Man of his word

Life as a Sons of Anarchy bikie may not be pretty, but it sure makes for a good ride. Star Kim Coates speaks with Guy Davis about the show and his character, Tig.

et’s call it the ‘ Oh, s-- t’ moment,” Kim Coates grinned. Well, that’s pretty appropriate, given what Alex “Tig” Trager, Coates’s character on the gritty, violent bikie drama Sons of Anarchy, found himself up against.

Tig’s had a rough trot over the past couple of years on Sons, facing everything from watching the death of his daughter ( who was burned alive – this show doesn’t mess around) to being set up by the comrades he trusted the most ( the “Oh, s-- t” moment came when he found himself facing a pack of adversaries at the conclusion of a recent episode).

Ah, but as the enthusiastic Coates points out, Tig has “nine lives” … although he must be down to the last two or three by now.

The character actor said he expected very few people would be left standing by the time Sons of Anarchy calls its a day with its next and final season. Tig’s a lot of things – he’s tough and twisted and emotional – but he’s a loyal guy first and foremost. Loyal to the club. He tends to shoot first and ask questions later, which isn’t really the way to do things, and I think he accidentally killed more wrong people than right people over the course of the show’s six seasons. But I think Tig has become the moral compass of the club after the end of last season, especially after seeing the death of his daughter, and I really feel his story is intertwined with how this is all going to end. Something as emotionally raw as the death of his daughter let Tig off the leash last season; this season he’s back on Jax Teller’s leash. Yeah, Tig has been fascinating for me to sink my teeth into. It’s tough to write for 10 leads. We have Charlie and Ron [ Perlman] and Katey [ Sagal], and they’re our three musketeers at the top, but the seven of us are all given so much. And it’s tough to write for all of us all the time but I do think Sutter writes for me in a way he doesn’t write for anyone else, and I feel really privileged. The loss of Tig’s daughter was something pretty epic for me to play, obviously. I’ve done things on this show that I never imagined I’d get to do as an actor.