Not Even Suzanna Son Knows If Her Monster Character Is Real or Not

Following the release of Ryan Murphy's latest Monster series, The Ed Gein Story, searches around the infamous serial killer who inspired some of Hollywood's most notorious horror films—think Psycho, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, and The Silence of the Lambs—spiked. But it wasn't just Gein himself who drew increased interest from audiences. It was the surrounding characters too, like Gein's neighbor and rumored girlfriend Adeline Watkins, played by rising actress and musician Suzanna Son.

In real life, Watkins claimed to be Gein's longtime lover of 20 years following his arrest in 1957, describing the killer as "good, kind, and sweet" before later claiming her words were exaggerated and clarifying that she and Gein were simply acquaintances for nearly two decades and only dated for about a year.

With not much else known about the real-life Watkins, creator and writer Ian Brennan took some creative liberties with the character. In the show, Watkins, portrayed with fantastic eeriness by Son, takes an immediate liking to Gein. Both outsiders in their small town, the two are shown to have a shared interest in milkshakes, books, and darker subject matter, and their relationship evolves into a twisted romance. As the series goes on, fans begin questioning whether Son's version of Watkins is a real person in Gein's life or simply a figment of his imagination. Come to find out, Son herself doesn't even know the answer.

We caught up with the actress following the show's premiere to talk about joining Murphy's Monster universe, gravitating toward characters who may not exist, and her long-awaited music debut.

You believe in luck and being in the right place at the right time. Where was that when Murphy's Monster came to you?

[I was] definitely lucky to get that self-tape request in my inbox. That's cool. Lucky to… Who was casting? Tiffany Canfield. Lucky that she was championing me. I put in the hard work on the self-tape and really, really wanted it. It was a nice 50/50 combo.

The Monster franchise continues to be a success. What appealed to you about Gein's story in particular and how the show approaches it?

Everything about it. Definitely the Ryan Murphy of it all. Ian Brennan, Max Winkler. Just reading the words on the page, I felt I had to have it. Also just how creative it was and how willing [they were] to let me try anything. It's just so fun for an actor. It's like a playground and a safe space with them. It felt very creative and like I could grow a lot if I did the project.

What is your take on true crime stories? Obsessed, not your thing, somewhere in the middle?

It's not my thing, true crime. However, I do like horror, and I like dark movies, like The Eyes of My Mother on Netflix. I really like psychological thrillers, but I don't really enjoy true crime podcasts. It's too sad.

Did you find yourself doing a deep dive on Gein before filming?

I just read a little bit about him and heard the sound of his voice and was like, "Okay, that's enough for me. I'll see what it's like on set and go from that space," and I enjoyed that. I liked not having any expectations. It was freeing.

You play Adeline Watkins, who claimed to be Gein's girlfriend. There isn't a lot of information on her outside of the two contradictory interviews she did following his arrest. Can you tell me about building out her story for the show?

We just took it day by day and scene by scene, and she just kind of grew with the show. I didn't know where she'd end up on my first day. I had no idea what kind of girl she was going to turn into, so it felt very natural, and it was just playing off of Charlie [Hunnam]'s energy as Ed. Slowly, I felt her change into a city girl, and you can see she has secrets. She's a bit of a surrogate for the audience, which is funny. It's also funny that people are questioning if she's even real at all. I see that a lot. People are like, "Is she his imagination?" And I think that's fascinating. I can see that now. A lot of the characters I play, like Strawberry in Red Rocket, is she real? So I think that's kind of interesting. I gravitate toward these characters who might not even exist. I'm not sure if she's real or not. When I was acting in it, I felt like she was real, but watching it, I'm not sure.

Can you tell me about building that dynamic on-screen with Hunnam?

I'd say we got really lucky with the order in which things were shot. It seemed to be in chronological order for the most part, and that's such a gift. Our first scene together is actually when they are meeting for the first time at the house, so there was that awkward "Who are we?" energy, and Charlie's in character 80% of the time, so that makes my job a whole lot easier. I wasn't socializing on set as much as I usually am, so my energy was saved for the scenes, and I think that's nice.

What was it like seeing Hunnam in this role when you watched the show for the first time?

Fascinating. I was really blown away.

You posted a mood board for Watkins on Instagram. Can you tell me a little about the vision behind her look?

I probably had like 96 hours of fittings or something crazy like that. I had a few fittings every week for months, and it was cool. It was all these different colors. They were trying to see what looks good on camera. I don't know the science behind it, but they were doing some science and math, and we took a lot of pictures. At the end of a few months, they had built this whole character. It was really cool.

Do you have a favorite look of Watkins's?

Adeline's red funeral look was wow.

You wore Alexander McQueen to the NYC premiere and recently attended the spring/summer 2026 show in Paris. In what ways does the brand speak to you and your personal style?

Oh gosh, the comeback of the bumster is really on my mind. I had never seen anything like that, and it was so cool. It made me google where it came from and who was doing this in the past. That was cool to see. I wore McQueen at the start of my career. It just feels like a full-circle moment. I love the darkness of it.

You also starred in Fear Street: Prom Queen earlier this year. Are you drawn to these darker roles? Do you see yourself doing a complete 180 now?

I want to do anything that interests me and not put myself into one place. It could be horror. It could be comedy. I've never done that before. I'm just down for it all, really.

You released your first singles "Pockets Full of Posey" and "Coraline" off of your debut album a few weeks ago. Can you tell me about this project?

Some of the songs are super old, like I started them five years ago, and some of the songs I wrote last month. But it's a collection of my first songs, 13 songs, which is exciting, and I'm proud of them. Sometimes, I hate them, though, and I can't listen to them, but sometimes, I really like them. It just depends on—I don't know—the weather?

That's art, though.

Yeah. I don't mind them right now, so that's nice. I'm already trying to write the second album.

How did singing on The Idol soundtrack lead to this moment?

I've always been drawn to piano and singing and always dreamt about being onstage since I was a little girl. And then when The Idol happened, it was too much pressure. It was very exciting to have Abel [Tesfaye] and Sam [Levinson] ask me to write a song, and of course, I did. … Who wouldn't rise to that occasion? After that happened, everyone was talking and was like, "What's next?" I was going to label meetings and singing at all these meetings, and it wasn't going well. I wasn't able to write anything because I wanted it too badly. It was weird and a really dark time. I couldn't write anything. I would sit at the piano and nothing. And then the strike happened, and things just needed to pause for a minute, which is interesting because you need rests in music too. Life picked up again, and when I did Fear Street, that really helped unlock a lot of creativity—just being around people again and screaming on set. I was able to write more, and then all of a sudden, I had 13 songs and felt confident again.

Monster: The Ed Gein Story is now streaming on Netflix.

Photographer and Makeup Artist: Alexandra French
Stylist: Alexandra Mandelkorn
Hairstylist: Sami Knight