Taylor Ferber | September 9, 2014 12:00 pm

Sons of Anarchy‘s final season starts tonight, which means we get a healthy serving of eye candy in the form of Charlie Hunnam. Yowza! It’s been a wild ride for the English actor, who didn’t always have a grizzly beard and menacing looks.

Charlie first popped onto the scene over 15 years ago on the British version of Queer As Folk, all blonde, floppy-haired, and innocent. After a stint on FOX’s Undeclared, and roles in Nicholas Nickleby and Cold Mountain, his looks started to mature. Once he got his starring role on Sons of Anarchy in 2008, the blonde hair was longer, and the beard was in full swing. Nowadays, he only shaves for special occasions — like last year’s Pacific Rim — and routinely shows us all how much hard work in the gym can pay off. Formerly cast as Christian Grey in Fifty Shades of Grey, Charlie is now free from his television obligations and can dive into the next phase in life, which hopefully entails more of him being shirtless. Get ready for the Sons season premiere by reliving Hunnam’s hunky transformation in the gallery above.

[Photo Credit: Warner Bros.]

Tags: Sons of Anarchy, Transformation Tuesday, Charlie Hunnam