A show about brotherhood and vein-exploding testosterone, Sons of Anarchy didn't always give its female characters the most balanced and elegant roles. But when it came to its number one, Gemma Teller, actress Katey Sagal ruled the roost with authority. The upcoming spinoff Sons of Anarchy: Mayans MC, as it's tentatively called, has finally cast its first female lead, and this is most certainly not Gemma. Still, let's warmly welcome Into the Badlands and Once Upon a Time actress Sarah Bolger into this violence-torn world.
At first glance, it sounds like Sarah Bolger will be playing the Gemma counterpart, but there's a very distinct fork in the road when it comes to personality. Bolger's Emily has been a friendly sweetheart of main character Ezekiel "EZ" Reyes (JD Pardo) ever since they were kids. But while his dreams and ideals were demolished by cartel violence, leading him down the road to MC mayhem, Emily did not choose to darken her identity with violence (at least publicly), and she instead opted for opulence, which sits her within a large mansion overlooking things.
Hey, they can't all be the kind of woman who refers to another woman as a "filthy gash" before stapling their lips shut. (Not something Gemma did specifically, but we can assume.) The Sons of Anarchy universe is not one for pageant queens and red carpet dresses, so it should make for an interesting contrast to see Mayans MC bring that element into things. Especially since you just know it'll become a huge issue between Emily and EZ.
Emily is the latest character cast in a pretty busy casting process for the spinoff, currently in the pilot stages at FX. Everything kicked off with Edward James Olmos signing on as EZ's one-time-gangbanger Felipe, and John Ortiz and Richard Cabral were soon added as the Mayans MC president and a full patch member, respectively. Hopefully more female casting will be announced soon.
Currently a lead in Into the Badlands on AMC, which will kick off Season 2 next weekend, Sarah Bolger will face no issues with her future on the martial arts drama if Sons of Anarchy: Mayans MC gets picked up to series, according to Deadline. So no worries there. An Irish actress - making her role here interesting, to say the least - Bolger made her splash here in the U.S. almost a decade ago with The Spiderwick Chronicles and her Mary Tudor role on The Tudors. Since then, she's been in a smattering of shows and movies, most recognizably as Aurora in Once Upon a Time. She also popped up in the MCU through a handful of Agent Carter appearances.
Hopefully FX won't need to wait until the pilot is complete to go ahead and officially order Sons of Anarchy: Mayans MC to series. But while we're waiting, check out all the S.O.A. character we want to get drunk with and then head to our midseason premiere schedule for insight on what's yet to hit the small screen in early 2017.
