Summary
- Hunnam's diverse roles showcase his evolution from a young hotshot to a mature character actor, proving his range and depth as a performer.
- Hunnam shines in antihero roles, imbuing his characters with complex dark pasts while maintaining a charismatic swagger in action-packed blockbusters.
- From TV shows like "Sons of Anarchy" to films like "Triple Frontier," Hunnam's ability to stand out in ensemble casts solidifies his star power.
British actor Charlie Hunnam has had the quintessential road to stardom, appearing in smaller but notable films and TV performances, gaining a main role in a prestige TV show, and then continuing after as one of Hollywood's leading action stars. Hunnam began acting in 1998 in Byker Grove as the recurring character Jason Chuckle. It's a serendipitous role, as Byker Grove depicts the first gay kiss on children's television and Hunnam later went on to star in a well-known LGBTQ+ TV show, and the title "Byker Grove" now serves as an Easter egg for one of Hunnam's most prominent roles.
With his slicked-back, long blonde hair, piercing blue eyes, and goatee carefully combed to a point, Hunnam has the aesthetic to play a charismatic villain, though he rarely does. But instead, his talents lie in the antihero realm. Hunnam is a consummate performer of characters with dark personalities and pasts who are ultimately good. Even in action-packed blockbusters where character development is secondary, Hunnam manages to imbue his swashbuckling swagger with a deep complexity, and his best TV shows and movies take advantage of his full scope of talents.
Charlie Hunnam's 1 Condition For Making Pacific Rim 3 Would Fix The Sequel's Major Problem
Although Charlie Hunnam has recently expressed his interest in making another Pacific Rim movie, he'll only do it under one very specific condition.
10 Jungleland (2019)
Hunnam Plays Stanley Kaminski
In Jungleland, a sports drama, Charlie Hunnam co-stars as Stanley Kaminski opposite Jack O'Connell as Walter "Lion" Kaminski. Lion is a former professional boxer and Stanley is his older brother and former boxing manager. The down-on-their-luck pair travel the country to deliver a sex worker for a gangster they've angered and take part in an underground boxing competition to earn enough money to open a dry cleaner. It's a moving and thrilling sports drama that sees Hunnam playing a different sort of character than usual.
Here he is the elder and ostensibly wiser brother, though he often puts Lion in danger in his quest to improve their lives. In past roles, Hunnam often plays the young hotshot, who grows throughout the movie, but in Jungleland, he's a character past his prime. It signals a switch to the mature kinds of characters Hunnam can play now that he's grown from his more youthful acting years.
9 Nicholas Nickleby (2002)
Hunnam Plays Nicholas Nickleby
Nicholas Nickleby is one of Charlie Hunnam's earliest roles. An adaptation of Charles Dickens' classic book, the period comedy-drama follows the titular character (Hunnam) as he goes on adventures through London, attempting to protect and provide for his mother and sister after his father passes away. With Anne Hathaway, Jim Broadbent, Christopher Plummer, Alan Cumming and Nathan Lane in the cast, it's a testament to Hunnam's skill at a young age that he can share the screen with such talents and not shrink.
It's an old-fashioned kind of movie that balances comedy and pathos in equal measure, and Hunnam slides right into the tone of the sprawling adventure. He's capable of an intensity needed for the dramatic moments of the film, but there's always a lightness to his performance that is necessary for the freewheeling film.