Katey Sagal Talks About FX Sons of Anarchy

Actress Portrays Gemma the Tough Matriarch of Motorcycle Club

Nov 4, 2009

Katey Sagal portrays Gemma Morrow, the matriarch of the Harley riding motorcycle club in the dramatic FX series Sons on Anarchy. Sagal talked about Gemma in an interview.

Katey Sagal portrays Gemma Morrow, the strong matriarch of the tough Harley Davidson riding motorcycle club SAMCRO in the FX series Sons of Anarchy. Katey Sagal's character is Gemma Morrow, the wife of Clay Morrow (Ron Perlman) and the mother of Jax Teller (Charlie Hunnam). Recently Katey Sagal answered questions in a conference call interview and talked about her character, the compelling Gemma Morrow.

The second season of Sons of Anarchy have been filled with drama for Gemma Morrow (Katey Sagal). Gemma was raped in the first episode of the season and has kept the attack a secret from her husband, SAMCRO President Clay Morrow (Ron Perlman) and her son, VP of the motorcycle club Jax Teller (Charlie Hunnam). Adding to Gemma's worries are the conflicts between Clay and Jax.

What if Gemma Had to Choose Between Jax and Clay?

Gemma has strong allegiance to both Jax and to Clay, but if she had choose between them, who would she choose?

Katey Sagal: I think it’s a tough question. Her allegiance is to everybody. I mean, you know, what she’s desperately fighting for, in my opinion, is to protect the whole system. This is her life, the whole thing. In my back-story of Gemma, she has nowhere else that she’s come from. I mean, where she’s come from, she doesn’t want to go back to, so her loyalty is to the entire situation. I would imagine if she really had to choose, oh, gosh. I really don’t know. I would say her son. That’s what I would say, but you never know with her.

Gemma and Clay in Troubled Marriage

Question: What about the relationship between Gemma and Clay. It seems that their relationship this season is in trouble.

Katey Sagal: They’re a bit in trouble because there’s a big secret. There’s a lot of secrets, and any time we live in that kind of situation, you’re not authentically being with anybody, so I think that as the season unfolds, I think some of those secrets will be, we’ll find out how they’re handled, and I can tell you this. They stay married. I’ll tell you that.

Gemma Deals With Rape

Question: How important do you think that is for women who are watching the show, just seeing what Gemma is going through and how you’re dealing with the situation?

Katey Sagal: I’m not sure that it’s the way anybody would deal with the situation. Her choice to not speak up and not tell her family what has happened to her, she’s doing it for a higher purpose in her mind, which is to protect them because she knows who her family is, and she knows that this is a violent world, and that they would protect her. They (Clay and Jax) would go to any lengths to protect her, so she has decided to keep quiet. I don’t know that that is the message that women should pick up. I’m not sure that that would be the proper way to handle that situation for anybody really, but for Gemma, and in this world, it is, so that’s the storytelling going on. That’s the story that we’re telling. Any other woman in that situation, I would hope that they would go talk about it immediately.

In the cast picture below are pictures of the cast of Sons of Anarchy: FX TCA: L-R: Ron Perlman, Charlie Hunnam, Henry Rollins, Katey Sagal, Maggie Siff, John Landgraf and Adam Arkin.

The copyright of the article Katey Sagal Talks About FX Sons of Anarchy in Prime Time Dramas is owned by Christine Nyholm. Permission to republish Katey Sagal Talks About FX Sons of Anarchy in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.