Charles Matthew "Charlie" Hunnam is an English actor and screenwriter. He is known for his
roles as Nathan Maloney in the Channel 4 drama Queer as Folk, Lloyd Haythe in the Fox comedy
series Undeclared, Pete Dunham in the film Green Street, Jackson "Jax" Teller in the
FX series Sons of Anarchy, and Raleigh Becket in the film Pacific Rim.
Early life Hunnam was born in Newcastle upon Tyne, Tyne
and Wear, to father William "Billy" Hunnam, a gangster and scrap metal merchant, and mother
Jane Hunnam, a business owner. His maternal grandmother was the premiere portrait artist
in Newcastle. Hunnam was the second child born after brother William "Billy"; he later
had two younger half-brothers, Oliver and Christian, on his mother's side. His parents
split up when he was two years old and he moved to the village of Melmerby, Cumbria
when he was 12, as his mother remarried. He went to Heaton Manor School in Newcastle,
and after moving he went to Queen Elizabeth Grammar School in Penrith, Cumbria. Hunnam
got expelled from secondary school and did his exams from home. He attended Cumbria College
of Art and Design, where he graduated with a degree in the theory and history of film
with a side in performing arts. Career
At the age of 17, Hunnam was discovered in a shoe shop on Christmas Eve while drunkenly
clowning around buying shoes for his brother. A production manager for the Newcastle-based
children's show Byker Grove approached him and Hunnam was later cast in his first role
as Jason in three episodes of the show. Aged 18, his first major role came when he was
cast by Russell T. Davies as fifteen-year-old schoolboy Nathan Maloney in Davies' Channel
4 drama Queer as Folk. He followed this up with his role as Daz in
the film Whatever Happened to Harold Smith? and then relocated to Los Angeles.
His career expanded to include a recurring role as Gregor Ryder in the WB Television
Network series Young Americans. He then appeared in the short-lived Fox series Undeclared as
an English drama student called Lloyd Haythe. Despite critical acclaim, the series was cancelled
after one season. Hunnam then appeared on the large screen in Abandon, Nicholas Nickleby,
and Cold Mountain. Hunnam has stated that he does not wish to simply take any role that
he is offered: "I have 60 years to make the money, but the choices I make in the next
five years are really going to define my career." This decision resulted in his return to the
UK to take the lead role of Pete Dunham in the film Green Street, however his attempts
at delivering a Cockney accent resulted in his inclusion in many critics' "worst accents
in movie history" lists. Hunnam says his role Patric, a member of "The
Fishes", in Children of Men, was the final part in his "trilogy of mad men". "I played
the psycho in Cold Mountain, my character in Green Street is fairly psychotic and now
I've got this role." Since 2008, Hunnam has starred as Jackson "Jax" Teller in Sons of
Anarchy, a show about a prominent motorcycle club in a small fictional California town.
Hunnam was cast after Kurt Sutter, the creator of the show, saw him in Green Street. His
portrayal as Jax Teller has led Hunnam to receive a Critics' Choice Television Award
nomination, two EWwy Award nominations for Best Lead Actor in a Drama series, and a PAAFTJ
Award nomination for Best Cast in a Drama Series.
Immediately prior to getting cast on Sons of Anarchy, he sold his screenplay Vlad to
Summit Entertainment with Brad Pitt's Plan B Studios co-producing. The film is being
directed by music video director and photographer Anthony Mandler, and will focus on the real-life
story of Vlad the Impaler. Hunnam learned the story from locals in Romania, while shooting
Cold Mountain. He stated that he hadn't acted in 18 months and was so broke that if he hadn't
managed to sell the script he would have had to sell his house and move back to England
to live with his mother. Hunnam is also developing a screenplay based on a 2011 Rolling Stone
article that he optioned about Edgar Valdez Villareal, an American drug lord who ran one
of the biggest cartels in Mexico. Another project he has in development is a film about
gypsy culture in England, which he hopes to direct. He stated that it's "a part of English
society that's really seldom been explored, but is one of the most colourful and interesting
parts of British society." In 2011, Hunnam played the role of Gavin Nichols
in the philosophical drama/thriller The Ledge by Matthew Chapman. In 2012, he starred as
the title character in the indie comedy 3,2,1... Frankie Go Boom alongside, among others, his
Sons of Anarchy co-star Ron Perlman. Hunnam said that he considered the day that he filmed
scenes with Perlman for that film the best and funniest day of filming he's ever had
in his whole career. He also appeared as Jay, an ex-boxer, in Stefan Ruzowitzky's crime
drama Deadfall. Hunnam starred as Raleigh Becket in Guillermo
del Toro's sci-fi movie Pacific Rim, that opened in July 2013. Earlier in the same year,
it was announced that Hunnam would reunite with del Toro in the horror film Crimson Peak.
He will appear alongside Mia Wasikowska, Tom Hiddleston and Jessica Chastain. The film
was set to start shooting in February 2014 with an 16 October 2015 release date. It was
announced on 2 September 2013 that Hunnam would play the lead role of Christian Grey
in the film adaptation of E. L. James' novel Fifty Shades of Grey. However, on 12 October
2013, Universal Pictures announced that Hunnam had withdrawn from the film due to conflicts
with the schedule of his series Sons of Anarchy. Personal life
Hunnam met actress Katharine Towne in 1999 when they both auditioned for roles on Dawson's
Creek. After dating for four weeks, they married in Las Vegas. The couple divorced in 2002.
He has been in a relationship with jewellery designer Morgana McNelis since 2007. In July
2013, Hunnam announced that he and Morgana were leaving Los Angeles to live on a ranch
just outside the city. Filmography
References
External links Charlie Hunnam at the Internet Movie Database