The wild Monster: Lizzie Borden cast vs character ages, with multiple 20 year gaps

For better or worse, Monster: The Lizzie Borden Story has landed on Netflix, and it’s taking us all the way back to one of America’s most infamous unsolved murder cases.

The series follows Lizzie Borden, who was accused and later acquitted of murdering her father Andrew and stepmother Abby with a hatchet in Fall River, Massachusetts, in 1892.

But while the story does take place more than 130 years ago, the show isn’t quite as committed to historical accuracy when it comes to the cast and their characters’ ages.

From multiple 20-year age gaps to one actress playing a woman almost half her age, here’s how old the Monster: The Lizzie Borden Story cast really are compared to their characters.

Ella Beatty as Lizzie Borden

• Ella Beatty: 26
• Lizzie Borden: 32

Yes, although age gaps normally go the other way, Ella Beatty is actually six years younger than Lizzie Borden was when the murders of her parents, Andrew and Abby Borden, took place.

But co-showrunner Ian Brennan said he knew Beatty was the right actor for the role from the minute he saw her. “They say you can tell within the first five seconds if the actor has the role, and that was completely the case here, after watching very good actresses try,” he told Netflix.

In a separate interview with People, Brennan said there was a purity to her but also a side that’s sharp and very smart.

In real life, Lizzie was eventually acquitted due to a lack of forensic evidence tying her to the crime. She went on to live until she was 66, when she died of pneumonia.

As for where you may recognise Beatty from, the actress made her first on-screen debut in another Ryan Murphy property – Feud: Capote vs. The Swans. She’s perhaps best known as one of four children from acting icons Annette Bening and Warren Beatty.

Vicky Krieps as Bridget ‘Maggie’ Sullivan / Elizabeth Báthory

• Vicky Krieps: 42
• Bridget ‘Maggie’ Sullivan: 26
• Elizabeth Báthory: 40s

This isn’t Vicky Krieps’ first Monster rodeo, as she played Nazi war criminal Ilse Koch in The Ed Gein Story. While the actress is 42 in real life, she plays two characters whose ages are very different.

The Borden family’s live-in maid, Bridget, was around 25 at the time of the murders, although we’ve listed 26 as she was this age when she gave testimony at the June 1983 trial.

Elizabeth Báthory – the Hungarian noblewoman and alleged serial killer – is a little trickier to pin down. She doesn’t actually appear as part of Lizzie’s 1892 storyline. Instead, Maggie tells Lizzie gruesome stories about the so-called Blood Countess, which Monster brings to life in fantasy flashbacks.

The real Báthory was born in 1560, while the alleged killings associated with her are generally said to have taken place between around 1590 and 1610, putting her anywhere from roughly 30 to 50 during that period.

Given a majority of the Monster scenes depict Báthory later in the legend, when she is already established as the infamous Blood Countess, we’ve put her broadly in her 40s as a rough estimate.

Alongside her roles in Monster, Vicky has starred in Phantom Thread, Old and Corsage.

Charlie Hunnam as Andrew Borden

• Charlie Hunnam: 46
• Andrew Borden: 66

Much like Vicky, Charlie Hunnam is also familiar with the Monster world, having played Ed Gein in the last season. This time he’s taking on the role of Lizzie’s father (and one of her alleged victims).

This is one of the starkest age gaps in the Netflix series, with Charlie playing a man who was actually 20 years older than him when he was killed.

But Brennan and the rest of the team were excited to work with him again, saying, “We just didn’t want to say goodbye to him. It was really crucial for that character to not come across as just stereotypically awful.

“We knew that if we cast Charlie, you’d just understand and like that character more. After staring at his face as Gein for all those hours in the editing room, it was really arresting to see him in the beard and the wig.”

Other than his roles in Monster, the actor is perhaps best known for playing Jax Teller in Sons of Anarchy.

Rebecca Hall as Abby Borden

• Rebecca Hall: 44
• Abby Borden: 64

Similarly to her on-screen spouse, Rebecca Hall is 20 years younger than her character, Lizzie’s stepmother Abby Borden.

Although we know the relationship between Abby and Lizzie was tense and emotionally distant, there’s no evidence Abby abused Lizzie and her sister. But as we know, Monster often plays fast and loose with the facts.

In the Netflix show, Abby is abusive and vile towards Lizzie, Bridget and pretty much everyone around her. Speaking to Variety, Hall explained, “I’ve never played a true out-and-out villain…

“It just felt like such an opportunity to be both funny and scary at the same time, which is an interesting tonal challenge. I loved Ian Brennan’s take on this character, which felt like it was a creation of Ian Brennan and Ryan Murphy and had nothing to do with history really, as much as it gave me license to create this unique character.”

Hall is an actress and filmmaker, with acting credits including The Prestige, Vicky Cristina Barcelona and Iron Man 3. In 2021, she made her feature directorial debut with the period drama Passing.

Sarah Paulson as Aileen Wuornos

• Sarah Paulson: 51
• Aileen Wuornos: 32

Yes, it’s another nearly-20-year age gap, only this time the other way around. Sarah Paulson – a Ryan Murphy favourite – is 51 years old in real life, while Aileen Wuornos would have been around 32 during the time she’s first depicted in the show in 1988.

Aileen’s murders then took place between 1989 and 1990, and she was arrested in January 1991. So during the main period that Monster is depicting, she’s between 32 and 34.

And if you’re wondering what the hell Aileen is doing in a story that takes place in the 1800s, Brennan explained, “It points to this thread of rage that runs through the female experience from history to now.”

As for Sarah, does she need an introduction? She’s one of Ryan Murphy’s most frequent collaborators, having appeared across multiple seasons of American Horror Story, as well as American Crime Story, Feud: Bette and Joan, Ratched and All’s Fair.

Outside the Murphy universe, her biggest credits include 12 Years a Slave, Carol, Ocean’s 8, Bird Box, Glass and Run.

Jessica Barden as Nance O’Neil

• Jessica Barden: 34
• Nance O’Neil: 17

This is where Monster really starts messing around with the timeline. Actress Nance O’Neil was born in October 1874, meaning she technically would have been just 17 when Andrew and Abby were murdered in August 1892. By the time of Lizzie’s trial in June 1893, she was still only 18.

So, given Monster brings Nance into Lizzie’s life ahead of the trial, we’ve put her age at roughly 17 when we first meet her – that’s if we’re going on official records.

But in the Netflix series, Nance is already an actress and becomes Lizzie’s friend, even coaching her on how to perform for the jury during her murder trial. None of that actually happened.

Lizzie wasn’t acquitted until 1893, while she and Nance aren’t believed to have met until around 1904 – more than a decade later, when Nance was 29 or 30. So we can assume the show is depicting her as older than she actually was during that time period.

In real life, their relationship went on to become a pretty significant part of the speculation surrounding Lizzie’s sexuality. The pair developed a close friendship, and their bond reportedly contributed to the breakdown of Lizzie’s relationship with her sister Emma.

Their closeness also fuelled rumours that Lizzie and Nance may have been romantically involved, and has since become part of the basis for theories that Lizzie had relationships with women. But there’s no conclusive evidence the pair were actually lovers.

As for Jessica, you’ll probably recognise her best as Alyssa from The End of the F***ing World. She’s also appeared in Coronation Street, Penny Dreadful, Pieces of Her and Dune: Prophecy.

Billie Lourd as Emma Borden

• Billie Lourd: 34
• Emma Borden: 41

At 34, Billie Lourd is another actress significantly younger than her real-life counterpart. Lizzie’s older sister Emma Borden was 41 when Andrew and Abby were murdered in August 1892.

Emma was nine years older than Lizzie and had helped care for her younger sister following the death of their mother. She also stood by Lizzie during her murder trial.

Despite remaining together after the trial and eventually moving into Maplecroft together, the sisters’ relationship had a pretty sad ending. In 1905, Emma abruptly moved out of the home they shared and the pair remained estranged for the rest of their lives.

Exactly what caused the split has never been definitively confirmed. It has often been linked to Lizzie’s increasingly lavish lifestyle and her friendship with Nance O’Neil. But there’s no proof Nance – or a supposed romance between the women – was actually the reason she left.

Emma herself remained pretty vague about what happened, later saying only that conditions at Maplecroft had become “absolutely unbearable”.

Even stranger, the sisters died just nine days apart after more than two decades of estrangement. Lizzie died from pneumonia on June 1 1927, aged 66, while Emma died on June 10 at the age of 76.

As for Billie, she’s best known for playing Chanel #3 in Ryan Murphy’s Scream Queens and Montana Duke in American Horror Story. She also appeared in American Horror Story: Cult and Apocalypse. Outside the Murphy universe, she’s appeared in Booksmart, Ticket to Paradise and the Star Wars sequel trilogy.

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Featured image credit: Netflix