Charlie Hunnam vs. Travis Fimmel - Kathryn Knight books

Charlie Hunnam as Jax Teller

Welcome!  This post from 2013 continues to get dozens of daily views even 10 years later, so I made a few updates on these two 🔥 devastatingly hot 🔥 doppelgängers!  If you have a fav or a comment, please drop it at the bottom of the post! 🠋  

I began watching Sons of Anarchy after hearing a lot of buzz about the show on social media platforms.  Loosely inspired by Hamlet, the plot seemed guaranteed to provide plenty of conflict and tension--the stuff authors live on.  As a romance novelist, the complicated relationship between former high school sweethearts Jax Teller, the VP of an outlaw motorcycle gang, and Tara Knowles, the upstanding pediatric doctor, drew me in and kept me hooked.  Many of my books involve a hero and heroine with a painful history who are drawn together again by fate--I love second chances for couples that are "meant to be."  But if I'm honest, a big reason I continued to watch SOA is due to Charlie Hunnam, the amazingly hot actor cast in the role of Jax Teller.

Travis Fimmel 
plays Ragnar Lothbrok

A few weeks decade ago I decided to try Vikings, a show on the history channel, as historical fiction is a favorite genre of mine.  As we were introduced to the main character, my jaw dropped--I thought Charlie Hunnam had moved over to a new series.  I studied the actor playing Ragnar Lothbrok (no great hardship there), and the only difference I could find at first was a scar and the eye and hair color--things that could easily be changed for television.  I did a quick google search to discover this was actually a completely different actor by the name of Travis Fimmel.

side-by-side screen shots

To me, they look like they could be twins.  But they are not related.  Plenty of people see the resemblance though, according to questions on the internet.  So I did a little comparison of these two beautiful men, and it seems they have more in common than just amazing genes and acting talent.






Charlie Hunnam:

• Born April 10, 1980 (33 -- now 43) in England
• 6'1" tall
• discovered clowning around in a shoe shop by a production manager
• starred in the lead role on Sons of Anarchy

Travis Fimmel:

• Born July 15, 1979 (34 almost 44) in Australia
• 6' tall
• discovered working out in a gym by a talent scout for a modeling agency
• starred in the lead role on Vikings

While the two shows are separated by vast differences in time (Sons of Anarchy: present-day California; Vikings: medieval Scandinavia), they involve very similar themes: family, brotherhood, and a strong protagonist who challenges a stubborn leader with new ideas.  Both characters struggle to protect their loved ones while fighting to change the direction of their club/community.  Both characters become brutal killers when necessary.  They are "Bad Boys with Good Hearts"...a mix I personally find hard to resist.  In fact, I made a list of my top 5 fictional characters with these qualities, and it's been my most popular post to date (not anymore!  This one has it beat by miles -- thank you all!).  Vikings hadn't aired when I wrote that one, but Ragnar would be on the list today.  Click the yellow link to see where I ranked Jax Teller!

Thankfully, despite the title of the blog, we don't have to choose one or the other...we viewers can have both.  And if anyone is faced with the real-life dilemma of choosing between these two, all I can say is that would truly be a tough (but enviable) choice!

P.S. More pics on my Pinterest board!  And if you enjoy heroes with a bad-boy streak who'll do anything to protect the women they love, try one of my novels: GULL HARBOR, SILVER LAKE, or DIVINE FALL.  Or all three seven now!  Latest releases are GHOST MOON, THE HAUNTING OF HILLWOOD FARM, DANGEROUS CURRENTS, and HAUNTED SOULS.  You can find the hot men I used as inspiration on the Pinterest storyboards for each title, as well 💕  Thank you for stopping by!