Charlie Hunnam's Chilling Words He Spoke at Ed Gein's Grave After Filming 'Monster'
The third season of Ryan Murphy's Monster anthology series tackles the infamous murderer and grave robber Ed Gein. Charlie Hunnam stars in Monster: The Ed Gein Story as the killer who inspired some of horror's most infamous stories, like Psycho, Texas Chainsaw Massacre, and The Silence of the Lambs.
After months of studying Gein's backstory, listening to real-life audio tapes of the killer, and deep-diving far enough to portray him on screen, Hunnam was ready to let go. He visited Gein's grave in Wisconsin after he wrapped filming on the Netflix series last fall.
He explained on a recent appearance on the Today show that his long-time girlfriend, Morgana McNelis, has one rule when it comes to his work. He has to take time off for himself "because when you come home, you should be ready to see me."
"I'd been shooting in Chicago, I decided to stay for a week and sort of decompress so I was ready to see her when I got home," he said. "And it was about an 8-hour drive up to Wisconsin from where I was to where Ed grew up and where he's buried."
The actor said at Gein's grave that he "hoped we had told his story honestly at the very least, and [I] didn't invite him to come on the journey with me moving forward."
"I wanted to say a few things and make it clear that he wasn’t going to be continuing on this journey," Hunnam told Variety. "Whilst I fully recognize the horror of the acts that he committed, my entire job was to find the truth. I felt compelled to say that to him."
Gein died on July 26, 1984, at the age of 77. After being declared insane following his arrest, he spent the rest of his life in a mental health facility. He died from respiratory failure from lung cancer and was buried in Plainfield Cemetery in Waushara County, Wisconsin.
He was only convicted of two murders at the time, while investigators found evidence of grave robbing and body-part trophies that fueled speculation that he might have killed more.
Monster: The Ed Gein Story premieres on October 3, 2025, on Netflix.