Charlie Hunnam, one of the most popular leading men on the big and small screens, has enjoyed a career that spans multiple decades and genres. A man who’s best known for playing hypermasculine heroes, Hunnam has had quite a diverse career. After rising to fame on the groundbreaking queer British TV show Queer as Folk (recently rebooted). Hunnam jumped to America soon after that for little-watched Whatever Happened to Harold Smith? and short-lived Dawson’s Creek spinoff Young Americans, but it’s megahit Sons of Anarchy that most people know Hunnam for.
Comfortable both as lead and as a scene-stealing character actor, Charlie Hunnam has played memorable parts in major films like Cold Mountain and Alfonso CuarĂ³n cult classic Children of Men in addition to his famous roles as lead in Sons of Anarchy, The Gentlemen and Pacific Rim. The Hunnam filmography encompasses everything from comedy to sci-fi action to heavy drama, making Hunnam’s one of the more unique careers when it comes to contemporary leading men.
Updated by Jordan Iacobucci on October 30, 2024: As movie/TV fans anxiously await Charlie Hunnam’s starring roles in projects like Monsters and Criminal, they can check out some of the Sons of Anarchy star’s best roles so far. This article has been updated with additional entries and adheres to CBR’s current formatting guidelines.
15 Rebel Moon – Part One: A Child of Fire Gives Charlie Hunnam a Villain Role
Zack Snyder’s Sci-Fi Franchise Gets Off to a Turbulent Start in Rebel Moon – Part One
Rebel Moon – Part One: A Child of Fire is the first installment of controversial director Zack Snyder’s new sci-fi franchise envisioned as Netflix’s Star Wars. The film sets up its large ensemble of action heroes who take a stand against the villainous Imperium, led by the bloodthirsty Admiral Atticus Noble. Led by former Imperium soldier Kora, played by Sofia Boutella, this team of heroes fights to protect one village from Nobel’s oppressive rule.
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Charlie Hunnam stars in Rebel Moon – Part One as Kai, a mercenary pilot whom Kora recruits to help her team on its mission. However, Kai is eventually revealed to be a traitor working with Nobel and the Imperium in hopes of making an easy payday. He joins the Imperium in their attack on Kora’s allies, giving Hunnam a terrific villain turn that allows the actor to stretch his acting muscles a bit. Fans of Hunnam will love his collaboration with Zack Snyder, even if it was somewhat short-lived.
14 Triple Frontier Is an Underrated Action-Thriller
Charlie Hunnam Teams Up With Other Major Action Stars in Triple Frontier
Triple Frontier is a Netflix original action-thriller movie following a team of Special Forces operatives who finally put themselves ahead of their country and embark on a dangerous heist that they hope will set them up for life. Their plans go awry, leading the team into a frenzy of bulletfire, explosions, and unparalleled violence as they merely try to escape with their lives. Triple Frontier includes a star-studded cast that features Oscar Isaac, Ben Affleck, Pedro Pascal, Adria Arjona, and more.
Charlie Hunnam stars in Triple Frontier as William “Ironhead” Miller, a member of the central Special Forces team. After leaving the Special Forces, Miller became a motivational speaker, but reluctantly jumps back into the action when his former teammates offer him a piece of their score. Hunnam shines even among a cast of decorated talent, proving that he has what it takes to be just as big a name as some of his co-stars. Triple Frontier is one of the actor’s most underrated works, but remains popular on streaming.
Triple Frontier
13 Shantaram Tells a Complicated Story That Deserved More Seasons
The Apple TV Series Is Based on a 2003 Novel
Shantaram was a short-lived drama that aired on Apple TV+ for one season. The series follows Lin Ford, played by Charlie Hunnam, a man on the run in Bombay, India. Years earlier, Ford was arrested in conjunction with a series of armed robberies and put away for years. When he escaped prison, he was forced to change his name and go on the run. Shantaram follows Ford as he evades capture by the local authorities and meets various interesting individuals during his journey.
Shantaram was a terrific starring role for Hunnam, allowing him to step out of Sons of Anarchy‘s shadow to star in a new series that focused more heavily on his character rather than a sprawling ensemble cast. Unfortunately, Apple canceled the series after one season, ending Lin Ford’s adventures too early. Nevertheless, the first season is still available for fans of Hunnam to stream on Apple TV+.
12 King Arthur: Legend of the Sword Turns Charlie Hunnam Into a Legendary King
Guy Ritchie and Charlie Hunnam teamed up in 2017 for a fresh take on a classic tale with King Arthur: Legend of the Sword. Hunnam stars as the legendary King of the Britons, who must fulfill his destiny to save his people from the villainous warlock Mordred. Wielding the powerful sword Excalibur and leading a resistance against Mordred, Arthur saves his father’s kingdom and establishes himself as the rightful heir to the throne.
Charlie Hunnam needed a good leading role after starring in Sons of Anarchy, which catapulted his career but led to typecasting. King Arthur: Legend of the Sword was a terrific opportunity for Hunnam to display his range, proving that he could also be an action star. Although the film didn’t perform well, Hunnam seems to have made his point clear, as the actor has continued to find new and diverse roles that break free from the reputation he garnered as a cast member of Sons of Anarchy.
11 Green Street Hooligans Features a Strong Early Performance From Charlie Hunnam
This 2005 Movie Was Only Hunnam’s Fifth Film Appearance
Green Street Hooligans is a 2005 crime drama by director Lexi Alexander. The movie follows Matt Buckner, a.k.a. “The Yank,” a journalism student at Harvard University who is expelled after taking the fall when his roommate’s cocaine is discovered in their dorm room. Traveling to London to be with his sister, Matt befriends a group of football fans known as the Green Street Elite. Matt soon finds himself in over his head as his firm takes on other local gangs of hooligans.
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In one of his earlier roles, Charlie Hunnam stands out as Pete Dunham, the leader of the Green Street Elite who first brings Matt into the fold. Hunnam draws attention to this role, with many viewers being quick to point out his shoddy Cockney accent. Although Hunnam didn’t return for either of the film’s two sequels, Green Street Hooligans is nonetheless an important part of the actor’s early filmography, drawing him both positive and negative attention that at least got his name out there, even if the press wasn’t all good.
10 Last Looks Showed Hunnam Is Still a Major Leading Man
Charlie Hunnam Is an Eccentric Detective in Last Looks
Last Looks is one of Charlie Hunnam’s most recent roles, and in the film, he plays a modern version of the noir detective who has already retired to live alone on a mountain with just a camper, a chicken (named “Chicken) and 100 personal items. The film plays with typical noir detective tropes from older films — a missing person, a checkered past, a cast of complicated characters all capable of violence — but it’s Hunnam’s take on the burnt-out detective that makes the movie move.
In Last Looks, Hunnam plays private investigator Charlie Waldo, an interesting name linguistically, as a “waldo” is something that is manipulated by others for their own purposes. While Hunnam’s Waldo is a smart, independent thinker who lives by a strict personal code, the story is about how anyone can get pulled into a web of manipulation by their past and the people of the outside world who want to use it for their gain. There’s a classic femme fatale trope turned on its head, and in general, the film plays on stereotypes with a light and playful hand like the best neo-noir films. Last Looks is successful in being a fun, modern take on the noir, and the core of that success comes from Hunnam’s committed and likable performance.
9 Jungleland Proves Hunnam Works in Small Films Too
Hunnam Plays a Retired Pro Boxer in Jungleland
Jungleland is a 2019 film from Henry Winkler’s son Max about a former pro boxer (Hunnam) and his up-and-coming brother who find themselves having to squat in a house in Massachusetts and fight to survive. It’s an intimate, small-cast film compared to Hunnam’s other work, though its themes of crime, family and consequences do echo those of Hunnam’s Sons of Anarchy era. While it didn’t get more than a limited release in theaters, Jungleland earned strong reviews from critics.
Much of that is due to Hunnam’s performance, playing the troubled and complex brother to former Skins star Jack O’Connell. The pair breathes life into the family boxing movie trope, and Winkler shows a good eye for shooting small-town American life with interior shots that feel very real and very conflicted. With an ending that feels poignant and punchy (both literally and figuratively), Jungleland is Charlie Hunnam’s under-watched acting powerhouse that every fan should see.
8 The Gentlemen Is Guy Ritchie and Hunnam in a Perfect Match
Ritchie and Hunnam’s Best Collaboration Deserves More Love
While he’s most famous for playing the American Jax Teller in Sons of Anarchy, Charlie Hunnam is quite British. It makes perfect sense, then, that most-British-of-the-British director Guy Ritchie would tap Hunnam for a major part in a film, that being 2019’s The Gentlemen, now a hit spin-off TV show. Hunnam was in a stunning five films released in 2019, but The Gentlemen was far and above Hunnam’s biggest film of 2019, earning $115.2 million on only a $22 million budget.
The Gentlemen is classic Guy Ritchie-gone-2020s, with layers of story about interconnected gangster and drug-dealer goings-on all nested within a cheeky and stylish framework. Central to the plot is a conversation between Hugh Grant, himself enjoying a major career renaissance of late, and Charlie Hunnam, whose characters banter and maneuver over drinks and barbecue about murder and drugs. It says a lot that—among a cast including Matthew McConaughey, Michelle Dockery, Colin Farrell, and Harry Potter‘s Geraldine Somerville—it’s Hunnam who’s entrusted with the crux of the story, and he stands tall amongst his storied peers.
The Gentlemen
Eddie Halstead inherits large estate from father, unaware it fronts Pearson’s drug empire. With no crime experience, he must take over the operation or lose the estate.
- Release Date
- 2024-00-00
- Cast
- Christian Di Sciullo , Kaya Scodelario , Theo James , Daniel Ings
- Main Genre
- Crime
- Seasons
- 1
7 Hunnam’s Career Took Off in Queer as Folk
Charlie Hunnam and Russell T. Davies Team Up For This British Series
As a British man, Charlie Hunnam’s career started as many UK kids of his era did, doing a part on the long-running British coming-of-age show Byker Grove. Hunnam was found at the age of 17 by a production manager for the show, who saw Hunnam shopping on Christmas Eve and decided he had the look to be on the screen. Hunnam did three episodes on the show and a Kangol modeling shoot, but it wasn’t until he was cast in eventual Doctor Who showrunner Rusell T. Davies’ iconic show Queer as Folk that Hunnam’s career took off.
Only 18 and very much not grown into his Sons of Anarchy body, Hunnam played 15-year-old Nathan, a young member of the Manchester gay scene of the late 90s and early 2000s. Though the show only lasted for two seasons and a total of 10 episodes, it was nominated for multiple awards and represented a cultural watershed moment as an early representation of gay culture going mainstream. Queer as Folk ended up spawning an American remake and is now considered a queer classic, and as one of the three main characters, Charlie Hunnam’s Nathan is forever a part of LGBTQ+ history.
6 Nicholas Nickleby Is the Underseen British Comedy
Hunnam Finally Gets His Big Break In This Early Performance
Audiences outside of the UK might not be familiar with Nicholas Nickleby, but the 2002 comedy-drama is much better known within Great Britain as one of Charlie Hunnam’s earliest leading roles. Coming off Queer as Folk and released just after his co-starring role in the 2002 thriller Abandon, Nicholas Nickleby was Hunnam’s first go at a leading film role. The film was based on Charles Dickens’ The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby, a classic British novel about a young man from a financially ruined family trying to work his way up from the bottom in the early 1800s.
This adaptation of Nicholas Nickleby was directed by celebrated director and actor Douglas McGrath (Emma, Quiz Show, The Insider, Michael Clayton) and features a cast of legends. Among its players are Anne Hathaway, Nathan Lane, Christopher Plummer, Jim Broadbent, Jamie Bell, Alan Cumming and too many more to list. Nicholas Nickleby is a whip-smart, lively adaptation of classic material that received great reviews but was not widely released. It admittedly makes this one of Charlie Hunnam’s least-known roles, but it’s easily one of his best.
5 Crimson Peak Is One of Horror’s Best-Loved Cult-Classics
Charlie Hunnam Teams Up With Guillermo del Toro For This Horror Film
Crimson Peak is the gothic horror film that unquestionable legend Guillermo del Toro made between Pacific Ring and Academy Award for Best Picture-winning The Shape of Water, and it’s widely overlooked compared to those two juggernauts of film. Perhaps it’s because of Crimson Peak‘s goth-romantic and extremely stylized take on ghosts, which has very little in common with other horror films of its era, but the film was not a box-office success and was very divisive at the time of its release.
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Despite a difficult release, Crimson Peak has become a cult classic of the horror genre for its rich setting, exceptional effects and old-school aesthetic sensibilities, resembling more a film of the 1940s-1980s than anything since. Stephen King called it “gorgeous and just fucking terrifying,” and Hunnam’s performance as Dr. Alan McMichael is period-perfect, second only to the exceptional Tom Hiddleston and Mia Wasikowska. It’s a blood-soaked romp that manages to portray an entirely different form of horror than the contemporary torture and combat-fests of recent decades, making Crimson Peak a masterpiece out of time.
4 Undeclared Is the Judd Apatow-Charlie Hunnam Masterpiece Few Have Seen
This Short-Lived Series Could Have Been the Next Freaks and Geeks
Freaks and Geeks is well-established in the pantheon of classic TV shows, just as many of creator Judd Apatow’s films are considered classics of movie comedy. Looking at the creator’s early career, almost every actor who plays a main character in an Apatow work has become a major star, and it isn’t a stretch to say he created some generation-defining works in the 2000s. It may surprise some, then, that one of Charlie Hunnam’s best roles was in a Fox TV show helmed by Apatow that, sadly, didn’t last beyond 18 episodes.
Where Freaks and Geeks played in the world of early 80s Detroit, Undeclared was a spiritual follow-up to that show, centering on a group of college kids in the early 2000s. Undeclared brings over Freaks and Geeks main Seth Rogen (with most of the rest of the Freaks cast having recurring or guest parts), who is roommates with British theater major Lothario Lloyd, played by Charlie Hunnam. Undeclared was an early role for Hunnam, who comes off as lithe and charmingly guileless in his youth, and it remains one of TV’s great tragedies that the show only got 18 episodes before cancelation.
3 Charlie Hunnam Piloted the Mechs of Pacific Rim to a Career After Sons of Anarchy
Pacific Rim Almost Gave Charlie Hunnam His Own Action Franchise
When it came out in 2013, Pacific Rim was a kind of revelation for Western sci-fi films. For decades, the “massive mech” genre had been almost exclusively populated with anime and Asian films, and even the “giant monster” (or kaiju) genres were only occasionally touched by films from the West like 1998’s largely panned Godzilla. With Pacific Rim, horror god Guillermo del Toro married the enormous scale and world-ending stakes of kaiju/mecha Japanese art like the Godzilla series, Neon Genesis E vangelion and Gundam with a Hollywood quippiness and hero-centric narrative.
Perhaps because of del Toro’s international sensibilities and skill with genre, the result of combining these world influences is simply epic. That’s partly due to the film’s amazing visual effects, truly putting the viewer in the seat of a towering mech like few live-action films ever have, but it’s also due in no small part to the incredible cast. Alongside Hunnam are Babel‘s Rinko Kikuchi, It’s Always Sunny in Philidelphia‘s Charlie Day, and living legends Idris Elba and Ron Perlman, who Hunnam was well-familiar with from Sons of Anarchy. As the true lead of a film about a group of people coming together, Hunnam shines in a movie with such massive scale and reach, and it worked, as Pacific Rim made $411 million worldwide.
2 The Lost City of Z Teams Hunnam Up With Other Greats
The Lost City of Z Is One Part Charlie Hunnam, One Part Robert Pattinson, One Part Amazon River
When it comes to films that haven’t been watched enough, The Lost City of Z is Charlie Hunnam’s most under-watched masterpiece. The movie tells the story of Percy Fawcett, a real-world explorer of the Amazon River who went on many expeditions in search of a legendary lost city, suspected to be the home of an extremely advanced civilization that fell into the past. A dark, unrelenting treatise on the brutal weirdness of 1800s colonialism, the film also somehow manages to be an example of the kind of Indiana Jones and Allan Quartermain adventure films of the past. However, it’s not afraid to be honest about how dark it all was.
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Based on a 2009 book about Fawcett’s life, the resulting film is epic, brutal and a refreshingly clear-eyed take on the social issues inherent to the colonial adventure genre. This is no whitewashed look at white men romping through the jungle, and as Hunnam becomes as increasingly desperate as he is determined, the weight of familial pains and what one’s willing to do for their legacy shows on his face. Acting as Hunnam’s second, The Lost City of Z also features one of Twilight superstar Robert Pattinson’s best performances as the disintegrating veteran soldier Corporal Henry Costin.
The Lost City of Z
1 Sons of Anarchy is Still Hunnam’s Defining Role
Hunnam Finally Rose to Prominence Thanks to This Star-Making Series
In the case of Charlie Hunnam, the seven seasons of Sons of Anarchy stand above the rest of a great career as a defining media moment. Coming out in 2008, Sons was FX’s entry in the booming mid-late 2000s “prestige” TV revolution that came after the early 2000s success of HBO’s The Sopranos. The subsequent barrage of high-concept crime TV included Showtime’s Weeds, HBO’s The Wire and AMC’s Breaking Bad, and, riding in on loud motorcycles and fully willing to fire louder guns, was Sons of Anarchy.
While those other shows have their own claims to the crown as the best crime show of the era, Sons of Anarchy stands out as something special, partially because of its premise. In Sons, Hunnam plays Jax Teller, the apparent heir to the kingdom of a major California motorcycle club and criminal organization with a long history. The show is more than just crime-a-week titillation though; in fact, it’s a retelling of Shakespeare’s Hamlet, with Hunnam in the title role and the inimitable Ron Perlman and Katey Sagal in the roles of King and Queen. The show’s takes on community, personal freedom and the relationship between individuals, their goals and violence mean Sons of Anarchy is a triumph of TV storytelling, and none of it would be possible without a career performance by Charlie Hunnam.