While his roles have varied wildly from situational comedy to gritty drama, Garrett seems to feel he’s found his niche working on Sons. “Sitcoms are fun to do. It’s a lighter environment,” he said. “I gravitate more to drama, but I think I’m a funny guy. I think everybody thinks they’re funny,” he told me with a laugh. And SOA is anything but light, “My first scene when I first got on the show, we’re racing down the canyon doing 50 in a squad car, bikers on each side of me, they're kicking the car, you know? But it’s fun stuff.”
When we last saw the Charming sheriffs in the fifth season finale, Cane was placing Tara (Maggie Siff) under arrest for charges of conspiracy to commit murder. “Shooting that scene was very intense. Kurt directed the last episode of the season, he’s specific with how he wants things and he kind of talked to all of us about that scene. We could have shot that all night.” Working with Kurt and the cast is a dream come true according to Garret. “There’s another scene in the finale where me and Eli arrested Clay. Gemma double-crosses Clay in that moment, so to shoot that scene, and then walking out with Clay… man, that’s the stuff you dream about being a part of when you get into acting. That writing and scenes like that.”
“I’ve been a part of some other shows where a table read is just that – it’s just a read-through. But the SOA table reads are different. They’re intense. At the end of a reading you can hear a pin drop in the room."
Throughout our conversation I got to talk to LaMonica about the upcoming sixth season of Sons, including a tease about the premiere, as well his past appearances on The Game and NCIS, and what it’s like to play as himself in a video game. Check out some more excerpts from the interview below:
On his two-episode guest stint on NCIS: That was a great experience. Growing up as a kid you want to act, you're playing cops & robbers. I got to have a gun out there in the desert, we're shooting, running around. It was great working with those actors.
On possibly returning to The Game: It’s open for the character to come back. Me and the producer were joking around, you know, “Luke’s not going anywhere.” So we’ll see. You never know.
The genius of Kurt Sutter: That guy is brilliant. He’s so detail-oriented and very specific with how he approaches everything. It makes it much easier for me to do my job. He’s juggling a lot of balls at a high level and it takes a different kind of dude to be able to achieve that, definitely. If I’m an established actor I think I would contact Kurt, and ask, you know, “you got a role for me?”
What sets SOA apart?: Some shows you might watch for the action and the violence, and that’s what you get, it’s entertaining. And then you might watch some shows for the depth and character study and dialogue, scenes that are really wordy. Something like The Newsroom, which is a great show. On SOA I think you get the best of both worlds.
What's ahead for Season Six: The way it ended with Tara and Clay going to jail, there’s so much that could happen. There’s so much unknown going into the next season. Another thing with Sons is, you know, most shows start out slow. A season is long, a marathon. You start out pacing yourself, start out slow, speed up and run to the finish line for the last episode. Sons always starts out in a sprint.
"Straw", the 6th season premiere: The first episode of this season is going to blow people away. It’s gunna leave people feeling uneasy.
An upcoming Sons guest star: I’m working with CCH Pounder now. I used to watch The Shield and she’s just great. She brings another level to a high level.
Last seasons most shocking moment: Opie died in, like, episode 3. I think twitter shut down! I really think twitter shut down, man. That was not even mid-season yet.
Being the face of EA's Fight Night Champion Andre Bishop: I play maybe 2, 3 times a week. I have tournaments at my house. I’m a huge gamer, so when I got Fight Night, that thrilled me. That’s still the most fun I had doing anything, seeing that come to life. I got to work with Eliza Dushku and was a fan of hers. I’ve been playing video games my whole life, so to play a game and your voice is coming out the speakers and the character looks just like you – it was unreal.
The sixth season premiere of Sons of Anarchy airs on FX on Tuesday September 10th and LaMonica promises fans "You’ll be seeing a little bit more of Deputy Cane this season." Can't wait!
Follow LaMonica Garrett on twitter HERE.
