You might not have been surprised to see King starring in his own adaptations, but there’s only one plot detail that lured the king of horror into the Charlie Hunnam-led Sons of Anarchy.
Stephen King spent decades working on this and that in the movie industry, but not many might be aware of how big the author’s love for cinema is.
Apart from writing scripts and assisting the production of his own adaptations, King also had numerous opportunities to try himself as an actor, and he actually went way beyond minor roles in movies based on his books.
Back in 2010, the writer made a surprising appearance in FX’s hit action crime drama series Sons of Anarchy, starring in just one episode.
However, King’s role became so memorable due to many reasons, including the one props King just couldn’t say no to.
Stephen King Portrayed “Cleaner” Bachman in ‘Sons of Anarchy’ Season 3
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Appearing in only one episode titled “Caregiver”, King starred in the show as a “cleaner” hired by Tig to dispose of Amelia’s body, with the character’s name serving as a nod to King’s pen name Richard Bachman.
In the series, Bachman is a mysterious man wearing a leather jacket and driving a Harley — a bit weird, but still suitable role for someone as versed in modern tendencies as King.
In fact, the role was written specifically for King after the latter praised Sons of Anarchy in one of his essays, admitting that he’d been a fan of the show all along and the series itself had gotten only better with time.
The news got to the hearing of Sons of Anarchy’s creators who quickly reached out to King with an offer he couldn’t reject.
Stephen King Couldn’t Say No to Bachman’s Role For This Reason
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When an opportunity to star in one of his favorite series ever showed up, King didn’t waste much time on thinking, possibly agreeing on whatever role Sons of Anarchy’s Kurt Sutter had to suggest — initially because the writer doesn’t shy away from acting either.
“The short form is I had a chance to act on Sons of Anarchy, and I jumped at the chance. I like to act — not that I’m much good at it, but I suspect most writers do—and a number of factors came together”, King wrote in his personal blog at the time.
However, it wasn’t just getting a nice acting experience and meeting all the leading cast that the author appreciated the most in his Sons of Anarchy role, but rather a Harley he got to drive around for the episode’s several scenes.
“Kurt Sutter assured me that he’d write me a suitably nasty part (in various films I’ve been stuck playing a series of mentally challenged country bumpkins); most important of all, he said he’d put me on a bitchin Harley. How could I say no?” King added.
