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Last night, Sons of Anarchy kicked off its fifth season in typical ball-busting Kurt Sutter style. Today, we have the pleasure of hanging out with Ryan Hurst, who plays Opie Winston on the show. Opie is Jax’s right hand man, SAMCRO’s number two, estranged husband of a porn star, son of the late Piney, and the guy holding the biggest grudge against Clay Morrow. His character’s given name is also Harry, which is something I didn’t realize until just now. Hurst is considered by many to be the clear fan favorite on Sons of Anarchy.
This is your opportunity to ask Ryan about Sons of Anarchy, what it’s like to work with Kurt Sutter, his experience on Saved by the Bell: The New Class and Remember the Titans, as well as what it was like to be among so many future stars in Saving Private Ryan.
The chat is scheduled to begin at 3 PM EST, and will go for about an hour, which will give you plenty of time to come up with questions for him. Here are a couple of tips to help this all run smoothly as possible: 1) Begin your questions to Ryan with “@Ryan” or “@Ryan Hurst” to keep things organized and allow him to find your questions easily, and 2) Feel free to load up some questions ahead of time.
This one is going to rock, folks.
Alright Party People…we are winding down.
You know where to find me.
Tuesday Nights, FX, 10 pm.
or @RamboDonkeyKong on Twitter.
Thanks man, thank you.
Thanks for hanging out with us “curious monkeys,” Ryan.
Love your work, man, thanks for hanging out.
I completely forgot what time this was starting and now I’ve missed it. Damn it.
Thanks Man.
Thanks so much for taking the time for joining us. We can’t wait for the rest of the season.
Thanks for the time.
Thanks so much for taking the time to answer the questions of a bunch of internet dweebs. You’re pretty much the embodiment of “ruggedly handsome, super awesome dude”.
thanks have a great day hun ;)
@Ryan: Is the role of Opie the most challenging you have had in your acting career. And if not, which role would you say was the most difficult? (If it is opie then what was your second most challenging and why?
i appreciate the reply.. love your character and love the show. Keep up the Good Work!
Every role is totally different. This has been the most time intensive.
@Ryan you are my favorite character on SOA. How much of you comes out in Opie? Do you think Opie will become self-destructive again this season? Also are you married? If not, we should be :)
Happily married :)
@Ryan Does it ever amuse you to hear how fascinated people are with facial hair? And is it safe to say that when your hair looks greasy on the show, it’s just sweat? I always wondered…
Smoke and mirrors. I’m totally bald in real life.
@Hurst Your fans are settling in to enjoy Opie season on SOA. Will you be hauling opie on the Time Bandit anytime soon?
EDGAR!!!! :D
While you’re there, teach Jake Andersen to grow a beard.
Northwestern.
@Ryan Holy crap, I just looked at your IMDB page and saw that your Dad played Cletus on The Dukes of Hazard. Any chance of getting him a walk-on on SOA?
me too. that would be SO cool.
I wish.
@Ryan I have seen next week’s episode and I gotta say that final scene is incredible and love the direction of the show. What can we look for in the following weeks?
@Ryan-have a good day thanks for answering our question..;)
What is your favorite Sutter music montage of the series thus far?
Also to the group. Same question…
@Ryan do you think Opie has truly forgiven Tig? I see them both as characters who have been lied to and betrayed constantly by the club.
I guess the real time lapse between seasons really distorts the shows time line for me. I just cannot wait to see Opie explode and unleash all this repressed anger and rage. The club has taken a lot from him.
Fuck and no. He’d be getting the Dawn treatment or a Colombian neck tie.
let’s think about this. If someone you were close to tried to kill you, but accidentally shot your spouse in the back of the head…would you ever totally forgive? Moreover, less than a year later?
@ Ryan: Does it give you a sense of satisfaction to walk around knowing that you singlehandedly made grown men cry with that scene of Bertier in the hospital after getting paralyzed? That shit was sad…….weird, I have something in my eye……..
I KNEW IT
yes. truly.
@Ryan Thoughts on Breaking Bad finale? Do you think Community will be the same? Favorite Game of Thrones female character? How many times will Perrineau yell “WAAAAAAAALT!” this season?
@Ryan – Just curious… Do you watch a lot of tv? What is your favourite tv show right now? And your all time favourite?
I do watch a lot of TV. All time fav show? Too hard a question. Right now….er….tie between Boardwalk Empire and Deadliest Catch.
@Ryan: Will you be upgrading to an iPhone 5?
I was actually referring to the comment about the _______’s and Honey Boo Boo.
BUUUUUUUUURRRRRRRRRNNNNNNNN
F me, I was joking. Although it does sound like someone is stuck in a contract.
I like to believe those who would have asked that would have been banned from here
@Ryan: Could have been worse…someone could have asked you to talk about the Kardashians or Honey Boo Boo :-0
He’s just a material girl living in a material world.
really? This is your question?
Making the most of what you have…that’s making it. Period.
Agreed
@Ryan, Does your success still get you stoked? Or are you comfortable knowing you’ve made it?
@Ryan…Should I start Joe Flacco or Matt Ryan as my fantasy QB this week?
@Ryan – Dude, seriously this is unbelievable. I came on here to ask you how come you’d never been in a movie with Samuel L. Jackson, but I did some fact checking first and holy shit you’ve been in a movie with Samuel L. Jackson. Rules of Engagement. Describe this experience.
p.s. there is a minimum of two-“motherfucker”-per-sentence on your response.
*Jumps out of chair in elated joy from this response*
He’s a mutherfuckin TALL ass mutherfucka.
Hey Opie,
Is your character going to act on his obvious alterior hatred of Jax?
that depends on what you mean by “act”
@Hurst I still think these custom cycle guys are missing a great marketing opportunity. If I owned a shop, I’d have you on one of my bikes!
OMG…that’s so short-sighted. Maybe I should get a marketing job with one of these jokers and hook you up. LOL!
I know, right? Give me a bike. We’ve had SO many people say “I want to get you one on one of my bikes”…blah blah blah. They always ended up saying “I’ll only charge you like 75 grand to build you one”
@Ryan..thanks for answering my question..will keep my fingers crossed for Opies love life ;)
@Ryan- yes i love my job being a mother to 3 kids.thanks for answering question.keep up the great work.;)
I don’t a have a question that hasn’t already been asked (yet), but I just want to comment that this just made my week. Thanks, Ryan, for taking the time to interact with us SOA fanboys(girls).
@Ryan Each scene is more intense then the next. When the director yells cute how difficult is it to break out of character and then back into character when you start on another scene ?
That’s the only way to respond when ANYONE yells/says, “cute”
Cut note cute, but you are cute.
[youtu.be]
The next time you’re on set with Zito can you ask him to tell everyone the Jean Claude Van Damm story?
@Ryan Thanks for the answer. Looking forward to the rest of the season. Have a nice day!
@Ryan: I really enjoyed the whole “Opie-man with a death wish” episodes in S2. Primarily, because I feel S2 was the best yet, but will we see that side of Opie again?
HELL YES!
Very excited for this.
@Ryan: Thank you sir and best wishes in your future endeavors.
That was fun as hell to play. It’s a relatively safe bet, that we will see shades of that again.
@ Ryan – How did the SOA Cast feel about the brutal scene that Tig (Kim Coates had to play last night in the Season Premier?
we weren’t there for filming…we just hear he was great.
@Ryan how often do the cast need to be hosed down due to how hot it is during filming?
Oh, they just wait for us to drop over and let us melt. Not joking. I was in the hospital 2 years in a row for heat stroke. Ah, Hollywood.
@Ryan if you could portray another character on SoA, who would it be?
@Ryan – On a scale from “Classic Mel” to “Hitler Mel”, how anti-semitic was Mel Gibson on the set of ‘We Were Soldiers’?
Ahhhh, so that’d qualify as “Ac-tor Mel”.
That makes me happy to hear that, because I will always want to remember Bird on a Wire Mel.
Not at all. He was just super nice and supportive. No bullshit. He was a GREAT dude.
I love the Mel scale.
Yeah, I laughed too hard at this.
You win “question of the day”.
Ryan…do you think Opie will ever have another girl or did Lyla kill that for him?
I wonder that myself.
@Ryan – how come when I type your name into IMDb, your main credit is “Miscellaneous Crew – Remember the Titans” ?
I directed, produced the short montage in the middle of the film (set to Long Cool Woman in a Black Dress)…and the End Credits.
@Ryan
Did it get too hot with that hat on all the time? That would drive me crazy, especially with the beard. How did you handle that? Do you ever take your socks off if your feet are off camera? That would help.
There is a microphone and it’s battery pack in my beanie. It heats up. NOT A JOKE.
Ah. Probably should’ve noticed this question before I asked mine.
@Ryan-you have probley already been asked this or you might think it is a dum question but do you love being a actor and if you were not a actor what eles would you like to be.
I think even the best jobs, eventually become just jobs. I’d have been a super hero.
Do you LOVE doing your job?
Did you know how to ride before the show? If not, do you own your own bike now and what is it? Sounds like more than one question but, its not…trust me :)
Nope. Took the job because I always wanted to learn to ride. 2013 Road Glide Ultra.
@Ryan
Is Tom Hanks really as nice a guy as he seems or is that all an act?
Can’t stress how nice Tom Hanks is. Literally.
Also, When can we see you do something else with the Coen bros?
@Ryan – What was it like playing football with Avon Barksdale, Dr. Turk and Baby Goose?
@Ryan, has anyone ever told you that you look like James Brolin and how long did you scowl at them after?
Crazy. Freddie Rodriguez said that.
@Ryan Now that football is back for Sundays, Mondays, and Thursdays, and SOA is back on on tuesdays, can you please give us a valid drinking excuse for Wednesdays?
@Ryan
Have you seen the porno spoof Remember The Tight Ends?
I’m directing the sequel, you busy later?
have YOU?
@Hurst Any directorial action lately or in the near future?
Some. It’s hard going though.
@Ryan: Is the role of Opie the most challenging you have had in your acting career. And if not, which role would you say was the most difficult? (If it is opie then what was your second most challenging)
Why HELLO everyone, Ryan Hurst here. I’m gonna try to answer some/all of your questions…because there’s SO much that all you curious little monkey’s want to know, I’m sure.
Alright, ahem,… let’s us begin.
Am I the only one that still misses Half Sack?
@Hurst Your fans are settling in to enjoy Opie season on SOA. Will you be hauling Opie on the Time Bandit anytime soon?
@Ryan: Is the name of your character Opie a reference to the Andy Griffith Show? Because I noticed there’s a local barber on the show name Floyd.
Fucking Landry
Good question. Yes, I think it’s a bit of an homage to Andy Griffith…Also with the fictionalization of “Charming”, but I also know that originally Kurt was set on casting another actor for Opie, who actually had red hair.
@Ryan Do you lose the signature look when not shooting, and grow it all back once the new seasons approach? I know you had the same look in your episode of Law & Order. Are you at all concerned about getting typecast or being able to find other challenging work?
I keep the look. I like it so far. I leave the worrying about type casting to my agents and manager…
@Ryan:
I know this is a long shot, but is there anyway you can get Sutter to work in a “Left side!”, “Strong side!” on a future SOA episode?
Oh sure…getting Kurt to do something/anything.
So i see that I am officially the 37th person to reference that. For that I apologize. The depths of my shame know no equal.
@ Ryan
So what’s the anger like between Jax and Opie? Will Opie ever fully turn on Jax? What can Jax do to make this right?
It’s brotherly anger. There’s a migratory line in the sand between brothers, neither knows exactly what will end a friendship…but they are both toeing it.