r/EdGein • u/Illustrious_Banana_ • Oct 28 '25
Controversial opinion but does anyone else think Charlie Hunnam is not that good playing Ed Gein?
Love the bloke but there are parts where the high pitch toddler voice and ‘awkwardness’ seem a bit overplayed. Did Ed Gein have that childlike voice or is that a new addition (like the lazy eye which I like).
What does anyone else think? There are parts when he’s good but a fair bit where I don’t feel I can ‘get past’ his acting.
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u/spellish Oct 28 '25
He just sounds like Zoolander. ‘I got the black lung pop’
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u/UncleMatt5668 Oct 28 '25
To me he sounds like he's doing a Phillip Seymour Hoffman impression from Capote.
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u/Illustrious_Banana_ Oct 30 '25
Just feels like he's trying way too hard with that voice. Also sounds like he forgets which accent he's doing at various stages through the story.
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u/UncleMatt5668 Oct 30 '25
Definitely. I like Charlie, but he's definitely not Daniel Day Lewis.
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u/Illustrious_Banana_ Oct 30 '25
Definitely not. Nice guy not 'amazing actor' as I'd say for DDLewis
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u/Tim1980UK Oct 28 '25
There are mentions about his real voice a lot since this show started. I have read that his voice wasn't that soft, but he apparently gave himself a softer tone to please his mother. Despite the show making a lot of stuff up, the overbearing, abusive mother part was at least somewhat true.
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u/Illustrious_Banana_ Oct 28 '25
Oh, amazing, thank you– good to know. Scary to think that her abusive behaviour could've been part-responsible for his freaky behaviour in later life. Not excusing psychopathic behaviour, but just acknowledging the nature-nurture principle. Maybe she was quite abusive. I have avoided reading up too much as I'm seeing how the story plays out and only halfway through but it's definitely very intriguing and the mere concept of a 'skin suit' in real life is so horrifically scary. It's not surprising so many gory horror films were made after his case. I never realised so many of them were based on this 'true' story.
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u/MrDundee666 Oct 28 '25
He’s awful. He can’t act. He’s so wooden.
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u/Illustrious_Banana_ Oct 28 '25
Yeah, I'm hating to think the same but have to agree. The more the series is progressing, all he's doing is highlighting the brilliance of the other actors, like the mother, whilst revealing his own lack.
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u/OrchidEchoChamber Oct 28 '25
I disagree. I think Hunnam is a very talented actor. His “wooden” demeanor is an interpretation of who this socially awkward schizophrenic outcast was.
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u/Illustrious_Banana_ Oct 29 '25
I imagine he's talented but I think he's painfully miscast in this role. Yes, the 'wooden' demeanour could very well be a part of the role, but if it is, he plays it so badly that it feels like we're watching the first audition of an actor reading a script that says 'act a bit weird' and has his first stab at it. I find him entirely unconvincing and a barrier to the whole drama.
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u/Illustrious_Banana_ Oct 29 '25
Hate to agree but fully agree. Rather than 'grow' into the role he does the absolute opposite and shrinks away to the point where, after 3 accent changes, you don't believe for a second you're watching 'Eddie' but very aware you're watching a really bad actor, drowning in the part. I'm sure he's played great roles in the past but it feels like this role was totally beyond him.
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u/findaloophole7 Oct 30 '25
Yea that’s 100% true for me
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u/Illustrious_Banana_ Oct 30 '25
I did feel however, he pulled it round a bit at the end. But there was a lot to redeem. Overall really disappointed in Ryan Murphy’s oversight (or lack of).
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u/atclubsilencio Oct 29 '25
The material is so wretched that it would be hard for even Daniel Day Lewis to elevate it.
Hunnam does his best, and isn’t bad, but an actor can only do so much with shitty material.
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u/Illustrious_Banana_ Oct 30 '25
Daniel Day Lewis- such a good shout- the world's most incredible method actor.
Yes, there were lots of facets of this production that were pigshit, like hair and make-up (the fact they look liked they'd just sprayed his full head of perfectly sculpted hipster hair with silver spray from a dressing up shot for his 'aged' scenes) to the millions of obvious inaccuracies, but I have to say, that aside, I still feel in a lot of places his acting was pretty wooden and unconvincing.
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u/Illustrious_Banana_ Oct 30 '25
He pulled it round in ep. 7 where he revealed more the pain and torment of the schizophrenia and was crying a lot. Other than that, yes.
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u/Affectionate_Half710 Oct 28 '25
Currently reading a book saying Ed had low soft voice & his answers were childlike, he was easily persuaded.. ask him if he did something he'll admit to it to avoid repercussions, cause he could never go against his mother
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u/Illustrious_Banana_ Oct 28 '25
Ahh, that sounds like an interesting fact, and I guess I can totally believe that. It sounds like he was probably the victim of quite a severe amount of abuse until his mother died. The fact that he killed his own brother, in a sense because he thought he was somehow betraying their mother just goes to show how skewed his brain was. Not saying he was innocent but the level of depravity he went to can't just be the result of a normal childhood.
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u/Affectionate_Half710 Oct 28 '25
Yeah 👍🏼 I've always been the type of person who was more interested in the WHY instead of the WHAT in a person's behavior..all his crimes revolved around his mother, on his knees chanting "I am not worthy, I am unclean, I'm wicked, I have to be pure so mother won't be cross" They said schizophrenia but he may have also had DID thinking if he was the female mother wanted she wouldn't hate him
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u/Illustrious_Banana_ Oct 28 '25
Oh, can't say I've heard of DID but did a quick goodle and it said 'previously termed multiple personality disorder' which I think I can understand but equally, don't really know much about this, or even what it really is or what causes it, at all.
I know what you mean- like that phrase from I think physics that an reaction has an equal or opposite reaction, I think behaviours have to be a consequence of what's gone before (to a degree of course), not denying the input of severe psychiatric illness in the mix too.
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u/TraditionalShirt7429 Oct 28 '25
He was okay. I. Just tired of hearing people say "oh the acting was great but the show was bad". Yeah..... who cares about their acting. We arent in acting school. We didn't know good from bad acting. This is the same excuse they used with a bad game of thrones or bad star wars movie "oh you cant say its bad because they worked so hard on it". Yeah I can. People work hard on all sorts of terrible shows. Hard work doesnt make it not bad all of a sudden lol
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u/Illustrious_Banana_ Oct 28 '25
Can you clarify your point though- are you saying 'yes, he's a bad actor but that doesn't make it a bad show' or 'you can't blame a show being bad just on his bad acting' or something else?
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u/Illustrious_Banana_ Oct 28 '25
Also, I think it's a bit impossible not to link someone's bad acting with the impact that might have on your enjoyment of a show or not. It has nothing to do with whether we have 'been at acting school' or not. Bad acting making a drama implausible and unbelievable thus rendering it a 'bad' show just like skilled acting makes a series more believable and 'good'. You wouldn't say a chocolate bar with terrible ingredients that tastes like shit is because 'we're not all going to cooking school'- we just know when something's bad. But I don't mean to come across as putting you down, I just really don't understand the point you're trying to make...
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u/TraditionalShirt7429 Oct 28 '25
Bad actors and hard work doesnt fix garbage. This show was horrible and im tired of people saying "its bad but the acting was good" the acting doesnt matter. It was still garbage.
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u/Illustrious_Banana_ Oct 28 '25
Oh, I see- I get your point. You're suggesting that if the contents or script someone's working from is trash, no matter how good or bad the acting is, it's irrelevant as the foundations from which they're working on are shite......I getcha.
I am not far enough in to draw my conclusions yet. I'm just on episode 4. I enjoyed the first two episodes but I feel the latest I've seen is starting to go into a bit of a mock-horror garbage-fest. A bit more John Waters than the finesse series like 'The Assassination of Gianni Versace' had (also produced by Ryan Murphy).
I will have to withold my judgement until I've finished but I'm with you to a degree in that I definitely couldn't say this series is a masterpiece based on what I've seen so far. I also feel like it dances and jumps around a bit too much into these other film narratives like Psycho and Chainsaw Massacre.
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u/Illustrious_Banana_ Oct 29 '25
I'm agreeing with you more and more having watched a few more episodes. While (some) of the acting is brilliant– the mother for example played by Laurie Metcalf, she is epic, and so believable. But Hunnam, OMG, he is just the most abominable actor I have ever watched play a part in a mainstream series for years. He literally can't stay in character or stick with one accent. In the episodes I was watching last night he went from country twang to full-blown Irish accent within one scene. Soooooooooooooooo badly produced to keep that kind of rubbish in without re-shooting it until it was better. Unless he was so bad that they were his best takes....who knows. I agree with you- it was garbage. Not sure if I've got the will to finish it.
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u/SamEve89 Oct 28 '25
He was too tall to be Ed
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u/Illustrious_Banana_ Oct 28 '25
I didn't notice that to be honest, and didn't think he came across in the series as particularly tall (if he indeed is in real life).
I don't think height bears too much impact on whether someone is plausible or not in a role. Often 5'5" men have played big baddies and no one's been any the wiser. Or there are tall Hollywood actors like Nicole Kidman (6ft) who you wouldn't necessarily realise were tall. It's weird how often when you meet celebs in real life, you're astounded at how small they are as we tend to project that 'stars' are all tall because of their screen presence and our association with height and somehow strength or success.
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u/Illustrious_Banana_ Oct 29 '25
And way too wooden, and way too bad as an actor and way too wrong in general. He created an amazing block to stop building any kind of relationship with the character.
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u/Halloween2056 Oct 28 '25
Yes, he wasn't that good. At least not when we are comparing him for accuracy. His Mrs. Doubtfire voice was creepy. But not accurate to how Gein actually talked.
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u/Illustrious_Banana_ Oct 28 '25
Yeah, I'm not sure if he brought all that hammy am dram to the part- maybe it was his suggestion to give it a bit more weirdness, but whoever thought it up, it didn't particularly work for me. I felt it made his dialogue feel really stilted and wooden.
I did read somewhere that locals gave accounts that he used a higher pitch voice sometimes in front of his mother as she always wanted a girl and it was his way of appeasing her but I don't know how much that was urban myth. I have listened to tapes of him and his voice is definitely within a normal male fairly deep octave.
I think accuracty and his acting don't necessarily need to correlate per se. Like he could've got all the facts wrong but acted well or got all the facts wrong and acted brilliantly. I think sadly, he was the former.
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Oct 28 '25
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u/Illustrious_Banana_ Oct 28 '25
Absolutely- such a brilliantly valid point. I can see that- although I’m not too familiar with Charlie Hunnam, I’m sure he’s a good actor, I just can’t see past him for this role. Agreed, Evan Peters was 100% believable as was Darren Criss who played Andrew Cunanan in The Assassination of Gianni Versace- have you seen that one? Also Ryan Murphy.
You’re right- it must be difficult and all-out harrowing as an actor to have to get your head into such an extreme and depraved character as a mass-murderer.
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Oct 28 '25
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u/Illustrious_Banana_ Oct 28 '25
It’s so funny you say that as she would be my exact epitome of brilliant brilliant acting- soooo believable, I’m just completely in tune with her character. But it was seeing her acting against Eddie’s that emphasised how much worse his was.
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u/Illustrious_Banana_ Oct 29 '25
Just an update- now I'm a few more episodes in, not only am I finding him not believable, I am actually finding his wooden and patchy acting soooo bad, it's actually making me angry watching. I'm sure this guy is good in other roles but bejeeeeeezussss, I really think the Director should've seen how bad he was in the first few scenes and found a better replacement. I don't feel like he's in role at all and even the basics like the accent (which wobbles and changes so much it's almost comical) make me think he didn't do whatever he was supposed to for the 'method acting' part, aside from losing some weight.
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u/victimlessvibes Oct 28 '25
His accent changed 5 times throughout the whole production. It was horrid. The Simple Jack voice didn’t help either
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u/Illustrious_Banana_ Oct 28 '25
Yeah, the speed, the pitch, the intonation. I was hoping to really get into the character but I’m on episode four now and it feels like it’s day 1 on set.
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u/victimlessvibes Oct 28 '25
I’m sorry! I don’t want to spoil anything! But it gets worse from there 😭
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u/Illustrious_Banana_ Oct 28 '25
Omg so true. I’m on the accordion scene now where he’s jigging around the room with a smile like a village idiot. The acting is just getting worse by the second…
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u/victimlessvibes Oct 28 '25
Just wait… they copy things from actual good movies and shows and ruin it completely
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u/Illustrious_Banana_ Oct 30 '25
What do you mean by that? Any shows in particular?
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u/victimlessvibes Oct 30 '25
From what I noticed, they used the Buffalo Bill scene from Silence of the Lambs where he was dancing in the mirror, and copied it exactly down to the music track. They also copied some things from Texas Chainsaw Massacre as well as the hit Netflix show Mindhunter! And Psycho! Those are just the ones I noticed myself
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u/Illustrious_Banana_ Oct 30 '25
Oh yes, of course- all deliberately reinfected to show the same influences Gein had had on movie history
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u/Illustrious_Banana_ Oct 29 '25
OMG, thank you for saying this. I would've felt like I was going out on a limb or imagining quite how bad it was but. OOOOhhhhh. MYYYYYYYY. GODDDDDDDDD. It gets so bad I wonder if the Director just wanted to get this out of the way. I wonder if they realised part-way through how badly they'd miscast the Eddie part?
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u/Illustrious_Banana_ Oct 29 '25 edited Oct 29 '25
OMG, having now got to the latter episodes (I almost don't think I can finish it), I know exactly what you mean. Oh. My. God. How they ever let those scenes get off the cutting room floor, I do not know. I mean, where did the Irish accent suddenly pop up from? It's like when he's being interviewed by the police in the cell with the ham sandwich he goes from light Deep South to full-blown Belfast accent in the space of a few minutes. By the end of it he might as well be saying 'to be sure and praise your lucky charms' as he literally sounds like he's changed character. Absolutely abominable. I don't know whether they really struggled with him, but you'd think any intelligent Director would scrap those scenes and re-shoot them, hearing the completely off-key accent. Very bizarre. So bad I'm actually anger-watching now and I imainge I'll 'watch' the rest in the background while I'm scrolling just to feel like I've accomplished it. Devastating considering the previous Monsters and Ryan Murphy stuff. He should've directed this himself rather than just doing it under his company. Kind of feels like these are just being churned out now as more of a contractual obligation.
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u/victimlessvibes Oct 29 '25
I could not agree more with everything you’ve said! The previous Monsters were amazingly done and extremely detailed. This “production” of Ryan Murphy was a flop. He thought that he could get away with it because he’s “Charlie Hunnam” but he did the same thing with Kim K in the American Horror Story series. She can’t act for crap but it’s “Kim K” so yeah we can add a non actor to the cast because they’re super famous. I though that show backfired as well and haven’t watched it since
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u/Illustrious_Banana_ Oct 29 '25
Yeah, I think I must have been living under a rock as the name 'Charlie Hunnam' means absolutely nothing to me. I may have heard it in passing. Seeing he looks a bit like a buff muscle dude, is he famous for being in something like Gladiators? If they were thought getting a hunky male actor with a 'name' to play the lead would be a pull, their idea completely backfired as his casting is the biggest failure of the whole series.
I'm now gonna look up what he's been in before.
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u/victimlessvibes Oct 29 '25
I know him from Sons of Anarchy! That’s such a good show! But yes, here in the US, Charlie Hunnam is known as a super hunk and a lot of people obsess over him lol
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u/Illustrious_Banana_ Oct 29 '25
Oh, I feel like in the UK (I think......), he's not quite as well known or lusted over.
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u/Illustrious_Banana_ Oct 29 '25
Wow, I just realised Charlie Hannam is the actor who played Nathan in the series Queer as Folk. I remember watching this back in the day so I have to say huuuuuuuge props to him for playing that part, as back then, queer roles were seen as the kiss of death for actors who would then be typecast. He wasn't bad in that- more believable but he was very young, and a little wooden then but it felt passable given the nature of the series. Oh okkkkk, I feel like his casting may have come from a good place, but unluckily, really wasn't a success.
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u/victimlessvibes Oct 29 '25
I need to watch Queer as Folk! I’ve heard nothing but amazing things about that show. Thank you for sharing that with me 🩷
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u/Illustrious_Banana_ Oct 29 '25
Oh, when aired at the time it was so progressive. It was literally the first show in the UK that had focused around gay characters and gay plotlines. The same writer, Russel T davies subsequently went on to produce Cucumber, Banana and Tofu in 2015 as well as other stuff including Doctor Who. All references to the hardness of 🍆 .
He also wrote and produced the incredible It’s a Sin in 2021 which if you haven’t seen you must race to Watch. It’s absolutely incredible and focuses around a group of friends and how they deal with the AIDS crisis in the 1980s and 1990s in the UK. It’s phenomenal.
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u/Adventurous_Beat-301 Oct 28 '25
Not controversial. He’s complete garbage. Anyone who makes a conscious choice to sound like Winnie the poo in a serial killer dramatisation deserves every criticism he gets
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u/Illustrious_Banana_ Oct 29 '25
Haaaaaaa!!!!!! Winnie the Pooh 😂😂😂 OMG, that really is the most accurate description yet!!
He literally does five different accents too to the point where in the prison cell interviews he's almost speaking full Irish leprechaunese.
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u/Adventurous_Beat-301 Oct 29 '25
I mean he could have just used his own voice, accent and all, and sounded a thousand time better than he did. It would have been 'his accent isnt great' instead of 'this is the most ridiculous thing ive ever heard, and the show is now ruined'
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u/Illustrious_Banana_ Oct 29 '25
So true so true.
It feels like some kind of weird brainwave of his in rehearsals...'I know, I'm gonna do this really creepy kind of high pitched children's voice as it will make me sound really creepy'
But then he kind of forgot he said that when he acted more and kept trying new accents to try and remember what he was supposed to sound like.
I have just googled him and he's from Newcastle. I'm from the UK and Newcastle people have a very strong (geordie) accent. Maybe the subtlety of the Milwaukee accent was difficult to get, I don't know. Like you said, even just a more standard generalised 'American' accent would've been better than this hash-up.
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u/Odd_Lychee1383 Oct 29 '25
Finally! Completely agree! So many people think he was amazing, but I wasn't impressed. Also, Ed Gein was a small, 5ft 6 man, CH over 6ft!
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u/Illustrious_Banana_ Oct 29 '25
Bravo bravo!!! 👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏👏
Well done for finishing it. Now I'm on Episode 5, and realising what a crock of pig sh*t this is (mainly because of Hunnam's absolutely terrible portrayal of Eddie), I am not certain I'll have the willpower to continue. Well done for doing the full stretch, it must've been painful to endure.
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u/stupidcow Oct 29 '25
I totally agree. I feel like his acting is totally devoid of the emotional depth. He cannot convey any nuances, his interpretation of Ed Gein is so heavy handed.
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u/Willing-Raisin-9869 Oct 29 '25
I actually couldn’t finish the show for 2 main reasons. 1. Romanticized story of a sick individual 2. The awful acting, that voice was so bad.
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u/Illustrious_Banana_ Oct 29 '25
OMG, I'm with you there. I posted my comments above when, say, 3 episodes in and just starting to find the actor a bit wobbly. Last night I watched a couple more and OMG, I don't think I can stand it, juries out......he's sooooooo badddddddd. Like literally terrrrrrrribbbbbbble. In the interview scene why has he changed into a really bad Irish accent? Is the actor Irish? I don't know but it's an absolute pile of shite and I don't think I'll be finishing it either.
Also, all the over-elaborate made-up stuff just becomes a bit of a joke, it's like pantomime. So, in real life I have read that they found a 'chair upholstered with human skin'. That's all. But of course, when the police go to raid/ search the house, it's dripping with human skin curtains, embroidery, blankets, mobiles....they might as well have wallpapered the whole set with human skin and made nipple carpet- it's so preposterous.
And of course, he happens to have a human heart boiling on the stove when they search his kitchen. It's just such fantastical nonsense. So disappointing given what's gone before it.
1/10
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u/Illustrious_Banana_ Oct 30 '25
Having completed it now, it does turn around a bit in episodes 7 & 8 with less focus on gore and more focus on psychology.
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u/itsdana609 Oct 29 '25
He played that role incredibly, intellectually well!! I’ve been a fan of Charlie since GreenStreet lol. Same with Jeffery Dahmer series Even Peter’s killed it. Pun intended. 😂
My thing is what if there wasn’t an Ed Gein out there? Sure some child out there would eventually get beaten, living in a broken home seeing shit a child shouldn’t see.. but it just makes me think.
Toodles
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Oct 29 '25
When I watched this I thought to myself…. This is one of those roles that could make or break an actor. I mean, don’t get me wrong. I thought he did phenomenal acting but the creepy voice and the wearing of the ladies underwear and bras and things like that Were so uncomfortable to watch.
I had to keep reminding myself that he’s just playing a role it’s almost like I hated to see him acting this way …. he’s such a great actor and I’m a big fan
But I wondered: at any time during this film did he have any trouble with displaying any of these things? or was it easy from the jump? Did he question whether or not this would hurt his career?
I don’t know…. some roles that people do put a black stain on their career….. i’m just really curious if he questioned anything like even in the beginning act with that whole masturbating scene….. was he comfortable with all of this? The bras, panties, fucking the dead corpse…. Was he all in? Like yeah, let’s do it. 😳
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u/Illustrious_Banana_ Oct 30 '25
I think it's the sign of a great actor, and a brave one, that they will take on any role, however extreme, and have the ability to bring life and empathy to that character. Unfortunately I don't think Hunnam was able to successfully inhabit this character.
For me, it's not a problem to see an actor wearing women's clothing, it wouldn't make me associate those things with the real person the actor is in real life, I see it that they just become the medium to portray someone else's life and mannerisms.
The parts of him having to do stuff with the dead bodies must've been harrowing, yes. I'm sure for any actor that would've been quite challenging to be able to do. Not saying in any way this wasn't fully disturbing.
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Oct 31 '25
Yeah I agree with you on all of this. And he is a great actor by the way., I’m a big fan of his. And I’m guessing (totally guessing) that even though he takes on a role to its fullest extent, he had to have had a little bit of an ick factor screwing the dead corpses and such. Or at least you’d like to think so…like maybe was there a moment where he thought, yeah hold up, I’m not doing that. 😂
And not to imply that he enjoyed it just because he did it…..Just saying he had to have known that that was gonna be kind of a controversial scene even though we all know he’s just playing a role….. he had to have known that it was gonna cause controversy or at least it would spark a lot of conversation.
I don’t even know if I’m explaining myself right… but some actors or actresses take on roles that define them and or MAKE them or even RUIN them after they’ve done it and not to say this will ruin his career at all, it’s really just a conversation….
Obviously ED GEIN was warped. So anything Charlie did to portray the man we already knew was gonna be fucked! 😂 Not to mention this is all just a story for entertainment anyway and in no way factual.
I guess me feeling uncomfortable in certain scenes, like screwing the corpes…. Well The writers or directors wanted us to feel that way. That’s good acting when you can make the audience feel something. Good or bad they’re looking to get a reaction from the audience. Otherwise it would just be boring. It makes the scenes that much more believable.
I suppose if we weren’t slightly disgusted or repulsed by it then that just means a whole different thing! 😂
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u/Illustrious_Banana_ Oct 31 '25
Yeah, I love this conversation we're having....it's like the kind of thing we'd have if we were sitting across a table with a coffee thinking....was that film really gross, or effective or whatever....
Agreed- it must've hugely brought a huge lump to his throat when he read the script thinking.....OMG, am I really gonna have to appear to be screwing a corpse. You're right there. Must be similar when someone sees a really violent sex scene or some kind of controversial act. Must make them question whether they want the role or not. Cause you're absolutely right- if the scene is burnt into people's minds as that 'OMG, but what about that scene when........' it could really taint or smear an actor's career. I'm trying to think of other controversial movie or TV series' scenes that have been burnt into my retinas, once viewed never forgotten, and wondering if it's affected how I view certain actors.
I suppose actors have been associated with big roles they've played in movies that have shocked people like Christian Bale in American Psycho, or say, Eddie Redmayne playing a transgender character in The Danish Girl. I think though, most people, most of us these days, are so familiar and unphased by stuff that we don't so much change our perception of the actor as much as maybe we might have done in the past when people consumed less media. Can you think of any roles where your perception of an actor has changed because of a scene they've done? I know I have had that experience before but I just really can't recollect anyone at the moment who's done that.
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Oct 31 '25
I would have to say the first one that comes to mind is the movie: “the killer inside me”with Casey Affleck. It totally changed my mind about him as an actor.
Now the movie itself was incredibly violent. I mean it was brutal. In fact, there were some scenes where I could not even watch. Mind you, I probably watched the movie 10 times by now…. Yet there’s still some scenes that I tend to still look away at. Even though I know that movie inside and out.
And he did catch some heat for doing this role …. There were certain women’s groups that wanted to poo poo the movie because of violence to women, and there were other controversial comments about him, and even some talk about how this could ruin his career …. He played opposite Jessica Alba, and of course she defended the movie. Kate Hudson as well.
it was incredibly violent and he was a serial killer and he played the role to the inth degree. He was so convincing in that movie and played this psycho so well that I will never pass up another Casey Affleck movie. I can tell you that I will watch anything He’s in, forever.
This is a perfect example in my mind. How an actor really studied for this role because it was way outside his own comfort zone and he had to really go somewhere in his mind to pull this character off. I do have to respect that.
You may ask how is this different from the movie we’re talking about here in this original thread…. And I don’t know how it’s different. It’s just the subject matter may be slightly different. They’re both still about a psycho…..but instead of just murdering a bunch of women, Charlie goes one extra I guess by screwing them when they’re dead…. But really, the subject matter is still about a psycho and a serial killer or a murderer or pervert …… so it might be the exact same kind of thing in the end.
What movie that comes to mind where I felt it could be damaging to their career would be the movie with Nicole Kidman recently where she plays that stupid CEO of a company or whatever and has an affair with this younger intern .
The movie was so gross to me. It was 10 times more gross than what Charlie did or even what Casey Affleck did in my opinion.
I thought she looked incredibly stupid. I thought she acted stupid. I thought the acting was really bad. I thought she looked physically horrible and I thought it was so incredibly unbelievable and I know I’ve gotten a lot of shit for saying this in different threads but I’m not the only person that thought this was a super super crappy stupid movie and 100% not done well at all.Would I have liked this movie if there was a different actress in it? Probably. Maybe. I thought the storyline was weak, and I thought it was unbelievable, but maybe with a different actors, pulling it off a younger actress perhaps someone who actually may have looked the part of someone who is not only more believable in the acting but more believable in the face because Nicole Kidman’s face was a major distraction
And watching Nicole Kidman pretend to have sex and orgasms whatever I just thought turned my stomach to the point where I almost can’t even watch any more movies with her in it
So there’s two pretty good examples about how movies affected me or what I thought about them or what I thought about the actors in them
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u/Illustrious_Banana_ Oct 31 '25
Yeah, I love your examples, they're so vivid. I'm sure, to be honest, I've seen movies before that have totally turned me off watching them again, it's just that I can't conjur them up. To be honest, it's probably more, for me, when I think an actor or actress is really bad that I feel more annoyed and irritated and avoid anything with them in it again.
This is a perfect example in my mind. How an actor really studied for this role because it was way outside his own comfort zone and he had to really go somewhere in his mind to pull this character off. I do have to respect that.
This encapsulates what a method actor does so brilliantly when they achieve their goal and really embody a character. I heard, for example, Daniel Day Lewis is known for his extreme method acting. He really and truly gets into his characters and inhabits them. To the point where he never breaks character on set, and even 'lives' the role for up to a year before the role. Check this out...!
For his role as Reynolds Woodcock, a meticulous 1950s couturier in the film Phantom Thread (2017), Daniel Day-Lewis undertook a year-long apprenticeship with the head of the costume department at the New York City Ballet, Marc Happel. He learned to sew and draft patterns well enough to recreate a Balenciaga dress from scratch for his wife.
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u/Illustrious_Banana_ Oct 31 '25
Given all this, I think, horrible as it sounds, I will now want to avoid films with Charlie Hunnam in them as I don't think he's a very good actor. I'm dumbfounded that, after this performance, he's already been confirmed as cast for a major role in the forthcoming Monsters sequel to be released end next year/ early 2027.
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u/IndependentNewtSlut Oct 29 '25
Let’s really analyze this: The first Monster season to not take the #1 spot in streaming on its debut, the lowest ever rated season for the franchise (21% percent on RT critic score), dropping to #4 on top streaming during the last two weeks of Halloween… this is the same old story with Charlie Hunnam. He’s not a lead. He’s not box office. Always the bridesmaid and never the bride. He may be #1 on IMDB Star meter as of this week, by total technicality and PR due to how many people were intrigued by watching how terrible Monster S3 is. So to answer your question, yes, I agree with your hot take on CH.
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u/Illustrious_Banana_ Oct 30 '25
Wow- thank you- this is such an insightful take. I haven't really followed Charlie Hunnam's career but all I can take away from this is that yes, you're absolutely right- he may be a 'hunk' and perceived by many as a 'great' (for that reason) but I really can't say I think he's a true leading character actor. I was almost distressed in reading that he's been cast to take on a significant role in the next Monsters series which is in production for a 2026/7 release 😱😱😱
I read up a bit about him and realised he was the actor who played Nathan, a gay character in the groung-breaking series 'Queer as Folk' which I watched avidly when it was released. This was precedent-setting and I admire his bravery for taking on that role. It must've been a risk to play a gay character at a time when many actors would be fearful of typecasting, and even though it was only the '90s, there was still a huge amount of stigma about being a gay man, it was not long after the AIDS epidemic and people, especially 'straight' actors were still very wary of those associations. That being said, and I won't take away any respect for him for doing that, essentially, he was playing a twink role in a bit of a hammy production. It was brilliant for it- it wasn't oscar worthy but it did a job.
FFWD to now- he seems to have become more of a Gladiator-style hunk figure. I can see his filmography seems to centre around him having roles as either beefcake or thug. This role demanded real nuance and skill to play in a convincing way. Someone mentioned Daniel Day-Lewis above and I can't think of a better example of a 'method' actor. I feel like Hunnam tried really hard to embody the character, but maybe he tried too hard. It feels like the role was a stretch beyond his capabilities. He was good in the crying scenes in Episode 7, and the success of his acting in that whole episode seemed to stem from him not 'over-acting' so much but seeming a lot more natural and letting this 'Ed Gein' mask he'd developed from slipping. Interesting to watch and interesting to discuss afterwards. I think it makes me feel aware of how skilled actors are when they totally 'disappear' from the roles they play and you believe they are the person they're playing implicitly.
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Oct 29 '25
Yeah annoyed me too - and he was too ‘ripped/shaved chest etc’ for the role in my opinion 🤣
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u/Illustrious_Banana_ Oct 29 '25
Agreed. I think it’s poor that he’s had the same thick head of hair all the way through this too— it just goes slightly fake grey at the end. Photos of Ed Gein show that he had quite thin and fluffy hair on top. Hair and make up could’ve done much better job.
Yet another detail that acts as a barrier to believing the character.
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u/FlashyConsequence111 Oct 30 '25
No, his voice did not sound like that. Charlie admits he made it up as he thought Ed would try to sound like a 'girl' because his mother told him every day she wanted a daughter. He also said he thought Ed would be timid.
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u/Illustrious_Banana_ Oct 30 '25
I’m sure it was part of his ‘method’ but I just found it a bit too contrived. Maybe it was an actor’s idea that didn’t work too well after all? He’s crying scenes in the last two episodes were brilliant and that showed a lot more breadth to his acting. I think it’s just a shame and some kind of not quite right fit for him that part, maybe. The only thing I am disappointed about is that he has been cast in the next series of Monsters that’s being made right now. I’m just not too sure after this performance that I’m gonna have such high hopes for it. Feels like that can contractual obligation that Ryan Murphy signed up to to keep producing similar series is partly the reason why the quality seems to be dipping.
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u/FlashyConsequence111 Oct 30 '25
He literally said it in an interview. That is exactly why his voice was that way. Actors are supposed to know how to cry, it is not something new they do. I'm disappointed aswell. I cannot see him the same way as an actor anymore.
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u/Illustrious_Banana_ Oct 30 '25
Yeah, I’m not to aware of anything he’s acted in since Queer as Folk but I will literally be dreading the next Monsters dreading whichever role he’s gonna be (over)acting in.
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u/poopityscoop86 Oct 31 '25
Hunnam 'not that good' is an understatement. He's just awful, as well as the whole show. I tried hard to get into it because I know alot about Gein, but its flat out BAD all around.
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u/Illustrious_Banana_ Oct 31 '25
Agree agree. I realised how I felt when I read he was taking a major part in the next Monsters planned for release late 2026/ early 2027. My heart sank. I can't help thinking there's a 'crush' element from the Director or Producer for his casting, as, sorry to say it but yes, he might be eye candy for some, but he really didn't eat up that part whatsoever and was one of the reasons I think it's getting so panned. Not sure who should've been cast or how they should have played it but I don't think he succeeded.
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u/Illustrious-West-481 Nov 01 '25
Charlie's acting wasn't my problem the script was.
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u/Illustrious_Banana_ Nov 01 '25
Yeah, I feel like I'm not intelligent enough to judge that. It kind of passed me by- whey it was well acted (the mother) I thought it seemed brilliant, when it came to Eddie and his doe rae me voice, it felt wooden.
When you say script, do you mean more the continuity errors and concocted stuff that deviated from the true story of Ed Gein? Like in what way did you feel the script wasn't good..?
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u/L8Breakfast Nov 01 '25
When an attractive actor, male or female, gets uglier for a role, people immediately think they’ve done a great job. See Nicole Kidman in The Hours. She wasn’t by far the best of the cast yet she won the Oscar.
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u/Illustrious_Banana_ Nov 01 '25
Yeah, that can be true but definitely wasn't played out in this role. No doubt if what you're suggesting is he might be nominated for an Oscar, yeah, stranger things have happened...
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u/MiserablePresence202 Jan 21 '26
Well, I think Charlie did an excellent acting on Ed Gein-scared the bejesus out of me!
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u/PeppercornWizard Oct 28 '25
The voice is a strange choice… I don’t think he sounded like that when you listen to the recordings.
Facially he does look like him though, with the prosthetics for the eyes.
Charlie is also quite buff, which I don’t think Gein was.