By Kenn Gold

Katey Sagal stars in Sons of Anarchy as Gemma, Teller Morrow, the mother of the show’s main character, Jax.  Gemma is the true matriarch, keeping all of her men happy and within reach.  She has a closet full of dark secrets.  A mother who is as ruthless as she is nurturing.  This Queen will stop at nothing to protect her throne.

A versatile actress, Katey Sagal has entertained audiences in a variety of dramatic and comedic roles throughout her career. She recently wrapped her parts in the independent film I’m Reed Fish and the tele-film 3 Wise Guys, and appeared as Helen on the television phenomenon Lost and ‘Nancy Gilroy’ on The Shield.

In addition to her busy schedule, Sagal devoted a significant portion of her time and retraced her steps to her first love: singing and songwriting. With the support of record label Valley Entertainment, she released her album, “Room,” in 2004.  “Room” is the first record for Sagal since her 1994 debut, “Well.”  “Room” is a combination of original songs penned by Katey including “Life Goes Round”, “Daddy’s Girl” and “Wish I Were a Kid” and memorable classics like “Feel a Whole Lot Better” and “(For the Love of) Money”.  The first single was “Daddy’s Girl”, a touching song about the long-lasting relationship between a daughter and her father.  She debuted the song on the March 2, 2004 episode of 8 Simple Rules …. “Room” was produced by Bob Thiele (Bonnie Raitt) and mixed by Ray Kennedy (Twangtrust/Steve Earle).  Ivan Neville, Don Was and Shane Fontayne make appearances throughout the disc.  

Sagal gained national attention for her role as the outrageous ‘Peg Bundy’ in the ground-breaking, highly-rated long-running series Married with Children, for which she earned three Golden Globe^® and two American Comedy Award nominations.

Most recently, Sagal starred in the ABC series 8 Simple Rules…, and as the voice of ‘Leela,’ a beautiful one-eyed alien, in the animated series Futurama.

 In her first job on television, Sagal joined Mary Tyler Moore in the television series ‘Mary’ and has starred in the television movies Smart House and Mr. Headmistress (both for “Wonderful World of Disney”), as well as Chance of a Lifetime, Trail of Tears and She Says She’s Innocent.  

She has also starred in the feature films Love Stinks, Mail Order, The Good Mother, and the 2000 Sundance Film Festival favorite Dropping Out.

In addition to her acting, Sagal is a critically acclaimed singer and songwriter who began performing at the age of five.  She was a 'Harlette' with Bette Midler for three years as well as a background singer for Bob Dylan, Olivia Newton-John, Etta James and Tanya Tucker.   

Sagal currently resides in Los Angeles, California with her fabulous husband, Kurt Sutter, who counts executive producer and writer of The Shield among his many credits, her three amazing children, Sarah, Jackson, and Esmé and two great dogs, Mike and the lovely Lola.

Katey recently took time out to speak to MediaBlvd about the new role that was written especially for her by her husband.

Question>    Does it make a difference going into a role that was written especially for you?

Katey Sagal>    When my husband came to me and said he had written me a part, he didn't actually tell me what the part was.  I knew that he was writing a show in the world of outlaw motorcycle clubs and I knew she was the mother of the lead character, but that was all I really knew.  I don't know that it was necessarily inspired by me, but when he says that he sort of tailor made it to me, I'm not quite sure what he meant by that. 

Once you see her, you'll kind of think, "Huh?"  Gemma is a fiercely loyal mother not only to her son, but also to her sort of family of club members.  They're kind of this counter-culture group, and she is the matriarch of that group.  In my personal life, I'm a pretty fiercely loyal mother, but I don't practice the same ways and means as Gemma does.

Question>    Can you just tell us a little bit about what we can expect from Gemma as the series goes on?  The media kit descriptions say you're fiercely loyal and vicious.

Katey>    Yes, she's all that.  She's vicious.  She's ferocious.  She's a hard ass.  I look at her as a survivor.  I look at all of these people.  They've created their own little world.  They all come from their own fragmented lives to kind of come together and form their own family.  Whatever her history is it has left her being somebody that is a fighter.  What we can expect is that, if she's at all threatened by any kind of potential for breakup of her family or harm to her son, she will go to any lengths to protect that.  You will see that in various forms.

Question>    How much did you know about motorcycle gangs or clubs before signing on?

Katey>    I knew a little bit.  When I was in my 20s, I definitely kind of ran with a fast crowd.  Some of that involved people with bikes.  I don't know very much about the actual club situation.  I've learned a lot since then, but I didn't have a lot of real experience, per se, no. 

Question>    Will we see you on a bike at all this season?

Katey>    Yes, I just shot a scene two days ago where I get on the back of the bike.  I'm not actually riding a bike.  I'm just on the back of the bike.

Question>    You're a pretty unusual mother in this show from what I've seen so far.  We don't usually see a mom who is actually involved in the group in which her son is doing some illegal activities and questionable things.  Do you think she has conflicted feelings over this or is her main dedication to the motorcycle family?

Katey>    I think she has no conflicted feelings about it.  I think that she is all about the club.  She's all about her family.  She loves her life and the lifestyle that this has provided for her.  She sees nothing wrong with what she does.

Question>    You said that she's a fiercely protective and loyal mother, but do you see that getting in her way?

Katey>    With that getting in her way?  From Gemma's perspective, no, absolutely not.  It's so interesting, because from her perspective, which is really, as the actor, that’s what I'm doing is her perspective, she sees nothing wrong with what she does.  It's all a means to an end for her and whatever she needs to do.  In the pilot, you see her do some pretty harsh things when her son and grandson are threatened and, from her perspective, what needs to be done.

Question>    In the end of the second episode, is it you singing the song Son of a Preacher Man?.And do you have any plans to do any other singing in the show.

Katey>    It is me.  Kurt wanted to use that song for the montage at the end, and we decided to re-record it.  Aretha Franklin did kind of a gospel version of it, so we did a track like that, and then we kind of did a different vocal on it, having me sing the vocal.  It was fun to do.  I don't know if there are any plans for it.  It wasn't really planned out; it just spontaneously kind of happened.  I hope so, though.  I love to sing.

Question>    Could you talk about any difference for you as an actor in appearing for an hour-long drama as opposed to a half-hour comedy? 

Katey>    There are a lot of differences.  It's a serialized show, the nature of it, in that you're dealing with 12 episodes and there's an arch for all the characters.  The work that I did for this part was a lot of back story and history, sort of figuring out where these people came from and how they end up in a motorcycle club.  For just me individually, I needed to understand all that back story and all that history, so I did a lot of exploration and imagination, figuring that out.  My husband is really good and sort of builds that whole world for himself and to write from, so he was a good source for that material.  When you're doing comedy, a sitcom, it doesn't require quite the same depth of work, I'd say.

Question>    Hi, Katey.  Thanks for talking with us today.  Many of your fans know you from your comedy work on shows like Married with Children, Eight Simple Rules, and Eli Stone.  Do you have a different work method when it comes to more dramatic projects, like Sons of Anarchy? 

Katey>    Yes.  Just like I answered the previous question, it just takes a little more history on my part and sort of understanding a lot of back story and where this person comes from.  Doing a serialized series where the character is actually going somewhere, there's a beginning, middle and an end sort of, until the next season, so there's a broader arch. 

 Question>    I notice you are a huge comedy television icon, and Ron Perlman is a huge movie icon through his role as Hellboy.  What was it like putting two icons together and as a married couple for a TV show?

Katey>    Very nice of you to say that.  Ron and I have a very good, intense chemistry.  The important thing about Gemma and Clay, one of the important things, is that they're a happily married couple.  They're not an uptight married couple.  They like each other.  They have a lot of passion for each other.  It's a fun relationship.  Ron and I have that chemistry together.  I'm sure he doesn't think of me as an icon, and I'm not looking at him that way either.  We're just doing our job. 

Question>    Hi, Katey.  Thanks for your time today.  Actually I had the pleasure of speaking to you at the TCA party on the red carpet there.  I wanted to talk more about Gemma's, what are we calling it, bad-ass-nicity.  Do you think there is any line that she won't cross in protecting her family or, as an actress, are you protective of her ultimate morality?

Katey>    As an actress, I don't get involved in that.  I've faced that issue a lot with parts I've played and what are my values as opposed to what the character's values are.  That's not my job.  My job is to interpret the writers, the vision, so I don't have my morality on it.  In terms of her, I would say she pretty much goes to any length.  People that do things that seem nefarious to other people sometimes don't really feel that they are; do you know what I mean?  They have the reasoning and motive.  They've made that okay for themselves.  I think that she sees what she does as what she needs to do. 

Question>    So there hasn't been a point in any script yet where she has drawn the line at the length she'll go to?

Katey>    Not yet. 

Question>    In the first episode, we kind of see that, even though she is not the face of the gang, she does have some influence on Clay.  I was wondering if we're going to see more of that and how it's going to develop during the season?

Katey>    She may have more.  Gemma has been there since the beginning.  The history is that Gemma and her first husband, John Teller, were married when that club was formed.  She's been there, and then Clay also started the club with her previous husband.  She's aware and witness to all the goings on.

    The influence that the women have in that world and particularly someone like Gemma is a very overt one actually.  I don't think it would be an obvious role over any situation.  It's pretty much a man's world, but there are always some pretty strong women behind that man's world.

Question>    Are you still shooting the season or if you were done and how many episodes were going to be aired.

Katey>    We just finished episode 5, and we're doing 13 for the cable.

Question>    Are you planning on releasing a full album in the future?

Katey>    I'd love to make a new record, but I haven't really had time to work on it right now.  I'm playing gigs.  I'm going to be in Nevada—I think it's Hendersonville, Nevada—on October 17^th.   We were just up in Seattle and up in San Francisco.  I love to go play live.  I don't have any plans to record anything new right now, but that can change.

Question>    A lot of people are saying now that the best shows are actually on cable TV rather than on the broadcast networks, and FX is right up there.  Do you agree with that assessment and how does that change opportunities as an actor?

Katey>    I think it's fantastic, and I think that's definitely true.  We have network television; I'm a big fan of that, too.  I've made a very good living and career on network television.  I think that it's going through some kind of transition.  It's just a looser creative reign on cable.  You're more like the independent film morals.  You're allowed to do more outside-the-box kind of things.  It's not a formula. 

For someone like me that was really looking to do something different, I sort of felt that what I'd done I've done for a long time and I've been pretty successful at it.  I wanted to find a different thing to do, and cable has definitely provided that.  I think for women it's just opened up a lot of doors. 

Question>    Which one do you find the most fulfilling for your artistic self, your music or acting?

Katey>    I'd say for today, my acting, this is so exciting to me, what we're doing on the show and everybody is getting to stretch.  As an actor, it's a great experience.  Music for me is always kind of the most organic thing I've ever done, because it's what I've done since I was a kid.  I love to do that as well.  I love them both. 

Question>    How much gun play will we see Gemma involved in?

Katey>    Gun play? There's one episode I just shot where I take out a hatbox filled with guns.  That's all I'll say.

Question>    Did you have to train in weapons at all?

Katey>    No.  I haven't actually shot a gun yet. 

Question>    How long have Gemma and Clay been married, and how would this have made a difference of either a fatherly figure of Clay towards Jax versus being a brother in the motorcycle family?

Katey>    We figure they've been married for about 15 years. I think he's a little of both.  He's his stepdad, and he came into his life when Jax was about 15, 16 years old.  That's an interesting relationship.  I think that he's fatherly, but he's also brotherly.  It's both; I guess that's the answer.

Question>    How have you found it to be on a cast that's mostly men?

Katey>    It's fantastic.  We have great women, though, too, you know.  We have Maggie Siff and Drea De Mateo.  Taryn Manning is there now.  She's doing a four- or five-episode arch.  She's fantastic.  So the girls are really strong.

Question>    Are there going to be any upcoming Futurama projects that you might be involved in?

Katey>    Not that I know of.  I would really like there to be.  We shot the four DVD movies, and they've released two of them already.  There is another one coming out in November.  We're done with recording, so I don't know.  Somebody has to buy some more.  The blog fans and the Web fans have been the most instrumental in getting that to happen actually.  So, if you want more Futurama, just let them know.

Question>    Do you think that there might be any possibility of a big screen Futurama event?

Katey>    Same answer; I have no idea what goes on with all that.  Me, it's just a smart show that that would be a great move for somebody.

Question>    According to your IMDB profile, you have a movie in post-production called Jack and the Beanstalk.  Can you tell us about that?

Katey>    Yes.  It's a live action; how you describe it exactly, but there are characters that are really dressed up as the characters.  It's like a specialized deal, but it's a really cute movie.  It's a different version of Jack and the Beanstalk.  Christopher Lloyd is in it, and I'm in it and Wallace Shawn is in.  I'm not sure when it will be out, but I'm doing ADR on it actually this week.