Charlie Hunnam Brings Chilling Ed Gein to Life in Monster Season 3
Charlie Hunnam, best known for his rugged antihero roles in Sons of Anarchy and Pacific Rim, is stepping into far more disturbing territory. The actor has been cast as infamous murderer Ed Gein in the upcoming third season of Netflix’s anthology series Monster. With its first two installments delving into the twisted psyches of Jeffrey Dahmer and the Menéndez brothers, Season 3 promises to plunge viewers into even darker waters—this time exploring one of America’s most terrifying figures.
Stepping Into the Skin of a Monster
Ed Gein, the reclusive Wisconsin handyman whose crimes inspired Psycho, The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, and The Silence of the Lambs, has long haunted the American imagination. Known for exhuming corpses and fashioning grisly household items from human remains, Gein’s story is one of isolation, obsession, and depravity. Bringing such a figure to life requires both restraint and menace—qualities Hunnam seems determined to master.
Early whispers from the set suggest the actor has immersed himself fully in the role, adopting Gein’s awkward physicality and unsettling quietness. Unlike his charismatic turns as Jax Teller or his Hollywood heartthrob image, Hunnam reportedly strips himself bare, transforming into someone unnervingly ordinary—and therefore all the more horrifying.
A Season Drenched in Unease
Monster creators Ryan Murphy and Ian Brennan have promised this season will dive less into spectacle and more into the eerie stillness of Gein’s life. Rather than a blood-soaked gore fest, the narrative will reportedly linger on the suffocating isolation of rural Plainfield, Wisconsin, and the twisted bond between Gein and his domineering mother, Augusta. It is this environment—dreary, cold, and claustrophobic—that shaped his descent into madness.
Cinematographers are said to be leaning into muted color palettes and creeping, deliberate pacing to unsettle viewers. One crew member described the shoot as “claustrophobic and unnerving, as if the house itself is alive with secrets.” It’s clear Monster: The Ed Gein Story isn’t aiming for cheap thrills, but for a suffocating sense of dread that lingers long after the credits roll.
Casting Hunnam as Ed Gein is a gamble—and perhaps a masterstroke. The juxtaposition of his familiar screen presence with such a grotesque character ensures audiences will be both drawn in and repulsed. Beyond the performance, the series continues Netflix’s ongoing exploration of America’s fascination with true crime and the monsters that lurk not in shadows, but in small towns and seemingly ordinary homes.
Gein’s crimes, decades later, remain chilling precisely because of their intimacy and grotesque banality. Monster Season 3 seeks to remind us that evil often hides in plain sight, wearing a human face. With Hunnam at the helm, that face promises to be unforgettable.
