- "Didn't your daddy ever tell you to never judge a book by its penis? "
- ―Venus Van Dam
Venus Van Dam (born Vincent Noone) is a transgender prostitute on the FX original series Sons of Anarchy. Played by American actor Walton Goggins, Venus makes her debut on the episode "Orca Shrugged" in the series' fifth season. Over time, she became an ally of SAMCRO, and a "close friend" of Tig Trager. The two eventually formed a romantic relationship, despite Venus' admitted complex gender identity and Tig's outlaw life. Playing a recurring role through the series' sixth and seventh seasons, she was last seen in the series' finale episode, "Papa's Goods", in the series' seventh, and final, season.
Biography[]
Background[]
Season 5[]
"Orca Shrugged"[]
She stops in to help the the boys set Allen Biacone up for blackmail. Venus is a transgender prostitute who Tig found to be very attractive, which surprises even the Sons.
Season 6[]
"Salvage"[]
Gemma meets Venus Van Dam at Diosa Norte when she arrives looking for Nero Padilla. Venus has a black eye from running into "a low hanging branch of my gnarled old family tree" and proceeds to explain her connection with Nero to Gemma. She then appears to stay at Diosa Norte, waiting for Nero's return from incarceration.
"Sweet and Vaded"[]
Gemma enlists SAMCRO's help to retrieve Venus's nephew Joey from her mother Alice's house. Initially reluctant given the amount of heat they are under, Jax agrees to help after Venus reveals her cruel upbringing to everyone at the clubhouse. Venus revealed that when she was a minor uncertain of her gender issues, still going under her dead name of Vincent, Alice raped her to try to "straighten him out". This eventually led to Alice whoring out her daughter to her friends, and using Vincent's "success" Alice started an illegal business of producing child pornography. Venus was certain that Alice was going to sexually abuse Joey, and that he needed to be saved from Alice and sent to live with friends of Venus.
Going to Alice's house with SAMCRO, Venus attempts to convince Joey to leave with her, without explaining why. Joey doesn't want to go, and his grandmother begins to insult Venus, calling her a man still, and grabbing her crotch. The situation soon got violent, leading to a shootout between SAMCRO and Alice's new husband and his friend. Alice and Joey flee in a car, and SAMCRO follows in pursuit. Trying to stop her mother's car, Venus is chastised by Jax when she pulls out one of SAMCRO's gun and shoots at Alice's husband in his vehicle pursuing SAMCRO. Venus admitted that she "let Vincent out", explaining her violent behavior. After being questioned about what Alice said to her, Venus admitted in the car that Joey was actually her son, the result of Venus having sex with a female friend, leading to the conception of Joey.
SAMCRO and Venus redouble their efforts, and track down Alice and Joey to Alice's studio, disguised as a photography lab for children, it is actually Alice's studio for filming child porn. Recruiting Charles Barosky to assist in taking down the studio because Alice's studio was in Charlie's turf, Venus finds Joey drugged and shirtless on a couch. Venus rushed to his side, while Alice, her husband, and his friend reenter the building. Declaring that they were shutting down the child porn business, Jax ordered them to leave. Alice stayed, and continued to insult Venus, calling her a "monster" and saying that Joey would grow up hating her. Alice's words hit too close to home for Jax, who then shot Alice in the head, killing her.
Jax then went to check on Venus and Joey, who was still unconscious. Venus wasn't angry at Jax for killing her mother and didn't say much about her. Jax asked Venus if she would one day tell Joey the truth behind his parentage, but Venus insisted that Joey wouldn't forgive her, saying that hate ran deep in her family. In order to forgive Venus, Joey would have to have a life-changing event, similar to Vincent being "reborn" as Venus.
Venus was later seen saying goodbye to Joey, who she was sending off on a bus to her friends. Tig had escorted her there, and after the bus left, Venus leaned her head on Tig's shoulder, with Tig comforting her.
Season 7[]
"Poor Little Lambs"[]
SAMCRO enlists Venus' help in locating the family of deceased Pastor Jonathan Haddam, who had been accidentally killed by the club while searching for a gang-banger that killed and injured multiple members of the Grim Bastards. On Haddam's body, the sons discovered a video of Haddam and Venus having sex, leading SAMCRO to track her down. Venus agrees to help, and points SAMCRO in the direction of a lake house owned by Haddam. The club located Haddam's wife and stepson, but in doing so, Tig Trager had been shot and wounded. Asking for Venus, she went to visit him while he recovered from his wounds at Scoops. There, they admitted their love for each other, and later evacuated Scoops together after the Lin Triad bombed the building.
"Faith and Despondency"[]
Venus was later seen at her home, where she and Tig were having sex. Later, when he was leaving Tig seemed distant to Venus, and upon inquiring what was wrong with him, Tig replied that he was fine and had work to do. Tig returned later that night, and Venus confessed how much she cared for Tig, but that Tig's outlaw life linked to hate groups (particularly those with biases towards homosexuals and transgender people), and Venus' admitted gender identity she told him that they would have to separate. Tig admitted his faults, but confessed that he loved Venus for who she was and that they had to accept Tig's criminal life. The two made up and planned to go out for the evening.
"Papa's Goods"[]
Venus was last seen with Tig, who had recently voted for a mayhem vote on Jax Teller, which left Chibs Telford as the new club President, who picked Tig as his Vice President. Venus was coddling Tig, who was very upset over the loss of his friend.
Gallery[]
Images[]
Trading Cards[]
Autograph Cards[]
Trivia[]
- In the Season 2 episode "Gilead", Opie is tasked with finding a black transsexual prostitute who shares the same first name and the same first name in her nickname: Vincent Bell / Vincent Noone and Venus Bell / Venus Van Dam.
- Walton Goggins played detective Shane Vendrell in The Shield, and one of his aliases was Cletus Van Dam.
Appearances[]
Season 5 appearances | ||||
"Sovereign" | "Authority Vested" | "Laying Pipe" | "Stolen Huffy" | "Orca Shrugged" |
"Small World" | "Toad's Wild Ride" | "Ablation" | "Andare Pescare" | "Crucifixed" |
"To Thine Own Self" | "Darthy" | "J'ai Obtenu Cette" |
Season 6 appearances | ||||
"Straw" | "One One Six" | "Poenitentia" | "Wolfsangel" | "The Mad King" |
"Salvage" | "Sweet and Vaded" | "Los Fantasmas" | "John 8:32" | "Huang Wu" |
"Aon Rud Persanta" | "You Are My Sunshine" | "A Mother's Work" |
Season 7 appearances | ||||
"Black Widower" | "Toil and Till" | "Playing with Monsters" | "Poor Little Lambs" | "Some Strange Eruption" |
"Smoke 'em if You Got 'em" | "Greensleeves" | "The Separation of Crows" | "What a Piece of Work is Man" | "Faith and Despondency" |
"Suits of Woe" | "Red Rose" | "Papa's Goods" |