{"id":489788,"date":"2026-06-09T00:13:17","date_gmt":"2026-06-09T00:13:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/489788\/"},"modified":"2026-06-09T00:13:17","modified_gmt":"2026-06-09T00:13:17","slug":"how-monster-chad-powers-transformed-charlie-hunnam-glen-powell","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/489788\/","title":{"rendered":"How \u2018Monster\u2019 & \u2018Chad Powers\u2019 Transformed Charlie Hunnam, Glen Powell"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n\tMonster: The Ed Gein Story\u2018s titular serial killer and Chad Powers<\/a>\u2018 fictional football-player-in-disguise Russ Holliday don\u2019t automatically register as having anything in common. But underneath the prosthetic mask of each character is an actor usually recognized for his exceptionally good looks.<\/p>\n

\n\tTurning Charlie Hunnam<\/a> into the infamous \u201cButcher of Plainfield\u201d wasn\u2019t as challenging as one might think for hair department head Barry Lee Moe and makeup department head and prosthetic designer Corey Castellano. \u201cI don\u2019t think Ed was unattractive,\u201d says Moe. \u201cHe had an interestingly shaped head, larger than some, but in general he was a handsome guy. I could see his quiet demeanor being charming to people in town. Charlie, in a way, was kind of the perfect person because he is this gentle giant who is very attractive.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tEarly conversations with executive producer Ryan Murphy about achieving historical accuracy also focused on steering away from making Gein physically unappealing. \u201cRyan was really set on creating an all-American Hollywood matinee version of Ed Gein,\u201d adds Moe. \u201cIt serves two purposes. It\u2019s pretty to look at, obviously, but there\u2019s a second part of it, where you\u2019re pulled into the story in a way that you wouldn\u2019t be if these characters looked like normal people at that time. The show is disturbing, but it\u2019s stunning.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tWhere the hair and makeup department did aim for real-life accuracy was with Gein\u2019s signature haircut, Moe explains. \u201cEven though it\u2019s very clear that the inspiration for that haircut is rooted in the SS soldiers of Nazi Germany, on Charlie it looked almost fashionable,\u201d he says. \u201cThat\u2019s when the conversation about the eye came up. How do we turn the creep factor up just enough?\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\"<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\tHunnam sports a black eye when his character is assaulted by a sheriff after his arrest. <\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tMiles Crist\/Netflix<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\"<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\tHunnam played with his prosthetic hooded eye to alter how his character was perceived. <\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tCourtesy Of Netflix<\/p>\n

\n\tCastellano looked to real life to replicate Gein\u2019s hooded eye using a prosthetic piece the size of a little finger. \u201cThe way Charlie played with it was that he could use it to appear a bit deficient, or, with just the right little turn of his expression, it was kind of malevolent and dark,\u201d says Castellano. \u201cHe really used it to great effect. The combination of that and Ed\u2019s signature hairstyle sold him as the character.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tThe bigger hurdle for the pair was depicting Gein and other characters over a 40-year time period from the 1940s to the 1980s. \u201cTelevision is all about maximizing time, and one of the most effective ways is to crossboard a series,\u201d explains Moe. \u201cOn this show, sometimes we were shooting \u201940s in the morning, \u201960s in the afternoon, \u201970s later. You have to have the knowledge and ability to pivot within these three periods quickly and efficiently.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tThat includes removing medical-grade prosthetic glue from someone\u2019s face at any given time, which is never an easy process. \u201cTrying to do that in the middle of the day and get Charlie\u2019s face back to a happy place where he could be young Ed was a challenge,\u201d says Castellano.<\/p>\n

\n\tA more welcome test, for the two, was re-creating scenes from films inspired by Gein\u2019s crimes, like the infamous Psycho shower scene in episode two and The Texas Chain Saw Massacre in episode four. \u201cEveryone was really proud,\u201d says Moe. \u201cYou\u2019re just like, \u2018Wow, this is really special.\u2019 Even though it\u2019s such a dark story, to re-create something that\u2019s part of cinematic history is not something you get to do often.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tChad Powers was also inspired by a cinematic icon, albeit one far less terrifying. In the Hulu comedy series, Glen Powell<\/a> portrays a disgraced professional football player who takes a page from the Mrs. Doubtfire playbook to disguise his real identity. For makeup department head Alexei Dmitriew and hair department head Ally Vickers, the task of coming up with the right amount of camouflage for Powell was one of trial and error. \u201c[Prosthetic designer] Vincent Van Dyke came up with a bunch of different noses and a chin. We tried buck teeth, small teeth, mustache, no mustache, bigger, bushier eyebrows,\u201d recalls Dmitriew. \u201cWhen it all came together, Glen was like, \u2018That\u2019s it.\u2019 He just felt like this is Chad Powers. When Ally put the wig on for the first time, he started doing the voice and everyone was dying laughing.\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\"<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\tMolds were used to craft Powers\u2019 disguise. <\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tCourtesy of Hulu<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\"<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\tA prosthetic nose and chin were applied to Glen Powell to turn him into Chad Powers.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tCourtesy of Hulu<\/p>\n

\n\tBut making Powell look unrecognizable was only one part of a larger goal. \u201cHe has to pass in the real world, so we needed to be able to see this as a person, not just a caricature,\u201d says Vickers. Another consideration was that Powell\u2019s character was supposed to swiftly achieve the elaborate look on his own, with just the help of one other person\u2014 trusted confidant Danny (Frankie Rodriguez), who\u2019s also the team mascot \u2014 and a tube of party store glue. With a prosthetic nose, forehead, a set of cheeks and an upper lip to attach, that\u2019s where accuracy took a bit of a back seat. \u201cWe bend the reality, a little bit, of how long it would take someone to do that,\u201d says Dmitriew. \u201c[In real life,] we do it in about an hour and a half between three of us.\u201d<\/p>\n

\n\tFor the two industry vets, the show included some surprising career firsts. Creating an effect that would look homemade \u2014 shoddy, even \u2014 was initially unthinkable for Vickers. \u201cI had to change my mindset because we are so trained to think, \u2018I want it to be perfect and undetectable,\u2019 and here it\u2019s like, \u2018No, we want the helmet to come off with the wig, so his blond tips show up,\u2019 \u201d she says.<\/p>\n

\n\tDmitriew, meanwhile, made his first onscreen cameo, where he and key prosthetic makeup artist Kevin Kirkpatrick doubled as Russ\u2019 father, Mike (Toby Huss), and Danny, as they apply Chad\u2019s makeup together in the season finale. \u201cI\u2019ve never gotten to do anything like that in my career,\u201d he says. \u201cWe had our actors, Frankie and Toby, right next to us and I would blend part of it and then we\u2019d give the tool to our actor and be like, \u2018OK, now you\u2019re going to do it.\u2019 It was the absolute most realistic portrayal of us putting makeup on somebody on camera, and that was really special.\u201d<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\"<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\tIn the Hulu show, Frankie Rodriguez helps Powell\u2019s Russ Holliday transform into Powers.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tCourtesy of Hulu<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\"<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\tPowell as Chad Powers. <\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tCourtesy of Hulu<\/p>\n

\n\tThis story first appeared in a June stand-alone issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine. To receive the magazine,\u00a0click here to subscribe<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Monster: The Ed Gein Story\u2018s titular serial killer and Chad Powers\u2018 fictional football-player-in-disguise Russ Holliday don\u2019t automatically register…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":489789,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[6971,210350,34905,20077,12432,9960,93,11252,61,60,34930,270],"class_list":["post-489788","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-movies","tag-awards","tag-awards-in-focus-creative-arts","tag-chad-powers","tag-charlie-hunnam","tag-emmy-awards","tag-emmys","tag-entertainment","tag-glen-powell","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-monster-the-ed-gein-story","tag-movies"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/489788","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=489788"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/489788\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/489789"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=489788"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=489788"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=489788"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}