Ron Perlman

Ron Perlman plays Clay Morrow, the president of the motorcycle club in Sons of Anarchy. Clay has the bearing of a man who expects the room to accommodate him. Perlman's size and gravelly voice do some of the work, but it is his ease with the other club members that makes the authority convincing. This is someone who knows their habits, their weaknesses and the history behind every argument.

Perlman's career extends well beyond Charming. He played Vincent in the television series Beauty and the Beast, winning a Golden Globe, and became the title character in Guillermo del Toro's two Hellboy films. His collaborations with del Toro also include Cronos, Blade II, Pacific Rim and Nightmare Alley.

His other television work includes Wes Chandler in StartUp, Judge Pernell Harris in Hand of God and Luther Braxton in The Blacklist. He has a considerable voice-acting career too, from Teen Titans to the Fallout games. There is a useful warmth beneath that formidable sound. In Clay's case, it makes the friendly moments persuasive enough for the threatening ones to matter.