Top 5 Ways Charlie Hunnam Transformed Into Ed Gein
Charlie Hunnam went all in to become one of history’s most macabre criminals. From sleepless nights to haunting research, here’s how he prepared for his most disturbing role...
Top 5 ways Charlie Hunnam transformed into Ed Gein.
Charlie Hunnam went all in to become one of history’s most macabre criminals. From sleepless nights to haunting research, here’s how he prepared for his most disturbing role...
Shedding 30 pounds in three weeks
To capture Gein’s malnourished frame, Hunnam dropped nearly 30 pounds in just three weeks.
Speaking in HELLO!, he said: "I wanted to get as close as possible to who Ed was, to do him justice, and for this thing to feel authentic."
He added: “He’d been abused, he was left in isolation, so he had no real social context to reflect back to him, normal behaviour. And he was a very skinny, malnourished type of guy. So I mean, first of all, basically the basic first step was losing 30 pounds so I could look like him.”
Listening to Gein's real voice
Hunnam didn’t stop at the physical. He studied one of the few surviving recordings of Gein’s voice — a surprisingly high-pitched Midwestern tone — and practiced until he could mimic every tremor and hesitation. The subtle speech work, he said, was “a key to unlocking the man behind the monster".
Staying in character 24/7
Hunnam admitted he remained in character even after cameras stopped rolling, describing it as a form of discipline rather than method acting.
He said: “The hardest thing about being an actor is that it requires an enormous amount of focus and concentration to fully inhabit somebody that is completely different from you. It’s like when you don’t go to the gym for two weeks, then it sucks. It takes this Herculean effort to go and actually force yourself through a workout. You know, it’s the same with acting. Once you’re inside this thing, I’d rather just stay in it than go out, have dinner, and have to find my way back in. "
Custom-made lazy eye
The transformation extended to prosthetics. Hunnam wore a custom-made contact lens to simulate Gein’s lazy eye, along with subtle aging makeup and prosthetic teeth. The small detail added a haunting realism that made his portrayal almost unrecognisable.
Monster all the time
For Charlie Hunnam, there was no off switch. Once filming began, he lived and breathed the role entirely.
He said: “It was all Monster all the time until we finished.”
