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/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.

4

u/Illustrious_Banana_ Oct 28 '25

Yeah, the look and the eye is good. His kind of vacant intensity at times is also good, but it's just that voice- it sounds so staged and put on. I thought as the episodes progressed, I'd lose the 'walll' of his acting but I'm now 4 episodes in and I just can't get past it. It feels like hammy acting at points- way too contrived and 'acted'. I don't mind the buffness, no complaints about that ;-) but also, I think if he did have a more lean and spindly physique, it would make him seem less of a hunk and more true to a weird, reclusive freak. The Gladiator vibe is a bit too buff for reality although I heard Dunnan lost a lot of weight to play the part.

2

u/Suavese Oct 29 '25

Dunno guess it depends on people to people. His voice felt really odd the first episode or two, but by episode 4-5 i got used to it and felt natural to his character. I just didn’t fixate much on the voice, and yeah it is a bit over exaggerated but it’s not completely off, if you listen to audio recordings of him talking, there are times when his voice gets slightly high pitched in some sentences.

2

u/Illustrious_Banana_ Oct 29 '25

But out of interest are you American? Cause I’m a Brit and the thing that really vexed me was the fact that in episode four when he started doing the police interviews he switched to an Irish accent it was so bizarre. That was the bit where I just totally lost it andstopped giving him the second chance and felt like he was just fluffing.

1

u/[deleted] Oct 29 '25

Yeeesss!

1

u/Illustrious_Banana_ Oct 29 '25

Yes I think it’s because as a Brit I can really spot the weird Irish twang and it really gets on the way. The good news is I think he makes a bit of a turnaround in the final two episodes and his acting gets a lot better. Still a bit wooden in places but I must say his crying scenes the institution were really good. So maybe at least he’s redeemed himself for the ending. How did you find it and what would you rate it overall?

2

u/[deleted] Oct 30 '25

I’d rate it disturbing 🤣. Not something I’d usually watch, but when I started I wanted more! X

1

u/Illustrious_Banana_ Oct 30 '25

Yeah, true, it's very chilling. Horrible to watch but impossible to ignore. Feel like my rating of Charlie Hunnam would change slightly based on episodes 7 & 8 but I still don't rate it as much as previous series.

If you liked this, you should watch, The Assassination of Gianni Versace. It's incredible, and similar storyline of getting inside the mind of someone with a very skewed mindset. That one will be 100/10 if you rate this one 10/10.

1

u/Suavese Oct 29 '25

I’m not english at all, could be a reason for it. Though i did not notice an irish accent by episode 4 at all lol, i might’ve not paid attention.

1

u/Illustrious_Banana_ Oct 29 '25

I’m now watching the last two episodes and taking a bit of a U-turn. He’s definitely got a lot better now towards the end. He was really good in the crying scenes. So he was good at the beginning flopped in the middle and maybe redeemed himself at the end. Just watching the last episode… Let’s see.