Riding hard on the heels of the Sons of Anarchy Mayan spin-off announcement, Kurt Sutter has returned to promoting The Bastard Executioner. In a new interview with Hollywood Reporter, Sutter hops and skips through several topics, including his reputation as the most depraved showrunner in TV (after all, the working title of TBE was altogether graphic). Sutter promises that, to him, violence is “all fantasy. I might as well be writing about wizards and fairies.” The man is addicted to Twizzlers, so he must be a decent person.
Journalist Lacey Rose introduces Sutter with a throwback to the time he called her the c-word. Rose now observes a kinder, gentler Sutter who prompts the theory that his “intimidating facade” is just that. He simply can’t help but “lash out at the very people from whom he craves validation.” Katey Sagal pops in around that time to assure everyone, “I wouldn’t have married an asshole.” So, is Kurt Sutter’s persona simply an act?
“Nobody is ever their reputation. The reason why I embrace it and why I joke about it is because it is who I am in terms of tone and creativity, meaning it’s not bullsh*t that I’m a dark motherf*cker and I say very disturbing things in a creative way. I can scare the f*ck out of people sometimes, but even in my darkest moments, even when I’m punching holes in f*cking walls, all of that sh*t happens because of my passion for what I’m doing. I’m not a tough guy. I’m a pussy. Now I’ve probably done some things I regret, and I’ve sent a few emails I probably shouldn’t have sent, but I like to think that I’m a guy who learns from his mistakes.”
Sutter claims to learn from his mistakes, so will he tailor TBE after receiving audience feedback?
“I’ve pissed off a lot of people, so I don’t have a lot of friends out there in that community. I’ve tried to make amends, but they continue to piss me off. I think there are some people out there who will generate a review that I will actually read. And then there are a lot of people whom I won’t because I don’t trust that it’ll be objective and thorough. I don’t necessarily have that crushing need to be loved the way I did [on Sons Of Anarchy].”
One hidden gem of this interview is Sutter’s past life as a 400-pound teenager. He reportedly lost weight after realizing, “At 400 pounds, I was never going to get laid.” What a Sutter thing to say.
On, and Entertainment Weekly has a new photo of Ed Sheeran in costume on the set of TBE. Some people scoffed at the idea of an unlikely British teen idol holding down an arc on Sutter’s newest offering, but Sutter previously made Ashley Tisdale work on SOA.
Judgment is hereby reserved.
(Via Hollywood Reporter)
