While writing my recent Sturgis Fiction microfiction series, I reflected on and took inspiration from “Sons of Anarchy” for creator Kurt Sutter’s saga of bikes, the brotherhood, and his damn good story.

But it was Katey Sagal as Gemma Teller Morrow who grabbed me by the scruff of my neck and wouldn’t let go. Hollywood’s got its stars, sure. People rave about Anthony Hopkins, can’t stop talking about Meryl Streep.

Now, I’m no Roger Ebert, but Katey Sagal? Right up there. No bullshit.

You see Hopkins as Hannibal Lecter, it’s chills down your spine, no two ways about it.

Meryl Streep? She could make reading the phonebook Oscar material.

Then you got Katey Sagal, the rock ’n’ roll backbone of “Sons of Anarchy,” the thread stitching together this sprawling saga of an outlaw motorcycle club into a tsunami of women’s viewpoints worthy of Douglas Sirk.

Every time Sagal steps into a scene, you can’t take your eyes off her. She doesn’t act; she lives Gemma. She’s the fuel, the fire, the smoke, and the ash.

Here’s the kicker: It took me a solid 15 minutes to realize this is the same woman who played Peg Bundy in “Married… With Children.”

Talk about range. From a ditzy, shopaholic housewife to the queen bee of an MC? That’s like Michael Jordan nailing baseball after dominating basketball. Gemma’s tough as nails but vulnerable, calculating but human.

Don’t hear what I’m not saying. Hopkins and Streep? Icons. But Katey Sagal, she’s like that scene in Steven Spielberg’s “The Adventures of Tintin” in which the camera pulls back to show Herge as a street artist sketching the film’s CGI Tintin as his 2-D character.

So, here’s the deal. Next time you’re listing the greats, carve out a space for Katey Sagal. She’s the real deal, no question.

If acting were a bar brawl, she’d be the last one standing, wiping the blood off her knuckles, ready for the next round.