“Sons of Anarchy” spinoff “Mayans M.C.” heads to the California-Mexico border, and executive producer Kurt Sutter won’t be shying away from the political happenings that come with that — but, he said, he’s doing it as authentically as possible.
“We never comment on it, right, but for the show to be authentic we have to address it because it’s right in our face,” said Sutter, adding during an interview with TheWrap at the Television Critics Association summer 2018 press tour that, while politics or border issues aren’t overtly addressed, they are embedded into the story of the FX show.
“So they address the issues that they’re faced with on a daily basis in terms of legalities, and you know the extra pressure, the difficulty coming in and out — like all that stuff is real,” Sutter said.
The “Sons of Anarchy” creator said the original show dealt with politics similarly.
“I equate it to this: On ‘Sons’ we never talked about the Obama administration, right? But what happened when Obama got elected was that there was a 40-something percent uptick in the enrollment in white supremacist groups, right? So when I read that I was like, ‘wow, how do we talk about this without talking about it?’ So what happened with the Aryan Brotherhood and the white supremacists became a big antagonist in the show and was inspired by the real life circumstances of the huge uptick without it ever saying it was because of Obama,” Sutter described.
When it comes to “Mayans,” Sutter said, “We never mention Trump. We never talk about politics, but we deal with the reality that is happening at the border and the circumstances and external conflicts and sh– like that.”
Executive producer Elgin James added that the show has “a very politically minded writer’s room,” but the show itself aims to be a-political.
“What’s great of the way Kurt has set it up is that we’re not a political show,” James told TheWrap. “So we as people who feel very strongly about things have to find a way to make it organic to the story.”
“We write our show for the people who actually live at the border,” he added. “There’s no f—in’ time for politics. They’re living it every day.”
“Mayans M.C.” premieres on FX on September 4.