Scottish actor Tommy Flanagan plays Filip “Chibs” Telford on the FX drama series Sons of Anarchy. Chibs (a “chib” is Scottish street slang for a blade) was born in the ghettos of Glasgow, raised on the streets of Belfast and is scrapper tough.
Up until Season 2, it’s been a bit of a mystery as to how Chibs ended up in Charming, California with SAMCRO, but viewers are now learning more about his backstory. During a set visit in the San Fernando Valley, Tommy Flanagan gave some insight into what’s coming up for his character over the remainder of the season.
Q: What will Chibs be dealing with in Season 2?
Tommy: Chibs comes to life this season. His whole backstory comes into play this season, and you find out his history. He’s got a family, and stuff like that. You find out what he’s all about and how he got there. It’s actually been a really good season, for me especially. This character has come to life. I’m very happy this season.
Q: Did you have that information in the first season, or did you just learn about him yourself?
Tommy: Me and (executive producer) Kurt [Sutter] discussed it last season. I always knew that Chibs was going to come to life, but this season really brought it out. It was all discussed last year. It’s Kurt’s ideas and my ideas, and we came up with the backstory.
Q: Is there a lot more for you, physically and emotionally?
Tommy: A lot more. There’s a lot of really emotional and physical stuff. There are big explosions and guns, and lots of crying.
Q: These macho guys are actually much more emotional than you would expect them to be, wouldn’t you agree?
Tommy: Yeah. We love it. It’s all in the writing. The whole writing crew is fantastic. What they put on the page is very easy just to translate onto the screen.
Q: How has working with this ensemble changed since the first season?
Tommy: We were comfortable with each other from day one in the first season, anyway. I’ve known Charlie [Hunnam] for over 10 years. The rest of us just clicked, the second we got together, and it’s even more comfortable this year. We all bounce off each other. We all know more about each other’s characters now and we know how we work now, so we can play off each other. It’s actually really good.
Q: Do you ride motorcycles yourself?
Tommy: Yeah, I ride. We actually just got new bikes from the Eagles Nest, up near Sacramento. They gave us all free motorcycles for a year. They’re all custom made. Mine is the coolest one. I haven’t been off mine since. My girlfriend won’t talk to me anymore. I put 400 miles on my bike in three days. I just wouldn’t stop. She was like, “Get off that bike!,” and I was like, “I can’t hear you!” I love it. I live in Malibu, so it’s a great ride to work.
Q: Do you have to give them back, at the end of the year?
Tommy: The deal is that we give them back or we buy them for cost, which is great. If we give them back, they give us a brand new bike, customized again. I think they want to try to sell them on eBay as our characters. No, mine is staying with me.
Q: Did you get any input into your bike?
Tommy: I just wanted it all blacked out with a chrome engine. It has black rims and a black tank, and everything is all black with just a chrome engine. And, it’s got green LED lights that shine down at night.
Q: What is one of the more surprising things that viewers will learn about Chibs this season?
Tommy: He’s got quite an interesting past. He’s got this backstory of how he was involved with the IRA, and he’s got a wife and kid back in Ireland. Just watch it.
Q: Has a lot of what you’ve talked about with Kurt for your character made it to the show?
Tommy: Yeah. A lot of the stuff I talked about with Kurt made it to the page. He’s great that way. He listens to us all, even when he’s not supposed to be listening. He picks up what we’re saying to each other and he translates it onto the page, which is great. You’ll pick up a script and be like, “I said that last week.” It’s good stuff.
Q: Since the F-word is your favorite word, do you have to redo dialogue a lot?
Tommy: Oh, constantly. With my accent, I’m in ADR constantly. “Can you redo this line again Tommy?” “I can understand it.” “The Americans can’t.” So, I’m always in ADR. With the swearing, they just pull me out on the spot and say, “You can’t say that. You can’t say fuck.” I’ll get one in somewhere. I’ve tried frick and frack, but they didn’t want it.
Q: How do you relate to Chibs? Is this a character you really enjoy playing, compared to other roles that you’ve done?
Tommy: Chibs is personal to me, in some ways. Chib means to cut someone, or slice someone. I was involved in a knife fight, a long time ago. I was attacked by five guys. So, the whole knife thing is very personal to me. And, me and Kurt discussed that as well, as to whether I’d feel comfortable with that. As long as it doesn’t get too personal, I don’t mind.
Q: Do you guys ever do any practical jokes on each other?
Tommy: Are you kidding me? Constantly, yeah. We’re constantly doing shit to each other. All we do is do shit to each other, in between takes. We’re always punching and kicking and carrying on.
Q: Did you hang out with each other at all, during hiatus?
Tommy: A little bit, yeah. I was working. I went to Canada to do a movie, but when I got back, I saw the guys.
Q: What movie did you do?
Tommy: Smokin’ Aces 2: Blowback. Don’t rush out to see that one.
Q: Did you enjoy doing the first one?
Tommy: Oh, yeah. I loved the first one. It was fun. But, for the second one, I had to wear a rubber thing over my head because I was doing the show after it. It was kind of fun, though. There won’t be any Oscar nominees from that.
Q: So, will you be going skydiving with your co-star, Ryan Hurst, anytime soon?
Tommy: He’s done over 100 jumps. He’s a maniac, that boy. I’ve been telling him all season that I’ll jump out of a plane, so now he’s got a $1,000 bet. If I don’t do it, I have to give him a $1,000, so we’re going to ride our bikes to a place called Paris and jump out of a perfectly good airplane. That’s the plan. We’ve going to go up to Universal and do the wind thing, so we can be the Flying Anarchists.
Q: Do you have a clear idea in your head, as to where you’d like to see Chibs go in Season 3?
Tommy: Nope. I’ve not got a clue. I’ll leave it up to Kurt. I’ve got a few ideas, but we’ll see how it plays out. My character and his story, and the connection with the club, has really moved along, so next season, they’re really going to explore that stuff. We’ll see what happens. I hate being all vague, but I don’t want to tell you the plot. I don’t want to say too much.
Q: Is his history coming back to bite him in the ass?
Tommy: In a lot of ways, yeah. But, it’s also this big emotional thing with his wife, who is connected with this IRA guy. Chibs has his past with the IRA, and he had to leave the IRA and come here. There’s a big family thing with his wife and daughter, and the IRA.

Source:www.iesb.net