Former NYPD Blue star Jimmy Smits is rolling into the upcoming fifth season of FX’s hit outlaw drama Sons of Anarchy, for a full a season-long arc.

Smits will ditch his token clean-cut look to play Neron ‘Nero’ Padilla, a gang member who ends up becoming a mentor and not-so-good influence on  the young newly implanted SAMCRO president Jackson ‘Jax’ Teller (Charlie Hunnam).

Playing the bad boy has seemed to be Smits taste as of late - coming off another villainous run on the third season of Showtime’s psychological thriller Dexter, as the villainous ADA Miguel Prado. The role of Nero also breaks Smits from his usual penchant of playing the polished lawman. Smits is most recognized for portraying a cop or lawyer, in both NYPD Blue and LA Law, as well as recently Supreme Court Justice Cyrus Garza on the short lived NBC drama, Outlaw.

Since the announcement of not only a fifth but a sixth and seventh season, there hasn’t been much info in the way of what’s going to happen next for Sons of Anarchy — but in other interesting, and somewhat strange, season 5 casting news, series creator Kurt Sutter has confirmed that former real-life Hells Angel Chuck Zito (HBO's Oz) will be appearing on the show.

While former outlaws turning actors is hardly anything new, the shock of Zito’s appearance on the show comes from the fact that in 2010 Zito filed a $5 million dollar lawsuit against FX, alleging that the cable network stole his idea. In 2006 Zito had a development meeting with FX, in which he pitched the idea of an outlaw motorcycle group titled Nomads (later The Wild Angels). After losing his case in 2011, Zito claims “We buried the hatchet." Zito goes on to say, "He said some derogatory things about me on his website, but that's in the past now. We get along real well and we're going to become good friends”

Zito’s character is simply described as "a nomad who comes to Charming”, beyond that not much is known about Zito’s role, episode number, or if his character's appearance is merely coincidental to that of newly-implanted cast member Jimmy Smits, or if the two are somehow going to be linked in the show.

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The fifth season of Sons of Anarchy will premiere this September on FX.

 

 

Source:  TV Guide