Charlie Hunnam Transforms into Ed Gein: Lazy Eye Prosthetic, Weight Loss for Netflix Monster

Charlie Hunnam’s latest role has everyone talking. He transformed for Monster: The Ed Gein Story, and one detail especially caught viewers’ eyes. Fans quickly noticed something different about Hunnam’s left eye in the Netflix series. The British actor plays the infamous serial killer Ed Gein in Ryan Murphy’s third installment. The show hit screens on Friday, October 3.

This unique eye wasn’t just for show. Hunnam spent hours getting makeup applied. This was to accurately portray Gein, who was born with a lazy eye. Gein, known as the Butcher of Plainfield, was a serial killer and grave robber. He operated in Wisconsin during the 1940s and 1950s. Before his crimes began, he was an outcast. Reports say he was bullied because of his lazy eye.

Behind this incredible on-screen change was a dedicated team. Professional makeup artist Corey Castellano shared a look at their daily work. He and prosthetic artist Mark Nieman brought Hunnam’s look to life. "Monster: The Ed Gein Story premiered today on #netflixseries and I wanted to share a little #behindTheScenes of our daily routine with the incredible Charlie Hunnam," Castellano wrote on an Instagram video that Friday. He added, "Every day, for months, @mark_nieman and I would apply this delicate dropped eyelid prosthetic. Charlie would sit like a champ and wear it like a pro." The fast-motion clip showed Hunnam sitting calmly. His eyes were closed as prosthetics were put on his left side. Once dry, the makeup process began. An airbrush apparently blended the prosthetics to match Hunnam’s skin tone.

Hunnam didn’t just change his appearance. He deeply explored Gein’s mind. "Finding the truth was the whole process," Hunnam told People magazine about getting ready for the role. "We were much more interested in why Ed did what he did, more than exploring what he did. Everybody knows, more or less, what he did, and it has been documented in many films that were inspired by him and then directly adapted to his life." He described Gein as "very strange." Hunnam explained, "He had suffered abuse, was left isolated, so he had no real social context to give him back normal behavior." He also added, "And he was a very thin, malnourished guy. So, anyway, the first step was to lose 14 kilos to look like him." That’s about 30 pounds.

Beyond the physical changes, Hunnam dove into every piece of information he could find. "I read every book that has been written about him, and there were many," he shared with The Hollywood Reporter in an interview earlier that month. "I read all the trial transcripts, all his medical records." He continued, "And then I read the scripts over and over to understand what could lead a human being to commit some of the very extreme things he did, truly despicable acts."

Gein’s dark story ended with his arrest in 1957. He was sent to an institution. Doctors diagnosed him with schizophrenia. Eventually, he faced trial and was found guilty of first-degree murder. Gein spent the rest of his life at Wisconsin’s Mendota Mental Health Institute. He passed away there in 1984.