Though theSons of Anarchyuniverse continued on with the spinoff series,Mayans M.C., I’m still left to wonder what became of the show’s best character, Venus Van Dam. The final season of the acclaimed biker series sees Jax Teller’s descent into villainy after the death of his wife, Tara. In an ending mirroring his Shakespearean counterpart, Hamlet, the SAMCRO president’s sins catch up with him, andJax dies in theSons of Anarchyfinale.
While there’s a lot of bloodshed in the series as a whole, severalmain characters survive the events ofSons of Anarchy, including Venus. Played to perfection by Walton Goggins, Venus is a transgender sex worker who first encounters SAMCRO when they enlist her services in helping to blackmail an enemy. She catches the eye of SAMCRO member Tig, and the two eventually become a couple. Their romance is one ofSons of Anarchy’s most tender, heartfelt storylines, though it could spell trouble for Venus down the line.
I Love Venus & Tig As A Couple, But I Worry About Her Safety Post-Sons Of Anarchy
Her Association With SAMCRO Puts Her At Risk
The members of SAMCRO are all hardened outlaws, butSons of Anarchydoes an excellent job of also portraying the vulnerable men who exist beneath their biker kuttes. Though on the surface, Tig is defined by his affinity for violence and wild sex, he is perhaps the most sensitive, loyal member of the club. Venus senses this immediately, and it’s what draws her to him. In one of the show’s most romantic scenes,Venus confesses her love for Tig, which he wholeheartedly reciprocates, and it solidifies them as one ofSons of Anarchy’s best couples.
As Tig also makes it out of the series alive, it appears that his and Venus' story is one ofSons of Anarchy’s only happy ones. Indeed, the very last shot of both characters finds Venus comforting Tig after hevoted for Jax to meet Mr. Mayhem. However, as much as I love Venus and Tig together, it’s their continuing romance that makes me fear for her.
Tig was promoted to vice president at the end ofSons of Anarchy, and as we see inMayans M.C., he and the rest of SAMCRO are still very much living a life of crime.Sons of Anarchysaw the deaths of numerous loversand family members of the club, andwith Tig such a prominent figure of SAMCRO, and one who makes a lot of enemies, I can’t help but worry that Venus is signing her death certificate by choosing a life with him, as sweet as they are together.
Why Venus Is Such An Iconic Character
She’s A Proud Trans Woman With Layers & Complexity
When I first saw Venus Van Dam strut across my TV screen, I was nervous thatSons of Anarchywould portray her as a walking stereotype. However, not only was I pleasantly surprised, but I wasblown away at how nuanced she is as a character. Though it would have been a better decision to cast a trans actor, there’s no denying that Walton Goggins, currently on a hot streak withFalloutandThe White Lotus, gives a tour de force performance.
On a 2024 episode of his podcast,PIE with Kurt Sutter and Katey Sagal,Sons of Anarchycreator Kurt Sutter admitted that he wouldn’t have cast a cis male actor to play Venus if he were making the show today (viaBuzzfeed).
Of all her spectacular scenes, Venus' best is, hands down, the love confession scene inSons of Anarchyseason 7, episode 10, “Faith and Despondency.” This isn’t just because it’s a tearjerkingVenus and Tigmoment, but because of the space she takes up for herself.Venus is proud of her identity as a trans woman, and she initially plans on taking a break from Tig because she thinks he’s only with her to enjoy life “outside the box.”
In a series with so much death, it could have been easy forSons of Anarchyto sacrifice Venus and uphold the “bury your gays” trope, but the show gives her a happy ending when Tig reveals that he loves her back, for exactly who she is.
What Walton Goggins Has Said About Playing Venus
“It Was One Of The Greatest Things”
Like me and so many otherSons of Anarchyfans, Venus Van Dam holds a special place in her actor’s heart. Walton Goggins has spoken many times about what a beautiful, vulnerable character Venus is. In a 2014 interview withEW,Goggins even got choked up talking about Venus and the love confession scene with Tig:
I think that there’s something about two people that are looking for love from an honest and truthful place that is extremely appealing. Vulnerability that is not trying to be used in some manipulative way is something that we’re all attracted to and that we aspire to, I think, whenever we’re able to truly let our guards down. And that’s really what that is: It’s not gender specific. It’s more than a man and a woman, or a man and a man, or a woman and a woman. It’s just about two human beings who need to be seen, and that’s what Kurt wrote.
Goggins and Kurt Sutter go way back, as Sutter was a writer onThe Shield, the crime drama in which Goggins played Detective Shane Vendrell from 2002 to 2008. In fact, it was Goggins who told Sutter that he would only appear inSons of Anarchyif he were playing a trans character. Well, two years later, Sutter wrote Venus Van Dam and approached Goggins. In an appearance onWIRED’sWeb Most Searched Questionsseries, the actor said of his experience:
He sent them, I read them [the script pages], and it was one of the greatest things that I had ever read. And it made me laugh, and it broke my heart… it will remain one of the greatest experiences of my life.
