# Charlie Hunnam and Rebecca Hall bring camp and tragedy to Monster > The actors discuss playing Lizzie Borden's parents in Ryan Murphy's latest anthology season. - Title: Charlie Hunnam and Rebecca Hall bring camp and tragedy to… - Summary: The actors discuss playing Lizzie Borden's parents in Ryan Murphy's latest anthology season. Ryan Murphy's Monster anthology tackles the Lizzie Borden case… - Keywords: charlie hunnam, rebecca hall, ryan murphy, monster, lizzie borden, netflix, ella beatty, ian brennan, max winkler, true crime, anthology series, Charlie - Source: Newsweek — https://newsweek.com/entertainment/charlie-hunnam-rebecca-hall-bring-camp-tragedy-to-monster-12441272 - Published: 2026-09-16T09:00:00+00:00 - Read time: 1 min - Topics: charlie hunnam, rebecca hall, ryan murphy, monster, lizzie borden, netflix, ella beatty, ian brennan, max winkler, true crime, anthology series ## Ryan Murphy tackles Lizzie Borden The 1892 murder case that captivated America gets the Monster treatment. Lizzie Borden was acquitted of killing her father and stepmother. ## Charlie Hunnam plays Andrew Borden Hunnam portrays Lizzie's father in his second Monster season. He calls the character "kind of bonkers" with real tragedy and pathos. > It's a multi-faceted role with real tragedy and pathos, but he's also a victim that by the end of it you feel like is he really a victim or is he just getting his just desserts ## Rebecca Hall steals scenes Hall plays Abby, the evil stepmother with delicious insults. She describes getting "the most cutting insults imaginable" as a dream role. > You get delicious lines, delicious words, like the most cutting insults imaginable. It's a dream. ## Balancing camp with reality Hall refuses to treat camp and truth as opposites. She approached Abby as "the star of her own life" stuck in a nowhere town with no attention. > The camp is real, too. There are people that embody all of these things and it's real and everything is real to them ## Andrew Borden's tragic complexity Hunnam sees Andrew as a man who never moved past tragedy. He became a prisoner of his own life, hating himself but blaming everyone around him. > He hated himself more than anybody but didn't necessarily have the self-awareness to point that eye at himself and so unfortunately pointed at everyone around him. ## Ian Brennan's genre-bending writing Hunnam credits writer Ian Brennan for seamlessly shifting between tragedy and absurdist comedy. Scenes move from deeply earnest to wild and theatrical. > He's able to shape-shift and genre-bend seamlessly where things can feel deeply tragic and incredibly earnest and then the next scene wild and absurdist ## Ella Beatty carries the show Newcomer Beatty plays Lizzie in only her second job. Both actors praise her composure on set from 4:30 a.m. daily with no break. > She's a marvel, really. This is her second job. It's still a huge responsibility and undertaking to be the center of a show like this. ## Murphy's universe feels like family Hunnam and Hall are becoming Murphy regulars. Hunnam loves the collaborative relationships with Murphy, Brennan, and director Max Winkler. > I love working with Ryan [and] working with Ian [Brennan, the writer] on both seasons of Monster that I did ## Room to go somewhere new Murphy's appeal is giving actors space to explore. His eye for performers who can hold tragedy and camp together makes this season highly anticipated. > I love that I don't really know what I'm going to be asked to do with him. I like doing character. ## Key takeaway Ryan Murphy's Monster anthology tackles the Lizzie Borden case with a mix of camp and tragedy, led by Charlie Hunnam and Rebecca Hall.