Charlie Hunnam is invited to our roundtable anytime!
The “Sons of Anarchy” stud slays as a beefed-up King Arthur on the cover of Entertainment Weekly’s July 31 issue.
From anarchy to monarchy: We have your exclusive first look at Charlie Hunnam as King Arthur! http://t.co/Ybii7LaSaH pic.twitter.com/OagtWxSH2K
— Entertainment Weekly (@EW) July 23, 2015
The shot features a dirty and slightly devilish Charlie posing with what can be presumed is his character’s trusty sword, Excalibur. The 35-year-old told the mag this version of King Arthur, headlining director Guy Ritchie’s upcoming origin epic “Knights of the Roundtable,” is meant to give the medieval legend some modern grit.
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“He’s a little bit rough around the edges, but he’s basically a survivor. He’s a hustler,” Charlie said. “He’s a street kid. There’s definitely a harder edge to him than people would imagine. It’s sort of classic Guy Ritchie stuff.”
Charlie is plenty familiar with combining literary depth with heavy on-screen action, having portrayed “Sons'” tormented motorcycle gangster Jax Teller as a post-millennial Hamlet for seven seasons. The actor’s experience with straightforward period pieces, like 2002’s Charles Dickens adaptation “Nicholas Nickelby,” also helps inform his approach to this latest blockbuster hopeful.
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“You need to see a character grow, and you need conflict,” Charlie explained. “If somebody is walking around with noble aspirations and then they find out that they’re the King of England, wonderful, but it’s all a bit boring.”
Ritchie agreed, telling EW that Charlie’s reputation for playing bad boys will help his vision for a more rough-and-tumble King Arthur come to life.
“I think where the pitfall has often been is trying to make King Arthur bland and nice, and nice and bland,” the “Sherlock Holmes” director said. “The two qualities make rather compatible bed companions. Unfortunately, they’re not interesting to watch.”
Judging from this first look at “King Arthur,” Charlie should have no problem holding anyone’s attention.
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Co-starring Jude Law, Eric Bana and Katie McGrath, “Knights of the Roundtable: King Arthur” hits theaters nationwide on July 22, 2016.
— Erin Biglow
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