Yuku free message boards

48 hours until it is BACK!!! (extra minute in this vid)

Talking 'Anarchy' With Adam Arkin
Thursday 03 September 01:47 PM

As if FX's addicting motorcycle gang drama 'Sons of Anarchy' wasn't intense enough already, the show will be upping the fireworks in its second season thanks to a major plot turn led by Adam Arkin (who plays Ethan Zobelle) and his white supremacist crew battling the 'Sons.' PopEater spoke to Adam exclusively about what working on such an intense show is like, how he handles being a racist for the show and how he grew up in the limelight of fame.

Is this one of the more intense roles you've ever played?

Well it's certainly one of the more intense shows I've been a part of. The intensity of the character is in keeping with the show, but to be completely honest the things I've had to do on camera have not felt a lot more intense than some of the other things I've had to do. He's a very controlled guy, so the story lines have been intense and the things my character is responsible for are intense, but what I've actually I don't know that they're the most enthralling kind of villains, but finding the counterpoint to whatever the tone in. In an environment like Sons where most of the protagonists are incredibly rough around the edges and capable of a certain kind of brutality, whoever is going to come into that environment and be a menace is going to have to change it up.

Is there anything you did or people you spoke to get into the mindset of a white supremacist?

I did a fair amount of research just on the internet and in conversations as to who and what the character was based on. And then beyond that, it just kind of took off on my own.

Is personal customizing and improv encouraged on the show?

The blueprint is definitely there and the text is respected on the show, so in terms of coming in and playing fast and loose with the dialogue or the work other people have put into, no. But in terms of interpretive and choices, yeah, there's a lot of that that seems to be encouraged.

You work alongside Henry Rollins ... how intimidating of a guy is he?

For me he's not been intimidating at all. Working with Henry has been one of the bigger revelations of the whole experience for me. I don't think on the surface you can have two more different people than he and I, but right from the start I've felt incredibly comfortable. He's open and authentic and consequently you don't get a lot of mixed messages from Henry. We immediately fell into a natural groove as far as working with each other. I like him, he makes me laugh... I think I can make him laugh and we have a good time.

Is it an actor's dream to be playing what is essentially a terrible person?

It's always fun getting to play someone whose moral compass is not necessarily in keeping with your own. It's a chance to tap into your own demons and it's also a challenge because the people who tend to be successful at playing interesting villains are the ones who find some thread of common humanity that exists even in the most ... people. To play someone with no psychological layers or vulnerabilities is sort of a cartoon character. You've gotta find what's familiar about them and that has been very interesting in this process.


Have you ever had or wanted a motorcycle?

I had a dirtbike for a brief period of time when I was in my teens.

Cable shows seem to be much more buzzed about and critically respected than network shows nowadays. Why do you think that is?

I think quite frankly that it's the freedom to go into more complex story subject matters. I think the freedom to show some of the darker sides of human behavior. Even something as basic as what being free from the 10-minute story increment structure that you're locked into when you have to go to commercial ... consequently break everything into these fragments that have to be revisited in order to remind the audience where they are in the story line. Commercial breaks not only interrupt the flow of the story, but they kind of dictate a revisiting of what the story points have been. I think the flow of the narrative in cable shows and the ability to immerse yourself in the story and not have it interrupted with adults behaving in the way that adults really behave so it's not watered down, it just allows a greater array of story choices. I also think something as simple s it being a 13 episode season allows you to lock onto a story arc for the season that is more concise and allows for more drama.

Could a show like 'Sons of Anarchy' be done properly on network TV?

No, not in any recognizable form to what it is on FX. I think half of what creates the atmosphere and the drama of that show would have to be diluted to such an extent that it would be almost unrecognizable.

You're also in the upcoming Coen Brothers movie 'A Serious Man.' I'm guessing the movie itself is far from serious knowing the Coens?

That's a funny question, because part of what's interesting about the film is that while it is a comedy, my experience in watching it was that I wound up being more affected by it than I would have thought going in. There's a lot of heart to the film and a fair amount of angst to it as well as some genuinely funny things. But I wouldnt' describe it as an unserious piece of work.

Acting is in your blood (he's the son of Oscar winner Alan Arkin)... what's it like having the family profession being one of fame and notoriety?

I never thought of it as being a good chance I'd wind up with fame. I don't have anything to compare it to. You brought up the notion of the family business. In some ways, this was the family business which I grew up and around. I grew up in New York, lived in the West Village ... saw my father pursue a career as an actor. My earliest memories were of seeing him on stage in New York and then watched his film career develop out of that. so my desire was to be an actor and to have the life of someone getting to work in that environment. The fame element of it is a byproduct of that and it is in fact a pretty empty commodity. The only real interest it's ever had to me, fame in and of itself, was in its capacity to get you other opportunities to work and possibly the potential to work with people you'd find interesting to work with and for. One of the great gifts I think my father gave me was in making it very clear that there was nothing in fame itself that was worth pursuing as an end to itself.

What's the best advice your father has ever given you, professional or otherwise?

The advice he gave me as regards to acting, and it is advice that I've been in the position to try to pass on, is that acting is a craft and it's amazing how many people view it as something that needs to be focused on as a career before they've learned anything about the craft itself. In order to have a career, you have to have something you're able to offer, and if you haven't gone into acting classes and character classes and scene study classes, then you don't have anything to focus on. People show up out here in Los Angeles and they start wanting to know how to get an agent before they've taken an acting class. My tendency is to tell people not to worry about getting an agent, but finding ways in which to build a craft. If that means working in a small theater or taking a class, do it, get yourself in a position where you can actually be doing this thing you're trying to do.

Interview: Henry Rollins and his SONS OF ANARCHY
Wednesday, 12 August 2009 07:46


The FX television series Sons of Anarchy, starring Ron Perlman, Katey Sagal and Charlie Hunnam, is an adrenalized drama about a notorious outlaw motorcycle club that is intent on protecting their sheltered small town against encroaching drug dealers, corporate developers and overzealous law officers. The club is equally determined to protect their ruthless and illegally thriving arms business.
In Season 2, a group of neo-Nazis, including Ethan Zoebelle (Adam Arkin) and AJ Weston (Henry Rollins), come to the fictional town of Charming, California, not only to shake things up, but to turn things completely upside down, in some very unpleasant ways.

During the Television Critics Association Press Tour, outspoken singer/spoken word performer/actor Henry Rollins talked about playing such an unlikeable, bad guy.

Q: How do you like being on Sons of Anarchy?

Henry: It's been great work. All the people on this show are all real cool, and it's people you respect. To get to be on a show with Ron Perlman and Katey Sagal, forget it. They're the nicest people. And the lead, Charlie Hunnam, is a guy with nine trucks of charisma behind him. He's amazing. I don't even think he understands what he's got. He's got that James Dean thing. He's all instinct, and it's just great to watch him work 'cause he's super-impressive, and he's a nice guy too. He's one of those guys I'll be keeping my eyes on, just because I think he's going to be big. It's nice to be around these people, and there's no hierarchy on the set, in that there's no one you have to tip-toe around. Everyone is cool and funny, and we're hard-working, so it's been a blast.

Q: Who do you play on the show?

Henry: I'm an awful man, named AJ Weston. He's a neo-Nazi, white separatist, white supremacist type. He has no redeeming social qualities, except that he likes his kids. Past that, he's incorrigible and awful. My boss is even more awful because he's a Machiavellian character, played by Adam Arkin, who is brilliant. I'm a bad guy that does bad things, and my enemy is the Sons of Anarchy. And, they hate me too, believe me.

Q: What was your reaction to playing a character like this?

Henry: Well, initially my manager said, "Kurt Sutter would like to speak to you." So, I got in my mighty Subaru Outback and jetted over to his office, as quickly as possible, just to shake his hand. When we got into discussions about the character, I thought it was really interesting, and I went at it with all speed. There was no hesitation on my part.

Q: Are you going to kill people on screen, or do you just threaten them and then let other people do the killing?

Henry: Oh, we do wonderfully horrible things that are very real and very physical. We also do a lot of threatening. Adam's character is the idea man, and I go and actually carry it out.

Q: Is it difficult to play such an unlikeable character? How hard was it to get through that final scene in the first episode of Season 2?

Henry: It was a little much. It was tough to shoot, for all of us -- the whole crew and all the actors involved. It was not cool. It was part of the story and we had to do it, but it was a huge relief when they said, "Okay, we've got it. That's all we need." We shot that one fast, with as few takes as possible because no one wanted to be staying on that one very long. It took about three hours to shoot, and it was a long three hours. That made the rest of the things I had to do a lark, in comparison. Just being violent and hitting someone, or hitting a stuntman, is a relief. It's easy for me to play bad guys because it's a very linear acting. Bad guys aren't empathetic. Being a bad guy is great because you're not friendly and you don't have to do much with your face. It's like, "Good morning. I want to kill you." That's it. So, for a guy with limited capability, it's good for a guy like me.

Q: So, you see your character as a bad guy then?

Henry: My character actually thinks, if you let him and his people take control of America, it would be a better place 'cause we'd get rid of all the non-whites.

Q: But, you're not sympathizing with him to play him?

Henry: No. I can be very removed and just execute the scenes very well. I've been around people like him. I get hate mail from people like him. I've seen documentaries on all of this. I contribute a large amount of money to the Southern Poverty Law Center, so I'm on their mailing list for all their Klan watch newsletters. I'm very well aware of White Power movements in America. They followed me around and came to my gigs for years, handing out propaganda, so his ideology is not foreign to me, at all.

Q: Do you ride motorcycles yourself?

Henry: Not on the show and not in real life. No, they terrify me. I've got no interest in that kind of thing, at all. Skydiving and motorcycles are not where my courage lies. I need to get some courage.