Emmy spotlight: Judith Light deserves overdue trophy for ‘tour de force’ performance in ‘The Assassination of Gianni Versace’

Judith Light makes only two appearances in FX’s “The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story.” But boy, does she make an impact, especially in the season’s third episode, giving what Joe Reid (Decider) called “one of the all-time best single-episode performances in a Ryan Murphy series.” It’s a performance that deserves to be recognized at this year’s Emmys, and could bring the veteran Tony and Daytime Emmy-winning actress an overdue first win at the Primetime ceremony.

In the season’s third episode, “A Random Killing,” Light plays Marilyn Miglin, a high-profile cosmetics mogul whose husband Lee (Mike Farrell), a prominent developer and philanthropist, was brutally murdered by Andrew Cunanan (Darren Criss) in the months leading up to Cunanan murdering famed designer Gianni Versace (Edgar Ramirez). The Miglins were well-known Chicago socialites, and their marriage is portrayed as one of deep love and mutual respect. However, Lee is also a closeted gay man who regularly hires Cunanan as an escort when Marilyn is out of town.

Though Lee’s brutal murder is the key plot point of the episode, it is Light who resonates, giving a richly layered performance that alternates between stoic anger and deep pain. While it is never clear whether or not Marilyn was aware of Lee’s sexual proclivities, she refuses to allow her husband’s name to be tainted by scandal, and she uses her connections in the police department to squash the embarrassing details of Lee’s death, insisting that Cunanan was nothing more than a common thief and murderer.

Sewell Chan (The New York Times) called the episode “a tour de force [for] Judith Light, whose portrayal of a wife in denial is simply magnificent.” And he’s right. “A Random Killing” gives Light one Emmy-worthy moment after another, beginning with the episode’s cold open, which shows Marilyn’s chilling reaction to the discovery of Lee’s body, a simple mouthing of the words, “I knew it.” Later, when explaining her decision to keep the details of Lee’s death under wraps, she proclaims with equal parts heartbreak and venom, “Dollars, jewelry, socks, suits — that’s all I’ll allow that man to steal from me. He won’t steal my good name. Our good name.” What is Marilyn is trying to protect more: her family’s reputation or the now-shattered illusion of her fairy-tale marriage?

But Light also gets to show Marilyn’s grief in a devastating monologue in which she describes her relationship with Lee — their adventures and their accomplishments, the respect they felt for each other. When she finally breaks down in sobs after being questioned about her lack of public grief, she cries, “Am I a real wife now?” The episode ends with Marilyn selling her cosmetics on The Home Shopping Network and addresses her husband’s murder on air. As the camera slowly zooms in on her, Light delivers a devastating monologue about love and loss, listing all of the things that her husband was to her, that they were a team. “How many husbands believe in their wives’ dreams?” she asks. The episode ends in a close up of Light’s face as she closes her eyes, a moment of stunning emotional impact.

Although Light is no stranger to awards — having won Featured Actress Tony Awards for “Other Desert Cities” (2012) and “The Assembled Parties” (2013), and two Daytime Emmys for her iconic role as Karen Wolek on “One Life to Live” (1980, 1981) — she has gone zero for three at the Primetime Emmys, earning a Comedy Guest Actress nomination in 2007 for “Ugly Betty” and nominations in 2016 and 2017 for Comedy Supporting Actress for “Transparent.” Light’s status as a respected veteran can only help her in the Movie/Mini Supporting Actress category at the Emmys, which counts among its winners such respected actresses as Mary Tyler Moore (1993), Vanessa Redgrave (2000), and Eileen Atkins (2008), as well as Jessica Lange (2012) and Kathy Bates (2014), both whom won for their performances in separate seasons of “American Horror Story,” also created by Ryan Murphy.

Emmy spotlight: Judith Light deserves overdue trophy for ‘tour de force’ performance in ‘The Assassination of Gianni Versace’