Charlie Hunnam’s version of King Arthur is a street-fighting ‘motherf–ker’

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Charlie Hunnam is doing the bulk of promotion for both The Lost City of Z and King Arthur: Legend of the Sword. Both of those films look awful to me, by the way. The Lost City of Z looks like a boring-ass white-folks-in-the-jungle movie and King Arthur looks like “what if Guy Ritchie directed a Game of Thrones episode?” Anyway, there are lots of new Hunnam interviews, like this cover interview with Da Man. First, a word about the editorial and how Hunnam looks. I think Charlie is a good-looking guy, of course, and I actually think he’s finally found a general grooming scheme that works for him: the scruffy goatee/beard thing is hot, and his current haircut is sexy. But Hunnam is so styling-dependent and these photos are not great. Anyway, you can read the full Da Man interview here. Some highlights:

A fresh take on the King Arthur legend: “Guy’s [director Guy Ritchie] sensibility as a director is very contemporary, so the style and tone of the film is completely fresh for this genre, and the story itself is very different from any of its predecessors. Arthur has always been portrayed as the noble man, who goes on a noble quest to become a noble king. Guy said, “let’s make Arthur a motherf—-r.” We are only telling the first chapter of the story, so making Arthur conflicted, angry and scared at the beginning gives greater breadth to his journey and makes for a more interesting character.

He was up against Henry Cavill and Jai Courtney for the King Arthur role: “Are you trying to get me into a fight?…. With regards to fighting the competition … Sure, I’d take them both on. I actually didn’t know who the other dudes were but I love a good fight, and Guy kept pestering me about how skinny I was at the time. So, I said “F–k it, let me fight for the role.” All in good fun, though. I respect both those guys; I’m not trying to start any trouble. In the immortal words of RZA, “I’m vegetarian, b—h, I don’t want the beef.”

How he bulked up for the role: “In the usual way, nothing exciting. I ate enormous amounts of food and worked out like a bastard every day. I prefer calisthenic-style exercises, so the majority of my training was pull-ups, push-ups, dips and non-weighted squats. I also boxed every day and did a bit of jiu-jitsu.

Creating his Arthur: “Guy and I wanted him to be a regular lad from the streets who has carved out a nice little life for himself. He’s cocky as hell, which comes partly from the confidence that he is living by his wits and fists and doing very well, but also partly as a defense mechanism to cover the fear he lives with from his internal demons. Overcoming those demons and knowing that one’s own ego is our only real obstacle was the most exciting element in our exploration of who our Arthur is. I looked at [UFC Lightweight Champion] Conor McGregor for a lot for inspiration. He’s a cocky dude, but also clearly a great student of the laws of self-actualization. I saw an interview where he was talking about his competition and said something like, “There is no opponent; I’m fighting myself in the octagon.” That’s basically the lesson that Arthur has to learn in this film.

What he considers to be the most bad-ass line he’s ever uttered on film: “In “Cold Mountain,” right before I killed the hero of the film, played by Jude Law. We are on the cusp of having a shoot-out and I say to him: “You know what I got on my side?” Jude: “What have you got on your side?” Me: “The confidence of youth.” And then I shoot him. Boom.

[From Da Man]

There’s other stuff, about The Lost City of Z and how difficult it was for him to “reintegrate” after ghosting everybody for months at a time. I found that boring. As for King Arthur… I mean, there’s a reason why the film’s release date kept getting pushed back, and it’s not because the film is so amazing. It’s because no one gives a sh-t about a street-fighting Motherf–ker Arthur doing parkour all over Medieval London or whatever.

He looks like Spencer Pratt in this photo.

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Photos courtesy of Da Man.

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17 Responses to “Charlie Hunnam’s version of King Arthur is a street-fighting ‘motherf–ker’”

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  1. INeedANap says:

    Instead of making this dumb movie he should push for a Pacific Rim 2, a movie that was also dumb but incredibly fun and had Rinko Kikuchi.

    Bring back the jaegeeeeerrrrrrssssss

  2. third ginger says:

    In the movie business, “buzz” about a film can be dead wrong or right on the money. The “buzz” about the KING ARTHUR movie is dreadful. Who knows?

    • Mia4s says:

      This is coming out a week after Guardians of the Galaxy 2. Without amazing reviews I t’s not just going to bomb it’s going to get SLAUGHTERED. I hope they didn’t spend much on it.

  3. Penfold says:

    I wonder if he’ll get to kill Jude Law in this film, too. Looks like Jude plays his nemesis.

  4. Mika says:

    Spencer Pratt? That’s blasphemy. How dare you lol? Charlie is a babe, he’s in my top 5.

  5. jinni says:

    Why do guys think scrunching up their foreheads while squinting is sexy? Most times they just look confused, worried and like they need to put on their glasses. He reminds me of Jaden Smith, who is notorious for pulling the same expression.

    As for King Arthur, no just no. I just feel like Guy Ritchie style is so try hard and from what I can see from the trailer it also seems to have the problem of everything looking too dark where one can hardly distinguish what one is looking at that also afflicts the DC/Zach Snyder films.

  6. Bettyrose says:

    Why even cast Hunnam unless you’re angling for street fighting mofo?

  7. Syvlia says:

    LMFAO that is exactly the kind of photo Spencer Pratt would do, with that exact shirt on. What a douchecanoe.

  8. Sage says:

    I’m excited for King Arthur… Charlie, Jude and Eric. Even if the movie sucks the eye candy will be great! Plus, I have been a Charlie fan since his Queer as Folk days. It’s nice to watch his rise in Hollywood.

  9. detritus says:

    The first photo, he almost looks a little Bra Pitt-ey.
    Final photo, omg that shirt is Pratt all the way.

  10. Digital Unicorn (aka Betti) says:

    I’m looking forward to this movie even though I’m not a Guy Ritchie fan – judging from the trailer it has a Game of Thrones vibe to it and it has Jude Law as a bad guy. Am a sucker for a movie were Jude Law is the bad guy.

  11. JenB says:

    I’ll admit I think the King Arthur movie looks awesome. I’ve watched the 2nd trailer too many times. I like a lot of the King Arthur movies though. (First Knight, King Arthur circa 2004)
    I did not even realize that Charlie Hunman is in Cold Mountain-and I own it. Creepy character in that movie.

  12. kennedy says:

    Lost City of Z is apparently really really really good. I am always here for more James Gray. I loved The Immigrant. He’s such an underrated, terrific director. And I’m glad to see Hunnam taking on really challenging work. Also, he’s so effin hot that I don’t even care if he ghosted his GF and continues to talk about that and how dropping out of 50 shades was heartbreaking. I should care because both things are ridiculous and stupid and he needs to STFU but I will always love Jax Teller and Charlie Hunnam’s glorious hump.