‘Lost’ tape reveals Ed Gein’s real-life voice as Netflix fans slam Charlie Hunnam for accent in Monster
Actor Charlie Hunnam’s accent in Monster: The Ed Gein Story is being slammed after 'lost tapes' revealed what the body-snatcher’s real voice sounded like.
Hot on the heels of The Jeffrey Dahmer Story and The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story comes the anticipated third instalment in Ryan Murphy and Ian Brennan’s Monster anthology series for Netflix, The Ed Gein Story.
Chronicling the life of convicted murderer, graverobber, and suspected serial killer Ed Gein, the show sees Sons of Anarchy icon Hunnam, 45, stepping into the shoes of the titular character. Tom Hollander, Suzanna Son, and pop star Addison Rae have all been drafted in as support.
True crime fanatics are obsessed with the ‘house of horrors’ recreation and have praised Hunnam, who recently revealed the extreme lengths he went to to get inside the killer’s head.
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Some Netflix viewers, however, have an apparent gripe with how the actor sounds after hearing ‘lost’ audio recordings of Gein’s real voice.
In the 2023 MGM documentary, Psycho: The Lost Tapes of Ed Gein, filmmakers aired a recorded interrogation that was unearthed in 2019.
The rare interview audio is thought to have been captured in 1957, but was later deemed invalid as the criminal had not been told he had the right to an attorney and had been beaten up by the presiding sheriff at the time.
The four-part series, featuring an excerpt of the 70-minute interrogation, is available to stream on Amazon Prime Video.
But if you’re interested in hearing Gein’s real voice now, then you can listen to chilling notes from the Lost Tapes below via YouTube.
Hunnam, who is originally from Newcastle-upon-Tyne, England, really wanted to nail The Plainfield Goul’s voice for Monsters, so he contacted the MGM documentary producers to see if he could gain access to the now-infamous interrogation.
However, he admitted he only managed to gain access 'three or four days before filming', and the voice he chose for Gein was largely drawing on the fact that his abusive mother Augusta constantly told him she wished he'd been born a girl.
Speaking about his accent decision, the British actor explained: “That voice that I use grew out of my research, and the thing that I couldn't stop thinking about was Ed's burning desire to get the love and affection and acceptance from his mother that he never got, who was the only person he ever had a relationship with in his life.
“I thought this gentle, high-pitched voice might be a way that Ed gave permission to his mother to love him,” he confessed to the Radio Times.
Despite his reasonings, fans have unfortunately come out in their droves to berate Hunnam for his accent.
One YouTube user wrote: “Had to come check out the real voice because I knew damn well there was no way he sounded like Winnie the Pooh.”
A second said: “The voice in the show is ridiculous.”
“Just started watching the show. Came here to see if the voice matched, and now I'm not sure I can continue watching it,” someone else remarked. "His voice is ridiculous on the show. No one talks like that!”
Another typed: “Who on Earth instructed Charlie Hunnam to talk like he’s one of Ned Flander’s sons?”
Monster: The Ed Gein Story currently has a 54 percent critics score on the Rotten Tomatoes, with one viewer claiming it is ‘chilling, voyeuristic, and unsettling’.
One critic described it as ‘the best Monster yet’, adding: “Ed Gein’s story is disturbing and complex, and you’ll leave questioning if you’re the monster for watching.”
Watch all eight episodes of Monster: The Ed Gein Story on Netflix now.
Topics: Crime, Documentaries, Film and TV, Netflix, True crime
Ella Scott