‘Sons of Anarchy’ season 6 spoilers: Jimmy Smits on Nero’s integration

It was a nice surprise to find out that Jimmy Smits was not just a one-season character on “Sons of Anarchy”. When you hear the news about an award-winning and accomplished actor joining the show, it is typically the expectation that you will have them for around 13 or so episodes, and then they will take off to parts unknown.

Luckily, show creator Kurt Sutter was able to convince Jimmy to come back for another season, where he is scheduled to once again appear throughout the year as a special guest star … which of course means that Nero has not exactly succeeded when it comes to getting out of Charming just yet. Will this change moving forward? Smits is hesitant to disclose too much, but he tells Entertainment Weekly that the idea of a future away from trouble is part of what gives this character a sense of hope:

“Nero’s really much more integrated into the fabric of this odd family. So that’s different. I just have to keep in my head this whole thing about him starting out with this ‘exit strategy.’ I have to keep that alive for me so that when we have these little brushes, there’s this idea that he really wants to get out — or does he?”

This interview article was created as a way to promote Smits’ Emmy odds, which we have to think are solid in the Guest Actor in a Drama category. While this has never been a show spared from controversy when it comes to Emmy love, it is hard to imagine a show choosing to ignore a man playing a far different character than anything that he has taken on in his career thus far.

For more from Jimmy about both this show and his old role on “Dexter,” you can get a full hour of him courtesy of a podcast over at the link here.

Photo: FX