Charlie Hunnam has done an incredible job playing the infamous grave robber and killer Ed Gein in Netflix’s new true crime drama, Monster: The Ed Gein Story, but the actor has now revealed the reason he seriously thought playing the role might’ve been a “horrible mistake.”
Charlie Hunnam takes on one of his darkest roles yet in Ryan Murphy’s hit anthology series, which has become Netflix’s most controversial season so far. It dives into the twisted world of Ed Gein, and Charlie didn’t take the challenge lightly.
So, why did Charlie Hunnam think it was a mistake?
via Netflix
Speaking to GQ Hype, the actor said preparing for the role quickly became overwhelming. “I just went, ‘I don’t have the skill set or the knowledge of the human condition, or any reference point or the talent to be able to pull this off,’” he admitted. “And yet, I had to go to work.”
Charlie explained that he went deep into research mode, reading books, court transcripts, and old reports, but the more he learned, the darker it got. “The whole thing just turned so dark and impossibly bleak,” he said. “I thought I’d made a horrible mistake, frankly. Maybe I shouldn’t say all of this, but f**k it.”
But then came the ‘eureka moments’ that changed everything
via Netflix
After weeks of prep, Charlie finally found his way into the character through two key breakthroughs. The first came when he remembered visiting the Body Worlds exhibition as a young man, which helped him connect to Gein’s disturbing fascination with anatomy. He recalled, “How much of this was a fascination with anatomy and wanting to see what’s underneath, and how much do we all in some way or what percentage of us have that in common?”
The second moment came when he managed to get hold of a rare audio recording of Ed Gein himself.
Despite the heavy subject matter, and the huge backlash, Charlie has constantly defended the show and his role. “f people are compelled to talk about it and think about it, hopefully they’ll actually be compelled to watch the show. What I would hope and feel really confident in is that it was a very sincere exploration of the human condition and why this boy did what he did.”
Monster: The Ed Gein Story is available on Netflix now. For all the latest Netflix news and drops, like The Holy Church of Netflix on Facebook.
