TAKES A LICKIN’: Chibs (Tommy Flanagan, front) roughs up petty con man Warren (Joel McHale, right) on “Sons of Anarchy.” (
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When “Sons of Anarchy” creator Kurt Sutter approached Joel McHale about playing a con man named Warren for a two-episode stint beginning next week, McHale’s demands were modest.
“He asked if I wanted to be on,” says McHale, “and I said, ‘Well, make sure the money is the highest you’ve paid anyone, and then I’ll do it.’
“I got $6.8 million for my appearance. It was great.”
Perhaps. But whatever McHale was paid, his real prize was getting to play a character so far from the snarky class clown he’s established as ex-lawyer Jeff Winger on NBC’s “Community” (whose debut was postponed indefinitely last night) and on E!’s “The Soup.”
For Sutter, getting actors to play way sleazier than type has become something of a hobby.
Over five seasons, he has employed novelist Stephen King as a “cleaner” who disposes of dead bodies; Tom Arnold and David Hasselhoff as porn producers; and, this season, Disney Channel/”High School Musical” star Ashley Tisdale as a hooker who was beaten to a pulp by club matriarch Gemma Teller, played by Sutter’s wife, Katey Sagal.
“I like the casting to be fresh,” he says.
The casting of Harold Perrineau as criminal mastermind Damon Pope — who so far this season has burned a teenage girl alive as her father looked on, and forced Sons president Jax Teller (Charlie Hunnam) to choose a member of his own club to be killed — may surprise those who mainly knew Perrineau from his work on “Lost.”
And, over the series’ run, Sagal has also stretched her talents beyond what she had done before.
“Harold’s a seasoned actor, but it’s definitely a much more original casting decision [in that role] than a guy who usually plays a heavy,” says Sutter.
“I always like to give people the opportunity to do something different.”
As handsomely as the show is doing, it would be surprising if more actors weren’t lining up to have Sutter knock them down a peg. This season’s Sept. 11 premiere was watched by more than 5 million viewers.
McHale’s appearance started as something of a joke last November, when Sutter and Sagal appeared in a comedy bit on “The Soup.”
Sutter and McHale joked then about the comedian appearing on the show at some point. So, when Warren was being cast, McHale came to mind.
“Warren is this con man working a couple [of] different angles, ripping off older women and stuff like that,” says Sutter.
“It’s definitely a character that’s darker and slimier than Joel has played before, and he was great. We introduce him in this episode, and do just horrible things to him in the next one.”