Sandy Kenyon talks with Charlie Hunnam, star of 'King Arthur: Legend of the Sword'

NEW YORK (WABC) -- If you're not familiar with his name yet, you will be soon.

Charlie Hunnam is known for his TV roles, but this weekend he'll hit the big screen as one of literature's most famous characters in the new movie 'King Arthur: Legend of the Sword.'

Come Friday, the British star will have two historical movies in the theaters in New York City.

He's an explorer looking for 'The Lost City of Z', and has the title role in 'King Arthur: Legend of the Sword'.

We met recently in Lower Manhattan.

As one of the 'Sons of Anarchy' on TV, Charlie Hunnam became a sex symbol in America, and makes a bid for superstardom as King Arthur.

It was an earlier movie version of the legend that first got Charlie interested in acting, when he was still a child.

"Can you imagine as a 7-year-old: the idea of spending one's job being paid to learn how to sword fight just sort of blew my mind. That was the beginning of the journey," he said.

Hunnum made his first movie when he was still a teenager, but he still needed to convince director Guy Ritchie he was right for this film.

"And so I promptly threw my name in the hat, and he promptly threw it back, and said 'look I'm not interested," said Charlie. "And, my feelings were a little hurt so I actually got on a plane and flew to England."

As it turned out, Ritchie was willing to be convinced, and that's how the star came to share the screen with Jude Law and Djimon Hounsu.

But this latest blockbuster arrives after a hiccup that could have derailed his career.

"It was a really unfortunate event in my life," he said.

He was supposed to play the lead in '50 Shades of Grey."

"I really take very seriously giving somebody my word, and I agreed to do that film and then just for various reasons just found I wasn't able to fulfill that promise, and it was really a bitter pill to swallow," Hunnam said. "Quite a painful experience."

"Net positive two years on?", we asked.

"I suppose so, I mean life's good right now, no regrets."

Charlie hails from the north of England, but he spent so much time here in the United States, he had to re-acquire his English accent for 'King Arthur'.

After seven seasons in the US for the TV show, he sounded like an American.