Stephen King, the world-famous author of horror books, made a special appearance on the TV show Sons of Anarchy. He played a cleaner named “Bachman” in one episode of the show’s third season. The cameo happened because King was a fan of the series and couldn’t resist the offer to ride a Harley-Davidson motorcycle for the role.
The famous writer appeared in Season 3, Episode 3, titled “Caregiver”. His character, Bachman, is a man hired to quietly and efficiently dispose of a dead body. King has said this brief role is his “finest moment” as an actor, even though he is better known for writing books like It and The Shining.
Stephen King’s path to the fictional town of Charming, California, was straightforward. He was already a viewer who enjoyed the FX drama. He had even written a positive piece about the show for Entertainment Weekly, calling it “one of those shows that seem to have gotten better as it goes along”.
Kurt Sutter, the creator of Sons of Anarchy, saw King’s article and reached out. He invited King to appear on the show if he was ever in the Los Angeles area, where the series was filmed. The author was initially hesitant but changed his mind when Sutter made him an offer he couldn’t refuse.
“Ordinarily I would say no but he said he’d put me on a Harley, so here I am,” King said in an interview with FX at the time.
King was in Los Angeles to accept a library award, which made the timing perfect. Sutter also promised to write him a “suitably nasty part,” which appealed to King after playing simpler characters in other projects.
In the episode “Caregiver,” a chaotic situation unfolds at the home of Gemma Teller Morrow (played by Katey Sagal). Her father’s caregiver, Amelia, dies after a violent struggle. With Gemma on the run from the police and a body to deal with, the club’s sergeant-at-arms, Tig Trager (Kim Coates), calls in a specialist: a cleaner named Bachman.
King’s character arrives dramatically, riding a bright red Harley-Davidson Road Glide. He gets straight to work, asking practical questions about the drainage in a nearby sink and requesting some ’80s music to work to. He is calm, professional, and quietly intimidating, perfectly handling the grim task before riding off once the job is done.
King got to act alongside series regulars Katey Sagal and Kim Coates, who he said treated him “like a professional”. He also enjoyed meeting other cast members, including Charlie Hunnam (Jax Teller) and Ron Perlman (Clay Morrow).
The show’s writers did not pick the name “Bachman” at random. It is a direct reference to Stephen King’s famous pen name, Richard Bachman.
In the 1970s and 80s, King published several novels, including Rage and The Long Walk, under the name Richard Bachman. He wanted to see if he could be successful without his famous name and to publish more books than publishers would normally allow from a single author. The name has since become a well-known piece of literary trivia for his fans. Using it as his character’s name on the show was a fun insider joke that King surely appreciated.
On his official website, King wrote a short piece about his time on the show. He shared his excitement about getting to act and ride a motorcycle.
“The bike was just short of awesome: a bright red Harley-Davidson Road-Glide… All black clothes, bright red sled—can’t do much better than that,” King wrote.
He has been open about enjoying acting, even though he doesn’t consider himself very good at it. In a later interview with Netflix, he called this Sons of Anarchy cameo his “finest moment” on screen. This is significant praise from an author who has acted in adaptations of his own famous works, like Creepshow and The Stand.
The promise of the motorcycle was a major draw. King has ridden bikes since he was a young man and even owned a Harley-Davidson Heritage Softail at the time. He joked that the bike was “a little tricked-out” for his taste and that he would have been happy to take it home.
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While Stephen King has made dozens of cameo appearances, most are in movies or shows based on his own books. For example, he played a shopkeeper in It: Chapter Two and had a role in the miniseries The Stand. His appearance on Sons of Anarchy is different because it has no connection to his own work. It was purely a fun opportunity from a show he admired.
The cameo remains a memorable pop culture moment. It combines a legendary author’s fandom, a creator’s clever invitation, and the simple allure of a great motorcycle. For viewers, it is a fun, slightly eerie scene. For Stephen King, it was a chance to live out a small biker fantasy and create what he considers a career highlight in front of the camera.
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