Why Charlie Hunnam Visited Murderer Ed Gein’s Grave After Filming Monster

Charlie Hunnam‘s commitment to playing Ed Gein led to him visiting the infamous murderer’s grave after filming Monster.

“[After we wrapped, my girlfriend, Morgana McNelis, said] ‘Take some time after you finish. Because when you come home, you should be ready to see me,’” Hunnam, 45, recalled on the Today show before the show’s season 3 premiere on Friday, October 3. “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. 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.”

For Hunnam, it was a “good conclusion” to the role “to go visit his grave,” which has been unmarked since 2000 after the infamous killer’s headstone was stolen and the burial site was repeatedly vandalized.

“And say what I wanted to say to him. [I told him I] 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,” he continued. “I was ready to say goodbye to him and that be the end.”

Monster: The Ed Gein Story centered on the “Butcher of Plainfield,” who was convicted of one count of first-degree murder and admitted to a second killing in the 1950s. While it has been suspected that Gein was involved in multiple other crimes, he only admitted to exhuming multiple graves and fashioning grotesque keepsakes out of the bodies.

“You have to have an enormous amount of love and empathy for a character that you play to be able to inhabit them. Because as despicable as Ed was in his acts, I wanted to find the human in there,” Hunnam told Variety earlier this month about playing Gein. “I personally don’t like to be forced to confront the most bleak and sinister elements of the human condition.”

He continued: “I could certainly see the accusation being leveled at me that I was too sensitive toward him, and let him off the hook a bit too much. My hope was, although I clearly don’t understand the function of these type of stories, I understand that people are very drawn to them. I needed to bring Gein to life in as honest and human a way as possible.”

Before Ryan Murphy chose Gein as the inspiration for season 3 of Monster, the criminal was the jumping off point for movies such as The Texas Chain Saw Massacre and Psycho. The topic of how Gein’s crimes helped true crime evolve into a pop culture phenomenon is addressed throughout the season.

“This whole series, it turns the camera right on us,” showrunner Ian Brennan told Tudum in October. “It really matters what you look at and the images and stories you consume. They do stick with you, and they do have an impact.”

Hunnam, meanwhile, explained the main message of Monster. “Who was the monster? This poor boy who was abused his whole life then left in total isolation, suffering from undiagnosed mental illness?” he asked Tudum. “Or the legion of people who sensationalized his life for entertainment and arguably darkened the American psyche and the global psyche in the process?”

Monster is currently streaming on Netflix.