11:38 AM PST 12/4/2012 by Sophie A. Schillaci
While Sons of Anarchy's Opie (Ryan Hurst) saw a grizzly, head-exploding death at the hand of a prison guard earlier this season, the cast said goodbye to the character in a more symbolic way.
"If you wanna see a group of grown men crying like babies, there's a video you can watch," Charlie Hunnam, who plays Jax on the FX biker drama, told The Hollywood Reporter while promoting his new film Deadfall.
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"Three months after he had finished filming Sons he still hadn't cut his beard off, and he hadn't shaved in five and a half years since he got the role of Opie. He hadn't shaved once," said Hunnam. "It was a catharsis that we all needed for him to get rid of that beard and for all of us to just let Opie die."
Before taking a razor to Hurst's face, the cast chipped in on oversized samurai sword as a parting gift for the actor. "Most samurai swords are 38 inches, this is a 44-inch sword -- an oversized sword -- and he's six-foot-six so it was perfect for him," explained Hunnam.
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In the clip, posted by Entertainment Weekly last week, Mark Boone Junior makes the first cut to Hurst's lengthy beard, while Hunnam steps in shortly after with tears in his eyes.
"It has some significance," said Hunnam, "because that's what a samurai would do at the end of their career; they would take their sword and cut their topknot off to signify the end of their life as a warrior."
Sons of Anarchy's season five finale, titled "J'ai Obtenu Cette," airs Tuesday at 10 p.m. ET/PT on FX.
Hunnam's Deadfall opens in select theaters Friday.
Email: Sophie.Schillaci@thr.com; Twitter: @SophieSchillaci
