Over the summer, we got to hold court with Henry Rollins and hear his provocative opinions about the current events of the day. The forum was that he’s joining the cast of Sons of Anarchy, and we got to that. But first we just set him off on the new of July, which at the time were the birthers, Sarah Palin’s retirement and the loss of many legendary figures. If only the Town Hall debates had happened earlier, Rollins could’ve weighed in on that too. 

Photo credit Ben Swinnerton

Crave Online: How do you like being on Sons of Anarchy?

Henry Rollins: It’s been great work. All the people on this show are all real cool, and it’s people you respect. To get to be on a show with Ron Perlman and Katey Sagal, forget it. They’re the nicest people. And the lead, Charlie Hunnam, is a guy with nine trucks of charisma behind him. He’s amazing. I don’t even think he understands what he’s got. He’s got that James Dean thing. He’s all instinct, and it’s just great to watch him work because he’s super-impressive, and he’s a nice guy too. He’s one of those guys I’ll be keeping my eyes on, just because I think he’s going to be big. It’s nice to be around these people, and there’s no hierarchy on the set, in that there’s no one you have to tip-toe around. Everyone is cool and funny, and we’re hard-working, so it’s been a blast.  

Crave Online: Who do you play on the show?

Henry Rollins: I’m an awful man, named AJ Weston. He’s a neo-Nazi, white separatist, white supremacist type. He has no redeeming social qualities, except that he likes his kids. Past that, he’s incorrigible and awful. My boss is even more awful because he’s a Machiavellian character, played by Adam Arkin, who is brilliant. I’m a bad guy that does bad things, and my enemy is the Sons of Anarchy. And, they hate me too, believe me.

Crave Online: How hard was it to get through that final scene they’ll see in the first episode of Season 2?

Henry Rollins: It was a little much. It was tough to shoot, for all of us, the whole crew and all the actors involved. It was not cool. It was part of the story and we had to do it, but it was a huge relief when they said, “Okay, we’ve got it. That’s all we need.” We shot that one fast, with as few takes as possible because no one wanted to be staying on that one very long. It took about three hours to shoot, and it was a long three hours. That made the rest of the things I had to do a lark, in comparison. Just being violent and hitting someone, or hitting a stuntman, is a relief. It’s easy for me to play bad guys because it’s a very linear acting. Bad guys aren’t empathetic. Being a bad guy is great because you’re not friendly and you don’t have to do much with your face. It’s like, “Good morning. I want to kill you.” That’s it. So, for a guy with limited capability, it’s good for a guy like me.

Crave Online: So, you see your character as a bad guy then?

Henry Rollins: My character actually thinks, if you let him and his people take control of America, it would be a better place because we’d get rid of all the non-whites.

Crave Online: But you’re not sympathizing with him to play him?

Henry Rollins: No. I can be very removed and just execute the scenes very well. I’ve been around people like him. I get hate mail from people like him. I’ve seen documentaries on all of this. I contribute a large amount of money to the Southern Poverty Law Center, so I’m on their mailing list for all their Klan Watch newsletters. I’m very well aware of White Power movements in America. They followed me around and came to my gigs for years, handing out propaganda, so his ideology is not foreign to me, at all.

Crave Online: Do you ride motorcycles yourself?

Henry Rollins: Not on the show and not in real life. No, they terrify me. I’ve got no interest in that kind of thing, at all. Skydiving and motorcycles are not where my courage lies. I need to get some courage.