Sons of Anarchy star Charlie Hunnam took on one of his most unique roles yet by portraying the titular murderer in Netflix’s Monster: The Ed Gein Story. Because he steers clear of reading feedback about his work online, however, he was taken by surprise when the role earned him an acting nomination.
Per Access Hollywood, Hunnam shared the story behind learning about his nomination for Monster: The Ed Gein Story on Sunday at the Critics Choice Awards. He first spoke about how his crime drama Green Street Hooligans was pummeled by critics upon release in 2005, which led to him swearing off reading all reviews about his work — good or bad.
“I didn’t see anything,” Hunnam said of the critical response to Monster, which has a 22% score on Rotten Tomatoes. “Not for years [have I read reviews]. I learned that trick early in my career. I’ve been doing this for 27 years.”
Recalling the moment when he stopped reading reviews, Hunnam added, “There was a film I did called Green Street Hooligans, which ended up getting a huge sort of cult following to it, but the critics were not particularly kind to me when that film came out. And I said, ‘Alright, oh, okay. I don’t need to go through this again.'”
Hunnam then shared how he was essentially off the grid when the news broke that he’d been nominated at the Critics Choice Awards for Best Actor in a Limited Series or Movie Made for Television. When he noticed his phone blowing up, he first feared that it was very bad news before being pleasantly surprised by his award nomination.
“I didn’t know I was nominated,” Hunnam said. “I was up at my ranch. I got a ranch up north of Santa Barbara, and I never really look at my phone when I’m up there, and I didn’t know these nominations were coming out. Then, I looked at my phone, and I had like 40-some missed calls and messages and I thought, ‘Oh no, something horrible has happened.’ Turns out something wonderful had happened.”
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Stephen Graham ultimately won the award for Adolescence. Other nominees included Michael Chernus (Devil in Disguise: John Wayne Gacy), Brian Tyree Henry (Dope Thief), Matthew Rhys (The Beast in Me), and Michael Shannon (Death by Lightning). However, Hunnam will have another chance to win with a nomination for the same award at the Golden Globes on Jan. 11; other noms include Graham, Rhys, Jacob Elordi (The Narrow Road to the Deep North), Paul Giamatti (Black Mirror), and Jude Law (Black Rabbit).
Monster: The Ed Gein Story is streaming on Netflix.
