Sons of Anarchy shows as a series the hard-hitting world of a fictional biker club. The motorcycle club SAMCRO is, of course, also based on real sources of inspiration. A real biker believed that Sons of Anarchy had stolen his ideas and even took them to court. Later, he appeared in the series.
What is Sons of Anarchy? The biker series aired between 2008 and 2014 and tells the story of the fictional biker club SAMCRO over 7 seasons. Jax Teller has to fend for himself and his club after the death of his father.
Sons of Anarchy is still very popular today because it seemed authentic and brought the gangster genre into a more modern setting. The series was oriented around real motorcycle clubs and even featured real bikers as actors.
However, things did not go well from the start with one of them. Chuck Zito even sued the show because they allegedly stole his idea. Ironically, he later appeared in the series himself.
Impressed by Kurt Sutter
What was the lawsuit about? Chuck Zito is the former president of the Hells Angels from New York. Since 1982, he has also played minor roles in films, fitting with his past. As he explains in an interview with VladTV (via YouTube), he pitched a biker series to the network FX, but they did not want it.
When it became known that FX was realizing a series with Kurt Sutter, he was apparently irritated and tried to sue FX for 5 million dollars. However, Zito lost the lawsuit. Afterwards, he wanted to appeal the court’s decision. But then Kurt Sutter, the creator of Sons of Anarchy, offered to talk to him.
They reportedly met alone and talked about the whole situation. According to Zito, Sutter apologized for certain statements. Zito explains how he actually came to the meeting to confront someone. However, Sutter impressed Zito because he came to the meeting alone, without a bodyguard. Zito remarked about him: He has guts, man, I tell you.
Zito stated that he liked Sutter after just 10 minutes. Subsequently, Sutter is said to have offered him a role, which he took on in the 5th season. He played Frankie Diamonds.
For one thing, Zito criticizes his lawyer in the interview. He says he should have advised him to set up a contract that his character would not simply die early in the series. He should have been a main character. Zito’s character died in the 9th episode of the 5th season. Jax Teller, the main character of the series, is based on a real biker: “He was like an old-school outlaw” – The star of the biker series Sons of Anarchy spoke about the real “Jax Teller”
