LUMPY

I've been told by friends, colleagues, psychiatrists and sponsors that I'm the kinda guy who needs all the puppies I can get. I'm not sure what that means or why they feel that way, but I've learned to take the advice of people smarter than myself. Hopefully "puppies" was not some kind of metaphor because we just added another Frenchie to the Sutter-Sagal household. This is Lumpy.

RON PERLMAN FILLS OUT THE TRILOGY

Story hit the trades today about adding Ron Perlman to the cast of Sons of Anarchy. Been sitting on this information for weeks now, but couldn't say anything because we were tweaking schedules and closing deal points. Ron's a very busy guy these days. Before I get into Ron, I'd like to speak to why we recast the role of Clay Morrow and explain the process of replacing an actor in a pilot. It was a new experience for me and probably the most difficult creative decision I ever had to make. Scott Glenn was originally cast in the role. We shot a version of the pilot with him. Scott is an enormously talented actor who can spin straw writing into gold. Beyond his talent, he's a really nice guy who loved this project. Loved working with Katey, Charlie and the guys. There was no petty, personality issues. Replacing Scott was ultimately about seeing the series more clearly and better understanding the important tonal function that Clay must serve in the show. The pilot that Allen Coulter shot was beautiful to look at, it captured the world, but it lacked intimacy. This was not Allen's fault, it was mine. The component of the Outlaw Biker world that most fascinated me was how much these guys loved their lives. They were funny, irreverent, politically incorrect, racist, homophobic, sexist -- they were real. And they fucking apologized for nothing. That attitude, that swagger needs to be dripping off this series. We missed that, I missed that in the pilot we shot. I realized that Clay as the leader of this MC, needs to set that dark comedic tone. If the King laughs, the entire court laughs. I had three actors in mind to recast as Clay. Ron Perlman was at the top of that short list. I felt he had the dark comedic chops and physical and emotional gravitas to pull off this re-imaging of Clay (C'mon, he's the Beast and fucking Hellboy). I expanded that list to ten names and emailed it to John Landgraf. John picked one name, Ron Perlman. We met, he read with Katey and Charlie -- And so the trilogy is complete once more. Hamlet, Gertrude and Claudius. I also saw the 30 second promo that's gonna hit the air soon. If the show is half as cool as the promo, we got a hit.