Charlie Hunnam Plays Lizzie Borden's Father in Netflix's 'Monster'

Charlie Hunnam is stepping into another dark role for Netflix, playing Andrew Borden, father of accused axe murderer Lizzie Borden, in season four of Ryan Murphy and Ian Brennan's true-crime anthology 'Monster: The Lizzie Borden Story.' The casting reunites the 'Sons of Anarchy' actor — who is also bringing that show back with what he describes as a meta twist — with Murphy and Brennan after his turn as serial killer Ed Gein in season three of 'Monster.'

According to Hunnam, Murphy pitched him the Borden role while the two were actually discussing an entirely different project. "We had actually been having a conversation about another show that he was doing, and he'd asked me to read this book and we were talking about that other show. I thought we were getting on the phone to discuss that, and he went, 'We can discuss that, but I've had another idea that I think is better.' So then he pitched me this season of Monster," Hunnam told The Hollywood Reporter.

Unlike the extensive research he undertook for Ed Gein, Hunnam found almost nothing documented about Andrew Borden, whom he calls "a reclusive, anti-social character" who fell into what Hunnam describes as "his own prison of grief and resentment" after his wife's death. The scarcity of source material, he said, was freeing. "We got to create the version of Andrew that was most impactful for Lizzie's story, and to try to speculate what it was about him and that household that drove Lizzie to do what she did," he said. "After doing all of their research, Ian and Ryan felt more than likely that Lizzie was responsible. Which I do, too. But, a lot of my understanding comes through the conversations I had with them, so that's unsurprising."

The series dramatizes the axe murders of Andrew Borden and his wife, Abby Borden — played by Rebecca Hall — in Fall River, Massachusetts, in 1892. Lizzie Borden was tried but ultimately acquitted of the killings. Hunnam noted that a later episode explores other narratives and potential suspects in the case, though he said the creative team leaned toward Lizzie's guilt.

Hunnam singled out one later episode that traces Andrew's life across different time periods as the most demanding material he shot, calling it "the most emotional, and honest and raw" portrayal of the character. He also praised his co-star Ella Beatty, who plays Lizzie: "She's amazing. She really has it going on... She's got such poise... She's pretty amazing, and incredibly smart with a good sense of humor. She's just very elegant in the way she conducts herself." Hunnam credited director Max Winkler, whom he called a close friend and creative partner, along with writer Ian Brennan, as key reasons he returned for the new season.

Before Borden, Hunnam went through an intense transformation to play Ed Gein. Monster: The Lizzie Borden Story has since topped the Netflix chart.

Who was the real Andrew Borden?

Andrew Borden was a prominent Fall River businessman in real estate and manufacturing, and he was strict about spending money, which his daughters Lizzie and Emma resented. His first wife, Sarah, Lizzie's mother, died in 1863, and he married Abby Gray two years later. On Aug. 4, 1892, Abby was killed in the upstairs guest room, and Andrew was found dead on the sitting-room sofa. Lizzie was tried and acquitted in 1893. How much of Hunnam's reclusive, grieving Andrew is history and how much is invention is left open, which is exactly the freedom he says he enjoyed.

For every season of the anthology, the full cast and where to stream it, see our Monster on Netflix guide.

Sources · The Hollywood Reporter (Hunnam interview); Biography.com (case history).

Photo · Gage Skidmore from Peoria, AZ, United States of America, CC BY-SA 2.0, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0, via Wikimedia Commons