How Charlie Hunnam came to terms with his biggest box office failures
Battling to the top of the Hollywood industry ladder is no easy task, with the likes of Leonardo DiCaprio, Robert De Niro, Brad Pitt and Margot Robbie having peddled effortlessly to occupy the supremacy they currently hold. For others, such as the British actor Charlie Hunnam, this success is more of a struggle, with countless actors having committed to the world of showbiz, only to be hit by multiple countless setbacks.
Taking to the industry at the dawn of the new millennium, Hunnam appeared on several British TV shows before he offered up one of the worst accents in cinema history, playing a cockney football hooligan in the 2005 movie Green Street. Still, Hunnam’s profile only grew stronger, taking roles in such acclaimed films as Alfonso Cuarón’s Children of Men, Guillermo del Toro’s mech-movie Pacific Rim and James Gray’s highly underrated adventure flick The Lost City of Z.
Still, despite the critical success of each of these aforementioned movies, Hunnam became seen as something of a troublesome box-office actor, unable to rake in viewers to the theatre and dollars for the Hollywood production companies.
Hunnam spoke to The Talks about how he processes such commercial failures, telling the publication that he was still proud of such films as The Lost City of Z and Guy Ritchie’s King Arthur. “But King Arthur did terrible at the box office,” he admitted, “And Lost City went by with nobody seeing it. That was quite a big fight to reconcile the anticipation of what those two films could have been with what they ended up being. It’s all an illusion anyway!”
Consistent commercial failure is no easy concept to wrestle with, but Hunnam is philosophical in the face of such setbacks. “In a way, it was very liberating because I woke up every morning, still filled with creative desire and yearning,” he added, “I feel more and more calm and optimistic just about my ability to reconcile whatever I need to reconcile on a daily basis, outside of the context of having to do it in a public arena.”
Continuing, he concluded: “I always try to concentrate on the process and where the real goal is, which is trying to get up every day and be the best possible version of myself and do the best work I can do. But it is corrupted having to do things like press, particularly for a prolonged period, because you can’t help being result-oriented. That was an interesting lesson and a difficult hurdle to overcome. But I did, and all was good.”
Hunnam is something of an underrated Hollywood actor, consistently bringing frenetic firepower to each and every role he takes on. In 2019, he impressed in the silly yet highly enjoyable Guy Ritchie gangster flick The Gentlemen, holding his own next to his co-stars Hugh Grant, Matthew McConaughey, Jeremy Strong, Colin Farrell, Henry Golding and Eddie Marsan, among others.
The British actor’s role in Zack Snyder’s epic sci-fi Rebel Moon will undoubtedly catapult him back among the very best in action moviemaking.
