When Sons of Anarchy was rolling across our TVs for its seven-season run, viewers never got the impression that SAMCRO was very openly accepting and loving of any minorities, from either a gender or race angle. (Gemma would be the exception, of course.) But it looks like the upcoming spinoff Mayans MC, which already bucks part of that former trend with its largely non-caucasian cast, will also be welcoming a pair of gay characters to the drama, with actresses Efrat Dor (The Zookeeper's Wife) and Alexandra Barreto (The Fosters) playing a married couple.
For Mayans MC, which is still in the pilot stage at FX, Israeli actress Efrat Dor has been cast to play Katrina, the wife of Alexandra Barreto's Antonia Pena, who is the mayor of Santo Padre, the main setting for the Sons of Anarchy follow-up that sits just near the border between California and Mexico. (She's gotta be better than Jacob Hale, right?) Katrina doesn't sound like someone who eagerly embraces the dangers that living in Santo Padre provides, according to THR, but for the love of her family, she acts courageous and supports her wife's role in leading the community. Should the pilot get picked up to series, Dor would take on a recurring role.
So while audiences wouldn't be seeing Katrina and Antonia on a weekly basis, the fact that Mayans MC wrote a prominent character like a mayor into a same sex relationship is pretty awesome, especially considering how biker gangs aren't always so friendly to alternative lifestyles. Of course, Sons of Anarchy was a show that did not treat its authority figures with much respect or dignity, although Sheriff Eli Roosevelt and Nathan Hale were more douchey than appallingly criminal.
Fans of the predecessor series will no doubt remember Walton Goggins' performances as SAMCRO's transgender "colleague" Venus Van Dam, who sparked up a sexual relationship with resident fetishist Tig. Minus whatever happened at the various porn sets, the aforementioned tryst was about as close as Sons of Anarchy got to non-traditional couplings, and Venus wasn't exactly a poster-child for the LGBTQ community. Perhaps co-creators Kurt Sutter and Elgin James will take things in a more pristine direction with Mayans MC.
Efrat Dor, who has starred in Israeli TV shows such as Ha-Hamama, Downtown Precinct and Mermaids, will be joining an already stellar cast. JD Pardo stars as EZ Reyes, a charter prospect who is torn between getting revenge on the deadly cartel and maintaining a level of respect with the women in his life, and the M.C. and other areas of Santo Padre will be populated by Edward James Olmos, Richard Cabral, Jacqueline Obradors, John Ortiz, Sarah Bolger, Raymond Cruz, and, of course, Sons vet Emilio Rivera.
We're still waiting for FX to deliver some good news when it comes to Sons of Anarchy's in-the-works spinoff Mayans MC, but you can bet that we'll be screaming from the rooftops about any potential series orders that happen. In the meantime, head to our summer TV premiere schedule to see what new and returning shows are heading your way soon.
