Charlie Hunnam's Girlfriend Had One Big Concern About Him Playing Serial Killer Ed Gein
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Charlie Hunnam is one to take a deep dive when it comes to playing a character on the screen. And no one knows this better than his longtime girlfriend, Morgana McNelis.
In a new interview with E! News, the 45-year-old actor revealed the one important request his girlfriend of two decades made when he immerses himself in his roles, which, of course, has included the FX hit series Sons of Anarchy and Apple TV+ series Shantaram, among others.
Hunnam Was Cautious With His Emotions
That request was top of mind for Hunnam when he portrayed the serial killer Ed Gein, the infamous grave robber who would exhume corpses and mutilate them, and then use pieces of bones and skin to decorate his home, like making a lampshade from a victim's face.
For season 3 of Ryan Murphy's Netflix anthology series, Monster, Hunnam knew he would need to heed his girlfriend's advice and somehow disengage after portraying Gein.
“She got frustrated with me showing up and being a bit of a shell after doing a role,” Charlie told E! News. “So, she said to me, probably about 10 years ago, ‘Here's the rules of engagement: Go do your work. Be as selfish as you need to be, but then take some time, because when you get back, you better be ready to see me.’ Which is completely fair and really lovely.”
Related: Ed Gein, the Real Story: Chilling Details From Newspaper Stories at the Time
He says he disengaged from the character by taking a week for some alone time. Well, he wasn't exactly alone.
“I take a week, at least, however long I need once I finish,” he said. “This time was the most extreme decompression, because I was in Chicago, which is close to where Ed Gein lived in Wisconsin. So I drove up and spent the day and visited his grave and spent some time with him, which was a healing way to say goodbye and put a full stop at the end of the thing.”