Even if the name Ed Gein doesn’t ring a bell, you’ve definitely felt his shadow at the movies. Think Norman Bates in Psycho, Buffalo Bill in The Silence of the Lambs, Leatherface in The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. Ryan Murphy’s latest Netflix swing, Monster: The Ed Gein Story, stops hinting and goes straight to the source. It’s an eight-episode deep dive into the real guy and the messy pop culture fallout he inspired. Also: Charlie Hunnam is back on TV, which is its own story.
Hunnam told Variety that stepping into Gein’s brain wasn’t exactly a fun time. He tried to put it off, then started digging in and, well, got spooked. He also talked about how you can’t play someone like this without finding the human being under the horror.
"I held it off as long as possible. So I started to read - and then I really got frightened."
"You have to have an enormous amount of love and empathy for a character that you play to be able to inhabit them. Because as despicable as Ed was in his acts, I wanted to find the human in there."
What this series is actually doing
This isn’t just a crime timeline. Murphy is pulling in the Hollywood ripple effects too, which is why you’ll see Alfred Hitchcock, Alma Reville, Anthony Perkins, and Tobe Hooper in the mix. It’s a bit of inside baseball and a little surprising at times (Ilse Koch shows up, which is... not your usual true-crime crossover), but it makes sense for a story about the stories Gein spawned.
The cast and who they’re playing
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Charlie Hunnam as Ed Gein
The man at the center of it all. Gein grew up with a domineering, intensely religious mother and kept her room frozen in time after she died in 1945. He withdrew from the world, and when hardware store owner Bernice Worden vanished in 1957, police went to question him and uncovered a house of horrors. He was also a habitual grave robber.
Where you’ve seen Hunnam: Sons of Anarchy, Queer as Folk, Undeclared, Shantaram, Pacific Rim, The Lost City of Z, King Arthur: Legend of the Sword. -
Laurie Metcalf as Augusta Gein
Ed’s mother, devout and strict. She moved the family to a farm and kept her sons cut off from the outside world. After Ed’s brother Henry died, it was just Augusta and Ed until her death in 1945.
Where you’ve seen Metcalf: Lady Bird, Roseanne, The Conners, Getting On, voice roles in the Toy Story films, The Dropout, Hacks. -
Suzanna Son as Adeline Watkins
The real-life connection here is murky. A 1957 Wisconsin State Journal piece said Adeline and Ed nearly married and bonded over books and movies. Later, Watkins said that report blew things out of proportion and included things that weren’t true.
Where you’ve seen Son: Red Rocket, Fear Street: Prom Queen, The Idol. -
Tom Hollander as Alfred Hitchcock
The Master of Suspense himself. Hitchcock’s Psycho, adapted from Robert Bloch’s novel, was directly inspired by the Gein case and turned the real-world horror into a defining screen nightmare.
Where you’ve seen Hollander: The Night Manager, Pirates of the Caribbean, The White Lotus, Harley Quinn, Feud: Capote vs the Swans, Baptiste, The Ipcress File, Bird Box, Taboo, Bohemian Rhapsody. -
Vicky Krieps as Ilse Koch
Known as The Witch of Buchenwald, Koch was a German war criminal whose brutality became notorious worldwide after her 1947 U.S. military trial. Reports from that time detailed grotesque atrocities, including fashioning lampshades from the skin of prisoners.
Where you’ve seen Krieps: Phantom Thread, Bergman Island, Corsage, Hot Milk. -
Olivia Williams as Alma Reville
Hitchcock’s partner in life and work. Reville was a sharp screenwriter and editor who collaborated extensively with Hitchcock and also worked with directors like Henrik Galeen, Maurice Elvey, and Berthold Viertel.
Where you’ve seen Williams: The Crown, Miss Austen Regrets, Altar, Dune: Prophecy, The Nevers, Counterpart, The Halcyon. -
Lesley Manville as Bernice Worden
The hardware store owner whose 1957 disappearance led police straight to Gein and everything that followed.
Where you’ve seen Manville: Phantom Thread, a long run of Mike Leigh films, plus Sherwood, Mum, The Crown. -
Joey Pollari as Anthony Perkins
The actor who became synonymous with Norman Bates after Psycho hit in 1960, even though he did plenty outside that role.
Where you’ve seen Pollari: American Crime, The Inbetweeners, SEAL Team, Love, Simon. -
Charlie Hall as Deputy Frank Worden
Bernice Worden’s son. He was among those who discovered his mother’s remains at the family store. His role in identifying Gein helped lead to the arrest.
Where you’ve seen Hall: Bel-Air, Single Drunk Female, The Sex Lives of College Girls, Big Shot, Love, Victor. -
Tyler Jacob Moore as Sheriff Arthur Schley
The Wisconsin sheriff leading the Gein investigation, prominent in the arrest and the search of Gein’s home.
Where you’ve seen Moore: Once Upon A Time, Shameless, Ride, SEAL Team. -
Addison Rae as Evelyn Hartley
Evelyn disappeared at 14 in 1953. The search drew around 2,000 people, one of the biggest in Wisconsin history. Many suspected Gein, but after two polygraphs and zero physical evidence linking him to her case, he was cleared of involvement.
Where you’ve seen Addison Rae: Social media star and pop star; films include He’s All That and Thanksgiving. Monster is her first TV drama role. -
Will Brill as Tobe Hooper
The horror filmmaker who co-wrote and directed The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and its 1986 sequel, another Gein-inspired classic of the genre.
Where you’ve seen Brill: The OA, The Marvelous Mrs Maisel, Fellow Travelers. -
Mimi Kennedy as Mildred Newman
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Robin Weigert as Enid Watkins
When and where to watch
Monster: The Ed Gein Story premieres on Netflix on Friday 3rd October. Netflix plans start at £5.99 per month, and you can also watch via Sky Glass and Virgin Media Stream.