Ryan Murphy’s “Monster: The Ed Gein Story” took many liberties with the serial killer’s story, but how accurate was Charlie Hunnam’s interpretation of his voice?
In the Netflix adaptation of his story, Hunnam uses a soft, high-pitched speaking voice for the serial killer. Gein was known to be meek and unassuming in characterizations of him in real life, and Hunnam seemed to lean into this for his portrayal.
Few audio recordings of Gein exist, but in MGM+’s 2023 docuseries “Psycho: The Lost Tapes of Ed Gein,” his voice can be heard. Though it does not appear to be quite as pitched up as Hunnam’s portrayal, Gein does speak softly and without any rush. The simple responses and innocuous tone of voice match with people in his community’s accounts that he was unremarkable.
Listen to a snippet of Gein’s voice below.
Hunnam has said in interviews since the show’s release that both he and his director, Max Winkler, didn’t have “an idea” of Gein’s real sound. Instead, the actor developed his voice based on Gein’s “affectations to please his mother.” Winkler later said that Mark Rylance’s tone in his Tony-winning “Jerusalem” role partly inspired the voice on the show, as did Michael Jackson.
The documentarian in “Psycho: The Lost Tapes of Ed Gein” described his voice as “meek and mild.”
His voice is not the only liberty Murphy took in his interpretation of Gein’s story. Though the serial did inspire “Psycho,” “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre” and “The Silence of the Lambs,” Gein did not chase people with a chainsaw nor did he have sex with dead bodies. He did, however, flay corpses to make a woman’s skin suit. Gein may have had a fascination with Nazi Germany, though that is not 100% proven, but the serial killer absolutely did not help catch Ted Bundy.
All episodes of “Monster: The Ed Gein Story” are available to stream on Netflix.
