Charlie Hunnam Immersed Himself in the Role of Ed Gein, Driven by a desire to Understand the “Person Beneath the Illness”
Plainfield, Wisconsin – Charlie Hunnam’s portrayal of serial killer Ed Gein in netflix’s Monster: The Ed Gein story has been lauded by co-stars and the series creator as a deeply committed and unsettling performance. Hunnam reportedly spent approximately 80% of the time on set fully embodying Gein, adopting his voice and demeanor to create a disturbingly authentic atmosphere.
The series explores the tragic origins of Gein’s descent into violence, beginning with the death of his son and the subsequent stroke and death of his mother, ultimately leading to his isolated existence and the escalating murders in Plainfield, Wisconsin. According to Hunnam, the story is “really about mental health and the consequences of abuse and isolation.”
Suzanna Son, who plays Adeline Watkins, Gein’s morbidly curious love interest, praised Hunnam’s dedication. “What a gift to work alongside Charlie. He was in character…and that made my job all the easier because he’s building the world for me to live in,” she said.
Tyler Jacob Moore, portraying Sheriff Schley, who arrested Gein in 1957, described his initial reaction to Hunnam’s conversion as “shocking,” adding that it “never got easier to deal with him as Ed…because he was Ed when he was on set.”
Ryan Murphy, co-creator of Glee, Scream Queens, Hollywood, and The Watcher, and writer/co-director of Monster, emphasized Hunnam’s focus on the humanity within the notorious killer. Brennan stated, “He was very much not interested in just playing a villain or a goul. He really wanted to find the person beneath all this illness.” Brennan highlighted a pivotal scene in episode seven – Gein’s diagnosis and medication for schizophrenia – as a single-take performance that “entirely makes the whole show.”
Murphy previously told The Hollywood Reporter in August that this season of Monster was his most extraordinary work to date, calling it “a really rich, very weird, extremely upsetting, very emotional, deeply funny season of television.”
All eight episodes of Monster: The Ed Gein Story are currently streaming on Netflix.