Given thatSons of Anarchyfollows an outlaw motorcycle club witha penchant for vengeance and violence, it should come as no surprise that many of the characters wind up with bruises, cuts, and lasting scars. We know many of the origins behind these injuries, whether we see it happen at some point in the show or hear about it after the fact. That is, except for the character of Chibs (Tommy Flanagan). Chibs is a standout character among the rest of the club members for two main reasons. One, his thick Scottish accent. And two, the distinctive scars on his cheeks. Chibs has sported the scars since the pilot episode, but the origin of them is unknown within the context of the show. This is because they’re not just made up for the character,they are very real scars that Flanagan himself has.
How Did Tommy Flanagan Get His Scars?
Long before Flanagan was winning fans over as Chibs inSons of Anarchy, he was working as a DJ. Flanagan shared the story behind his scarsonMichael Rosenbaum’s podcast. At the age of 25, Flanagan was DJing at a Glasgow club when the life-altering incident happened. He reveals that his attackers told him that they killed his brother, which naturally sent Flanagan into a rage, and he met them in the alley of the club with nothing but a Heineken bottle. As Flanagan put it,“I went to a knife fight without a knife.”The fight resulted in many scars, including the ones on his face, and a long gash on his palm from when he tried to grab the knife. In the discussion, Flanagan said he can still recall how it felt when the knife entered his body, and how his body buckled under the pain of it. He was left nearly dead in the alley, and now sports scars that remind him of his near-death experience.
Tommy Flanagan Joined a Theater Company After His Attack
When Flanagan woke up in the hospital after the attack, his friend Bobby was there to greet him with a proposition.Bobby asked Flanagan to join him at his theater companyfor a safer career path. Flanagan, who hadn’t given acting any thought at the time, eventually figured he’d give it a shot as the attack made him think about taking more chances in life and having no regrets. He revealed inan interview with The Heraldthathe was petrified of going up on stage.
“I had never been on stage in my life. The idea of acting had never entered my head before Bobby said, ‘Why don’t you think about joining Raindog Theatre Company?’”
This ended up being a great move for Flanagan as he started booking roles in films such asBraveheart,Face/Off, andGladiator. And then, in 2008, he joinedSons of Anarchy, a role that proved to be rather ironic, when showrunnerKurt Sutterbrought the real-life details from his attack to the character as well.
‘Sons of Anarchy’ Blurred the Lines of Reality and Fiction in Chibs’ Character
Though Chibs is a fictional character, Kurt Sutter asked Flanagan for permission to write in elements of his past for the character. For starters, Flanagan used his real accent for the character, something he spoke aboutin an interview with Vulture.
“I said to them at the very beginning, ‘Listen, if you want me to do a Glasgow accent, I’m doing a Glasgow accent. I ain’t going to fuck around, I ain’t going to play games, but no one’s going to understand me.’ And they said, ‘No, we love your accent!’ So I just try to keep my character as genuine as I possibly can.“
‘Sons of Anarchy’ Never Resolved One of Its Darkest Storylines — and It Still Bothers Me
It’s one of the most brutal scenes in the show, and it was never resolved.
Similarly,Sutter chose the nickname “Chibs” for Flanagan’s character after googling and learning that it is Scottish slang for “knife.”“Sutter obviously Googled it somewhere, way back during the pilot,” Flanagan said of the nickname. “He said, ‘Do you mind if I call you Chibs?’ At the time, I didn’t give it much thought. Then I thought, why the fuck did I agree to that name? It’s just too personal.” It hit especially close to him since he was already playinga character similar to the people who had attacked him all those years ago. The nickname was an extra personal touch on top that took Flanagan a bit to get used to.
As difficult as it was at first to bring such a personal life event to his character,it proved beneficial for the character’s arc. Flanagan had previously expressed that he felt like he spent the majority of the series standing around like a lump of wood, but in the same Vulture interview, he said that it was all worth itcome the final season.
“I’ve been impressed with this season. I’m happy he’s finally bringing characters like mine to life. I’ve been in the background a lot. That was tough, as an actor. But it’s just the way the story has to be told. It’s nice to go out this season with a bit of a bang.”
As difficult as it must have been, all thepersonal details written into Chibs’ character allowed for a certain warmth and authenticitythat the rest of the cast just couldn’t quite relate to. It allowed Chibs to stand out, even when, as Flanagan said, he was on the sidelines of the series for so long. The personal ties just brought in a whole new dimension thatallowed Chibs to become one of the most pivotal members of SAMCRO.
Sons of Anarchy
