Sons Of Anarchy's Charlie Hunnam Has Blunt Response For If He'd Ever Return As Jax Teller

jax teller and zippo sons of anarchy season 7

FX returned to motorcycle mayhem in 2018 with Mayans M.C., and while the gritty drama really found its narrative legs during Season 2, there's still nothing on TV quite like Sons of Anarchy. Nobody knows that better than Sons' fanbase, which remains eager to see more stories from the flagship MC hitting our televisions at some point in the future. It could very well happen by way of the long-discussed First 9 prequel, or some kind of direct sequel following Chibs, Tig, & Co., but anyone expecting to see Charlie Hunnam's Jax Teller again should probably give those hopes up.

While Charlie Hunnam hasn't ever sounded very keen on potentially reprising the role of Jax Teller, the actor appears to have built up his resolve over keeping his distance from portraying Jax again. He delivered quite the blunt response when asked about it in an interview with People, saying:

I would never, ever put that cut back on. I would never put his rings back on. Not even for Halloween. It was a very deep experience. I lived with that character inside me for years, like, in a very real way. In a way that manifested in ways that I could never even [have] imagined.

Not a lot of wiggle room in that answer for any blind hopes that Charlie Hunnam will return to the role of Jax Teller. Technically – technically – the first part of his answer does allow the potential for Jax to return in such a way where he doesn't need to wear either his cut or his rings. It could feasibly happen in some kind of a flashback or a dream sequence – on Mayans M.C. or any future projects – where Jax is seen donning a signature white T-shirt (or is just plain shirtless) and wears nothing on his hands.

Of course, that's just looking at Charlie Hunnam's answer wholly semantically, as opposed to focusing on the emotional truth he offered up. As he's said in the past, playing Jax Teller and living the SAMCRO life for seven seasons took its mental toll, with Jax factoring into at least 75% of all the hyper-violent, destructive and traumatic situations that went down. Especially in Season 7, with Jax mourning his lover's brutal death before discovering some very troublesome family truths that threatened to make him lose it. Even though Sons of Anarchy got pegged as a macho soap opera some of the time, that doesn't mean the series was lacking dark and damaging moments that weigh heavily on the psyche.

Charlie Hunnam seemed to legitimately put the idea to rest by bringing up the notion that Jax himself was already put to rest in the Season 7 finale. In his words:

He's dead now. So there would be no ever bringing him back ... When he died, he died.

Now, one could always argue that a good way to hide a killer surprise is to just lie about it to anyone who asks. But to be fair, Charlie Hunnam's thoughts definitely don't sound like he was trying to distract anyone from the "real" truth about a secret Jax Teller cameo on the way. It just sounds like he really doesn't feel comfortable returning to Jax's headspace, even if it's just for a cosplay purposes.

Even if we never get to see Charlie Hunnam reprising the role of Jax Teller, fans can still watch all seven seasons of Sons of Anarchy on Hulu while waiting for Mayans M.C. Season 3 to arrive on FX. Be sure to keep current with our Fall TV 2020 premiere schedule to see all the new and returning shows on the way soon.

Nick Venable
Assistant Managing Editor

Nick is a Cajun Country native and an Assistant Managing Editor with a focus on TV and features. His humble origin story with CinemaBlend began all the way back in the pre-streaming era, circa 2009, as a freelancing DVD reviewer and TV recapper.  Nick leapfrogged over to the small screen to cover more and more television news and interviews, eventually taking over the section for the current era and covering topics like Yellowstone, The Walking Dead and horror. Born in Louisiana and currently living in Texas — Who Dat Nation over America’s Team all day, all night — Nick spent several years in the hospitality industry, and also worked as a 911 operator. If you ever happened to hear his music or read his comics/short stories, you have his sympathy.