Charlie Hunnam's Girlfriend Had This Request About Ed Gein Role

"I took the role and then regretted it," he admitted. "The scripts weren't available, so all I had to go upon when I started working were all of the texts that have been written about him. They were just this litany of this sensationalist horror show of all of the things that he did, which were undoubtedly terrible."

"But there was a human being in there, a mixed-up, mentally ill, abused, isolated man inside there that was driving all of that," he continued. "So it took a while to get past what he did, to be able to find who he was inside and why he was doing what he was doing."

Despite his original reservations, the 45-year-old is grateful he took the leap. As he quipped, "Now, we're standing here and I'm happy that I did."

For Charlie, entering the psyche of Ed—who was convicted of two murders and suspected of more—was an incredibly delicate maneuver. 

"I felt a huge obligation and responsibility because he was a real person, and also exacerbated by the fact that he had committed all of these terrible crimes," he told E! News in October. "I wanted to find the truth of it."

"Right from my early conversation with Ryan, we were less interested in what he did," the Sons of Anarchy alum, who will reteam with the Glee creator for the Monster season centered around Lizzie Borden, continued, "but we really wanted to understand why he did what he did, and take the audience and take ourselves through that journey of understanding how a human being becomes a monster."

Now, keep reading for more celebs at the Critics Choice Awards 2026 red carpet.