Charlie Hunnam’s portrayal of killer Ed Gein in a new Netflix series has viewers talking, especially about the voice he chose to adopt for the chilling TV show.
“Monster: The Ed Gein Story” is a dark tale about Gein, a mid-20th century killer whose crimes inspired several horror films, including “Psycho” and “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre.”
In the Netflix series, Hunnam speaks in a voice that some viewers have described as sounding like Winnie the Pooh. What motivated the actor’s approach and how did Gein sound in real life? We’re breaking it all down.
How Did Charlie Hunnam Invent the Ed Gein Voice in ‘Monster’?
“Monster: The Ed Gein Story,” which premiered on Oct. 3, finds Hunnam using a soft voice and often speaking slowly.
In an interview with Variety, the actor described his approach, saying, “The voice needed to be really specific.”
Hunnam admitted that no one working on the TV series “really had an idea of what that was” at first, especially since audio recordings of Gein are few and far between.
Hunnam said the voice ultimately came from Gein’s relationship with his mother, Augusta Gein. “I started to see him through a series of affectations to please his mother. That’s where the voice came from,” he told Variety.
In an interview with Entertainment Tonight, Hunnam elaborated on his inspiration, saying he wanted to portray Gein’s “soul and spirit and trauma and struggle in the way he communicates with the world.”
“There’s just this constant desire for acceptance and I thought that a lot of his behavior would grow inauthentically out of his desire to be the person that he thought his mother wanted him to be and that was as much like a girl as possible,” the actor said.
Hunnam admitted that it took “courage” to take this approach “because I felt like this voice is going to feel inauthentic and it’s not going to feel like it belongs in his body.”
What Did Ed Gein’s Voice Really Sound Like?
In his book “Deviant,” Schechter described Gein’s voice, writing that a hospital social worker said Gein talked “freely in a low voice, frequently with his head in his hands.”
The author also noted “the softness of his voice” and “the meekness of his posture.”
While describing a press interview Gein gave in a courthouse, the author said he used “a voice so quiet that the reporters in the back of the room had trouble hearing him.”
As for how to hear Gein’s voice for yourself? In 2023, the documentary series “Psycho: The Lost Tapes of Ed Gein” also featured recordings of Gein’s voice. The documentary is available to stream on MGM+.
How Have Viewers Responded?
After watching “Monster: The Ed Gein Story,” many viewers have expressed confusion over Hunnam’s voice and wondered if Gein really spoke like that.
One YouTube user left the following comment on a video that played a recording of Gein’s real voice: “Had to come check out the real voice because I knew damn well there was no way he sounded like Winnie the Pooh.”
“How many other people came here after the new series of monsters came out, to see if the voice matched,” another wrote.
Another left the following reaction: “He sounds so simple and innocuous. It’s no wonder no one suspected what he was really capable of.”
One viewer said Hunnam’s voice in the show “is so different” since Gein’s real voice “is much deeper.”
Over on X, many social media users also weighed in on the voice, with one commenting, “I don’t know if I can get through 8 hours of Charlie Hunnam and his Ed Gein voice.”
Some viewers applauded the actor for the added element of creepiness his voice lent to the role.
“Charlie hunnam’s voice for ed gein sounds like winnie the pooh but i actually dont hate it at all, it honestly makes his performance more unsettling,” one wrote.
Some viewers have started to imitate Hunnam’s voice in TikTok videos. One such video was captioned, “ed gein is our whole personality now.”