Charlie Hunnam had no clue he would be the “Monster” in ‘The Ed Gein Story’
Charlie Hunnam was clueless that he would be Ryan Murphy’s monster for his upcoming Monster: The Ed Gein Story on Netflix.
When Hunnam met Murphy, the creator of Monster and American Horror Story, the latter was reportedly “caught up in a creative tailwind.” They had an in-depth conversation about Ed Gein, whom Murphy had been writing about for the past few days (via Tudum).
But upon expressing his excitement about how Hunnam couldn’t wait to see the show, Murphy had a response the actor clearly didn’t foresee. “So, do you want to play him?” he asked, and the rest is history. Netflix acknowledges that it was a task on its own to ask any actor, Hunnam in this case, to spend months inside the psychological space of a notorious serial killer like Ed Gein, knowing his trail of unflinching destruction and fatality in 1950s Wisconsin.
However, Murphy lucked out with the proposition as Hunnam didn’t think twice. On the heels of the release of Monster: The Ed Gein Story’s haunting teaser trailer, Murphy finally revealed to Tudum what actually made him cast this actor out of all. “I saw a paparazzi photograph of [Charlie] somewhere, and I was like, ‘Oh, he seems haunted,’” he recounted. While the creator couldn’t help but see something “very Ed about him that day,” Hunnam quips it must have been a “bad day” indeed for him.
Co-creator Ian Brennan weighs in, calling the Ed Gein Story the “best season of the three” that’s going to drop jaws left and right. Although Gein had a brief screen time in DAHMER, in comparison to the subjects of the previous two seasons and serial killers, he remains “fairly obscure.” Part of that is because he was just a man who did not make many connections in real life and lived in a farmhouse. But to watch him sink deep into insanity, which leads to a chain of murders, was the chilling factor.
While Gein’s story was far less popular than Dahmer’s and the Mendez brothers, telling his tale was quite a risk for a show that has been so deeply etched on the showbiz front of Netflix. However, the co-creators eventually found their jump-off point. Knowing that Gein is not a “household name” per se was a setback, but the characters he inspired within the popular culture definitely are.
Alfred Hitchcock was inspired by Gein for American Psycho (1960), Tobe Hooper did the same for The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974), and Jonathan Demme for The Silence of the Lambs (1991). “There’s something about this story that has really echoed down the ages, and that’s when it clicked,” Brennan says. Consequently, in making Monster: The Ed Gein Story, they also tap into the illustrious lineage of Hollywood with Alfred Hitchcock, portrayed by Tom Hollander, chiming in while working on Psycho.
In the recently released teaser trailer, Hollander’s Hitchcock is a narrator at the star who asks, “What shocks you the most about him?” over a clip as the police raid his home, unearthing the gory findings of his crime. Yet, if you think Gein’s influence is stagnant in Hollywood inspirations, you’re wrong. People may not know a lot about him, but his impact was profound in the crime scene of the 20th century. For instance, Ted Bundy was allegedly influenced by Gein.
Hunnam didn’t waste time on his research about Gein, reading multiple books that ultimately didn’t help. Subsequently, he resorted to a primary source, “the only known recording of Ed Gein,” made two days after his arrest. The recording runs for about an hour and 10 minutes, and that’s where he found what he wanted. Hunnam also paid extra attention to the cold mother-son dynamic by familiarising him with the actor, Laurie Metcalf, before filming.
“I wanted to get as close as possible to who Ed was, to do him justice, and for this thing to feel authentic,” the Sons of Anarchy actor explains. Monster: The Ed Gein Story will be released on Netflix on October 3rd. For now, fans can check out the teaser trailer below.