Key Highlights
- Charlie Hunnam and Rebecca Hall filmed an extended, practical-effects vomiting and diarrhea scene for Netflix’s Monster: The Lizzie Borden Story, with Hunnam describing the experience as deeply unpleasant due to his germaphobia.
- Director Carl Franklin Winkler revealed the sequence used strategically placed tubes and multiple test runs—no CGI—to calibrate the angle and velocity of the projectile effects, which used tomato soup as the primary substitute.
- The scene, in which Lizzie Borden (Ella Beatty) and maid Bridget (Vicky Krieps) serve tainted oysters to murder their father and stepmother, has drawn viral social media reactions for its visceral intensity compared to the series’ axe-murder sequences.
Hunnam and Hall Detail the Ordeal of Filming Netflix’s Most Grotesque Dinner Scene
Charlie Hunnam has pulled back the curtain on one of the most physically demanding days of his career, revealing that filming the explosive food-poisoning sequence in Monster: The Lizzie Borden Story lived up to every dread he anticipated. In the limited series, Hunnam portrays Andrew Borden, the wealthy father of the infamous accused axe murderer Lizzie Borden, while Rebecca Hall plays his wife, Abby. The pivotal scene depicts the couple consuming oysters deliberately spoiled by their daughter Lizzie (Ella Beatty) and the household maid Bridget (Vicky Krieps) in a bid to induce fatal food poisoning. What follows is a prolonged, graphic sequence of simultaneous projectile vomiting and implied incontinence at the dinner table.
A Germaphobe’s Nightmare: Hunnam’s “Unenjoyable” Day on Set
Speaking to Entertainment Weekly, Hunnam admitted the prospect filled him with dread long before cameras rolled. “It seemed like it was gonna require being very, very uncomfortable and, you know, I’m kind of a germaphobe,” he said. “So even if it’s fake vomit, being covered head to toe in vomit and diarrhea for the day did not seem like a particularly enjoyable experience. And indeed it wasn’t.” The actor’s reluctance underscores the physical commitment required for a sequence that, while fictional in its narrative purpose, demanded very real endurance from its leads.
Hall Finds Comedy in the Chaos, But Loses a Childhood Comfort Food
Rebecca Hall approached the day with trepidation, fearing she might genuinely become ill. “It was so funny and preposterous, and nothing was remotely like real vomiting, actually,” she recalled. “It turned out that my biggest challenge was maintaining a straight face when the camera was on me, because I don’t think I’ve ever laughed more.” Yet the experience exacted a surprising toll: the fake vomit was primarily tomato soup. “I never wanna, as long as I live, see a bowl of tomato soup ever, ever, ever again,” Hall declared. “I really liked grilled cheese and tomato soup, but it is over for me now forever.”
Practical Effects Mastery: Winkler Breaks Down the “Tube” Engineering
Series director Carl Franklin Winkler emphasized that the sequence relied entirely on practical effects, rejecting digital enhancement in favor of analog engineering. “We do everything once as a dry run without the vomit. So everybody’s faking it,” Winkler explained. “Then we do tubes, which we have to do many tests and figure out what’s the distance, what’s too crazy, what’s just crazy enough, what’s too small. Then we start with them putting stuff in their mouth and just doing that version of it.” The iterative process—calibrating pressure, volume, and trajectory—highlights the technical precision required to sell a scene that balances horror with the dark absurdity Hall described.
Why This Matters: Practical Effects, Viral Moments, and the “Monster” Anthology Strategy
The dinner-table sequence has emerged as a breakout moment for Monster: The Lizzie Borden Story, the latest installment in Ryan Murphy and Ian Brennan’s true-crime anthology franchise. While the series dramatizes the 1892 Fall River murders—where Lizzie Borden was acquitted of killing her father and stepmother with an axe—social media discourse has fixated on the vomiting scene over the titular violence. Reactions such as “This puking scene in monster is actually insane omfg” and “Mind u bodies were getting chopped up every episode but THIS was the moment” illustrate a recurring phenomenon in streaming-era horror: visceral, body-horror set pieces often generate more immediate cultural conversation than narrative climaxes. For Netflix, the scene serves as a potent marketing asset, driving curiosity-driven viewership while showcasing the production’s commitment to practical craftsmanship in an era dominated by CGI.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who plays Lizzie Borden in the Netflix series?
Ella Beatty portrays Lizzie Borden in Monster: The Lizzie Borden Story.
What was the fake vomit made of?
According to Rebecca Hall, the primary substance used for the projectile vomiting effects was tomato soup.
Is the vomiting scene computer-generated?
No. Director Carl Franklin Winkler confirmed the sequence used practical effects—specifically tubes rigged to the actors—with multiple test runs to perfect the angle and velocity. No CGI was involved.
