.
What’s going to happen to Jax and his girlfriend Tara?
Sutter: I think that relationship, when Jax comes out [of prison], is going to be stronger than it ever has been before. If anything, prison has given him a better appreciation of what he has at home.
Katey, where do you keep your Golden Globe Award?
Sagal: I have a little kitchen office at home, where I do all my kids’ stuff. And it’s on a bookshelf above the green couch.
For more info: "Sons of Anarchy" website
RELATED LINKS ON EXAMINER.COM:
Interview with Katey Sagal at the 2011 Golden Globe Awards
Interview with Ron Perlman and Charlie Hunnam for "Sons of Anarchy"
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