Sons of Anarchy had a number of guest stars that go from musicians to famous authors, and a surprising casting choice was Marilyn Manson, who joined the series in its final season – but how did the Sons of Anarchy crew get the controversial singer to join the series? Created by Kurt Sutter, Sons of Anarchy aired on FX from 2008 to 2014, with a total of seven seasons and a lot of drama and betrayal. Sons of Anarchy explored themes like racism and corruption, which along with the performances of its main cast, earned it the praise of critics and viewers.

Sons of Anarchy follows the story of Jackson “Jax” Teller (Charlie Hunnam), VP of the motorcycle club Sons of Anarchy in the fictional town of Charming, in California. The series begins when Jax finds a manifesto written by his late father, John Teller, one of the founding members of the club, which leads Jax to question the club’s motivations and goals, his relationships, family, and himself. Over the course of seven seasons, Jax came across all types of characters – from corrupt politicians to nazis and some enemies that eventually turned into allies. This made way for various guest star spots throughout the series, and it surprised the audience when it cast Marilyn Manson for its seventh season.

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Sons of Anarchy season 7 saw Jax dealing with the loss of his wife, Tara (Maggie Siff), who was killed by his mother, Gemma (Katey Sagal), in season 6’s finale, though she made him think it was the Chinese's fault. However, before he could make any move to avenge Tara’s death, he spent some time in jail, where he found a new ally on the leader of the Aryan Brotherhood in the Stockton area, Ron Tully (Manson). Tully had great influence at the Stockton State prison and pretty much ruled the place, as most guards were on his payroll. He and Jax became allies when Jax beat an AB rat and brought two of his teeth to Tully, and the latter then helped him get rid of Juice (Theo Rossi), though not before the disgraced SAMCRO member killed the leader of the Chinese. Although Manson might seem like a weird casting choice, he surprised viewers with his performance, but a question remains: how did Sons of Anarchy end up having Marilyn Manson in a recurrent role?

Charlie Hunnam and Marilyn Manson in Sons of Anarchy

In May 2020, Kurt Sutter was asked by a fan about how Marilyn Manson got cast on the show, to which he replied that he learned through a mutual friend that the rockstar was a fan of the series, and it was something he and his dad “had bonded over”. Their mutual friend arranged a meeting between them and Manson was offered the role, which he quickly agreed to. Manson initially thought he was being contacted about making a song for the series, as it used a lot of rock and metal songs through its whole run, but the offer turned out to be a lot better than that. At the time, this was Manson’s first proper acting role, as he had previously appeared in brief cameos in a variety of movies, such as the black comedy Jawbreaker and David Lynch’s Lost Highway. After playing Tully, Manson appeared in the action drama movie Let Me Make You a Martyr and the TV show Salem, and voiced the Smile Man in New Mutants.

Perhaps being a fan of Sons of Anarchy helped Marilyn Manson’s performance as Ron Tully as he was familiar with the tone of the show and knew what the audience liked about it. Manson’s casting came as a surprise not only because he’s a rockstar, not an actor, but because he turned out to be a better actor than the audience thought – and as his character was pretty dark and disturbing, it fitted his stage persona quite well.

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