Charlie Hunnam has revealed that adopting two rescued kittens helped him manage the emotional toll of portraying notorious serial killer Ed Gein in Netflix’s Monster: The Ed Gein Story.

The actor, who recently received his first Emmy nomination for the role, spent nearly a year preparing to play Gein, whose crimes inspired classic horror films including Psycho, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and The Silence of the Lambs.

Speaking to The Hollywood Reporter, Hunnam said he immersed himself in Gein’s world by studying crime scene evidence, psychiatric records and historical accounts to better understand the infamous killer.

The extensive preparation initially took a personal toll. Hunnam admitted that the disturbing research affected his sleep and left him emotionally unsettled.

To complete his transformation, the actor lost 30 pounds in just over three weeks, underwent daily haircuts and successfully requested additional prosthetic makeup to more closely resemble Gein.

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Hunnam also developed a distinctive voice for the character after believing no authentic recordings of Gein existed. Although he later discovered genuine audio that sounded completely different, he decided to keep his original interpretation because filming had already begun.

The actor said he practised the voice so frequently at home that his longtime partner, Morgana McNelus, eventually asked him to stop using it during breakfast.

Away from the demanding role, Hunnam found an unexpected source of comfort by adopting two stray kittens while filming in Chicago.

While staying at the Four Seasons hotel, he arranged for the kittens to live with him and even hired a full-time cat sitter to care for them during long shooting days.

Hunnam said he spent several hours each evening playing with the kittens after returning from the set, describing the animals as a welcome escape from the darkness of portraying one of America’s most infamous serial killers.

Monster: The Ed Gein Story earned seven Emmy nominations, including Hunnam’s first-ever acting nomination, marking a significant milestone in his career.