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Sons of Anarchy follows an outlaw biker club named SAMCRO in the fictional town of Charming, California. Conflicts arise, loyalties are tested, and deception is imminent when Clay Morrow takes over as club president and clashes with the vice president, his step-son, and the show's lead anti-hero, Jax Teller (Charlie Hunnam).
The fictional town is described as being in California's Central Valley, and the crime drama's apt mix of in-studio filming at Occidental Studios and exterior shots in the Tujunga, North Hollywood, Sun Valley, and Acton areas creates the perfect illusion of one cohesive town.
Here's a deep dive into Sons of Anarchy's filming locations and how they brought the show's edge-of-the-seat storyline to life.
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Tujunga, North Hollywood, and other Sons of Anarchy filming locations
Occidental Studios, California
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A studio setup was key in creating the rugged and gritty vibe of SAMCRO's world. Jax's home, the Sons of Anarchy Motorcycle Club, Redwood Original chapter's clubhouse (Which later blows up in season 6), and other important characters' houses, offices, and the St. Thomas Hospital, were filmed in Occidental Studios. The writers' room doubled up as the police precinct in Charming, California.
One of the most interesting things about this studio is its connectivity between the interiors and the exterior locations, making it easy to track the characters from inside their houses or the clubhouse to an external location like the Teller-Morrow Automotive Repair Shop on stage 5. This iconic landmark in Sons of Anarchy is a front for most of the club's gun or drug trade.
The studio setup also allowed writers and showrunners to recreate another country. In season 3, a large arc for Clay and the other members of SAMCRO takes place in Belfast, Ireland. Most of those scenes were filmed by recreating the country's vibe in California.
Tujunga, California
The town center of Charming, where the Sons of Anarchy crew regularly went about their business, was filmed in Tujunga, a town known in real life for its biker action and a flurry of activity.
While the area is changing now, it served as the perfect backdrop to capture a gang of leather-clad men cruising the streets.
For instance, the Hairy Dog Pub and Lounge in the pilot episode, where Jax beats Wendy's dealer with a pool cue, the barber shop where Jax confronts Kohn about his abusive relationship with Tara, and other cafes, motels, gas stations, and grocery stores are all in Tujunga.
Other Sons of Anarchy filming locations in Tujunga include Clay and Gemma's house and Piney's cabin, which Jax visits in season 2 to tell him about increasing tensions with Clay.
Half-Sack's sudden death, followed by a chaotic funeral where the Sons get shot at, happens at the Dubrowski's Funeral Home, located here.
North Hollywood and Los Angeles, California
Apart from Tujunga, North Hollywood (the area around the studio) and Los Angeles were also used to piece together a small fictional town like Charming, California.
Many exterior shots of the characters' residences, like Tara, Juice, Vivica, and others, were set in the streets of North Hollywood.
The filming crew went further South into Los Angeles for some of their more gritty sequences. Shady deals, like when Jax and Clay meet Alvarez under a bridge, or when Opie breaks into a car outside a liquor store in Sons of Anarchy season 2, were all shot in Los Angeles.
The streets were also used for other pivotal scenes, like when Tara is held hostage by Salazar.
In the later seasons, especially season 7, filming moved significantly to these two areas. Gemma's childhood home, the rehab center Wendy returns from, Abel's school, and Jax's cop car chase scene, which ends in a crash, all take place in the Los Angeles area. Scenes with Greensleeves were also predominantly shot here.
Many bars, back alleys, and on-road scenes were filmed here to give a sense of large-scale grandeur and realistic action sequences to the Sons of Anarchy bikers.
Other important Sons of Anarchy landmarks in California
Occidental Studios is placed in an optimal filming location for the show as it gives them access to the winding roads, valleys, hills, and small towns in the Central Valley area to create its rustic look and feel. Many other areas in California, like Wilmington, Acton, Sunland, and Santa Clarita, were used.
Scenes that required a dock and boats connected to the Irish storyline in season 3 of Sons of Anarchy were shot in Wilmington. Notably, SAMCRO stands off against another gang at the Colonial Yacht Anchorage. The Soledad Canyon Road in Acton was used to film one of Jax's scenes in season 7, where he speaks to his deceased father.
Santa Clarita is an important filming location, used for Gemma's dad's home on multiple occasions. The shocking scene in season 7 where August murders Bobby in front of Jax happens near Placerita Canyon Road. Many highways around Santa Clarita, like the Sierra Highway, were important for long bike rides and chase scenes, like when the Sons go to rescue Tigs from a motel.
Residential areas in Sunland, CA, were used for Opie's, Darby's, and Wendy's houses. A large mansion in Pasadena, California, was used as the courthouse, on the steps of which Jax shoots August Marks in the series finale before he meets his own ultimate fate.
His final ride in the series finale of Sons of Anarchy, one of the most poetic scenes in the show, was shot on the Golden State Highway near Castaic, California.
Some exterior shots for the Ireland storyline in season 3 were actually shot in Belfast and pieced together with the studio scenes to make them more realistic.
Sons of Anarchy used California's natural bounty--the arid and vast landscapes with twisting roads and small towns--to create the perfect filming location for SAMCRO's story.
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