King Of The Road
ELLE Australia|May 2017

Whether running a motorcycle gang or ruling medieval empires, Charlie Hunnam does it all with rugged swagger– and poetry at the ready

 

Mickey Rapkin
King Of The Road

In this month’s slick, Guy Ritchie-directed King Arthur: Legend Of The Sword, Charlie Hunnam plays the titular character, whose circumstances are upended when he pulls a sword from a stone. The film may be yet another fantastical retelling of the classic legend, but the story resonates with the 37-year-old, who was raised in rough-and-tumble Newcastle, England. His parents split when he was young and Hunnam, who was discovered in a shoe store, moved to the US at age 18, married a woman he met at an audition for Dawson’s Creek, struggled to find work, got divorced, then found fame in an unlikely place: on the gritty TV series Sons Of Anarchy. The show was positively Shakespearean in its drama, not unlike Hunnam’s life off-screen: last year, the actor was forced to make a public plea for fans to stop harassing his long-time girlfriend, jewellery designer Morgana McNelis. Imagine how intense things could have become if he hadn’t backed out of starring in 2015’s Fifty Shades Of Grey. He cites a scheduling conflict – but a certain phobia revealed in our conversation here makes us think there could have been another reason...

ELLE: A few stories we’ve read described your dad as a “gangster”. True?

CHARLIE HUNNAM: No, he was a scrap-metal man. If, say, a coal mine or a shipyard goes down, there’s an opportunity to go and strip scrap metal and melt it down. It’s incredibly valuable, completely untraceable and very desirable to steal. Everybody understands that if you fuck around, there will be serious consequences. That’s where his reputation came into play. He was very well-known, even feared. But he wasn’t into making money illegally, which is my definition of a gangster.

This story is from the May 2017 edition of ELLE Australia.

Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.

This story is from the May 2017 edition of ELLE Australia.

Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.

MORE STORIES FROM ELLE AUSTRALIAView All
Books: Shelf-Care
ELLE Australia

Books: Shelf-Care

Find a little respite in this season’s most exciting new reads

time-read
5 mins  |
June/July 2020
ELLE Australia

Men's Rites

Deciding to go through a gender transition isn’t easy for anyone. But the hardest person for journalist Daniel Mallory ortberg to convince was himself

time-read
10+ mins  |
June/July 2020
Kick Start
ELLE Australia

Kick Start

In these uncertain times, louis vuitton’s artistic director nicolas ghesquière is looking to the past to help make sense of the future

time-read
3 mins  |
June/July 2020
ELLE Australia

Music: Everything Is Illuminated

Phoebe Bridgers is a musician who revels in the darkness, albeit having earned her place in the spotlight

time-read
6 mins  |
June/July 2020
SUPER NATURE ESCAPISM WILDERNESS BREATHING INFRESH AIR BATHING IN SUNSHINE
ELLE Australia

SUPER NATURE ESCAPISM WILDERNESS BREATHING INFRESH AIR BATHING IN SUNSHINE

IN THE SPIRIT OF DISCOVERY AND NEW HORIZONS, MODEL GEORGIA FOWLER HEADS FOR THE GREAT OUTDOORS

time-read
3 mins  |
June/July 2020
ELLE Australia

THE big CLEANSE

WE’VE PURGED OUR KITCHEN CABINETS OF SUGAR AND CULLED THE CLOTHES THAT DON’T SPARK JOY, BUT WE MAY HAVE ARRIVED AT THE MOST BENEFICIAL (AND EASIEST) CLEANSE OF ALL

time-read
6 mins  |
June/July 2020
ELLE Australia

TALKING to strangers

SINCE THE EARLY 1900S, AN AGONY AUNT HAS BEEN A WILLING EAR. BUT AT A TIME OF DMS AND ASKME-ANYTHINGS, SEEKING ADVICE FROM SOMEONE YOU DON’T KNOW HAS BECOME RISKY BUSINESS

time-read
8 mins  |
June/July 2020
singled OUT
ELLE Australia

singled OUT

WE’VE ENTERED AN ERA OF MYRIAD RELATIONSHIP STATUSES – COUPLED, FRIENDS WITH BENEFITS, OPEN, POLYGAMOUS, THREE-DIGITALDATES-IN-BUT UNSURE-WHERE-THIS-IS-GOING. But is flying solo the last taboo?

time-read
5 mins  |
June/July 2020
GYPSY CREEK
ELLE Australia

GYPSY CREEK

INTERIOR DESIGNER LOUELLA BOÌTELGILL TAKES US INSIDE HER QUIRKY BYRON BAY HINTERLAND CREATION, WHICH OVERFLOWS WITH A BEACHY, HAPPY VIBE

time-read
2 mins  |
June/July 2020
DRIVE: DESIGN in motion
ELLE Australia

DRIVE: DESIGN in motion

HOW THE HOTTEST INTERIOR TRENDS COULD DEFINE WHAT YOUR NEXT CAR LOOKS LIKE

time-read
2 mins  |
June/July 2020