Netflix’s newest season of their hit show Monster focuses on the horrific crimes of Ed Gein, a serial killer known as The Plainfield Butcher.
As with the seasons focused on Jeffrey Dahmer and the Menendez Brothers, Monster: The Ed Gein Story has already been controversial with fans, with some saying they were left ‘needing therapy’ after the show’s explicit sexual scenes in just the first five minutes.
One of the main aspects Netflix fans have been shocked by, however, is Charlie Hunnam’s interpretation of Gein's accent, something the actor went to great lengths to try and perfect.
Tapes of Gein, however, do exist, meaning that fans can see whether their criticism of Hunnam is well-founded or unfair on the Geordie actor.
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Gein, who murdered at least two people and robbed numerous graves to create a ‘house of horrors’, was arrested in 1957 after one of the two women he murdered, Bernice Worden, went missing.
A tape of Gein was found in 2019, which had been inadmissible as evidence in the case. It eventually led to him being admitted to a mental asylum until he died.
The tape featured an interrogation of Gein that was deemed invalid as he had not been read his Miranda rights and had been beaten by the Deputy Sheriff.
These tapes eventually were included in an MGM+ documentary Psycho: The Lost Tapes of Ed Gein, and were released in 2023.
Whilst small clips of his voice were included in the documentary, Hunnam reached out to the documentary’s producers to get hold of the full 70 minute tape to inform his accent in the show.
This saw Hunnam be forced to sign an NDA to be able to hear the full recording of the serial killer being interrogated.
You can hear a short clip of the interview below which shows what Gein really sounded like:
Fans who have found the clip on TikTok were not convinced by Hunnam’s voice after hearing Gein’s real accent.
One comment said: “Why've they made him sound like Winnie The Pooh.”
Another said: “Charlie Hunnam didn’t do a good job trying to sound like him , in the show he sounds like Ben Stiller in Zoolander.”
And a third commented: “So he spoke normal why make his voice weird lol.”
Others, however, pointed out that the clip is just a small portion of the 70-minute-long tape that Hunnam based his accent on and that much of it is not available to the public, meaning that there very well could have been other aspects he based his voice on.
The new season has been met with a mixed response from fans, with some praising the chilling portrayal of a murderer and others calling out ‘inaccuracies’ with the show.
One fan posted on Reddit calling the season ‘horrific’ saying: “Man, I do not mind at all if they do make a movie about a killer and go in depth about what he did but they portrayed him horribly.
“They added multiple details that just weren't true to make it more dramatic, turned storylines past what was real to the point it seemed honestly just weird and disrespectful.”
Monster: The Ed Gein Story is available to stream on Netflix now.
Topics: Charlie Hunnam, Documentaries, Netflix, TV, TV and Film, True Crime, Ed Gein
Michael Slavin