After the Sons of Anarchy clan was rocked by the real-life tragedy of former actor Johnny Lewis' (Kip "Half Sack" Epps) death and his alleged murder of elderly Catherine Davis, 81, an event that came on the heels of the show's fictional death of Ryan Hurst's Opie, SOA is eager to get back to reality — or, rather, fiction, focusing on their new big guest stars, Jimmy Smits (NYPD Blue, The West Wing, Dexter), who plays Nero Padilla, and Harold Perrineau (28 Weeks Later, Oz, Lost), who steps into the role of Damon Pope.

Nero is a high-level pimp who considers himself a "companionator," with whom Gemma (Katey Sagal) may be getting too close for comfort. "There's got to be a badass element to him because of the world that we're in. I don't think Jax (Charlie Hunnam) is going to be taking Yoda-type advice from anyone who doesn't have a street cred that he has respect for," Smits says of Nero, reports USA Today.

While Smits prefers the slow burn to get to his character's darker side, the silently threatening demeanor that Perrineau transmits to Damon spells clear death. In his few episodes on the young fifth season, the former drug kingpin has already ordered the death of one of the sons and immolated the daughter of another. Retaliation is bound to be a bitch, and Perrineau is all about bringing it on.

"He finds the worst ways to do what he has to do, and the best ways. He's a really smart guy," Perrineau says. "He is a scary guy. I always think the mind is much stronger than the physical. He's a smart man and he's a hurt man. His daughter was taken away. I understand that any threat to my child, you would inherit my wrath and it wouldn't be pleasant."

See what's up with Smits, Perrineau and the Sons of Anarchy on Tuesdays at 10 p.m. EST on FX.

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