Neither Mandy Moore nor Darren Criss are new to the television scene, but both found breakout success with their current roles, which showed off their range as performers. As the family matriarch in “This Is Us,” Moore seamlessly embodies a character across four decades, while Criss deftly plumbed the depths of a serial killer in “The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story.” After bonding over a favorite track from Moore’s musical days, the two actors settled down to talk about working with visionary producers, chasing their dream roles, and coping with the responsibility of stepping into a leading role.
Mandy Moore: How did you get involved with “The Assassination of Gianni Versace”? Did you know immediately you wanted to audition for Andrew?
Darren Criss: The short version is I worked with Ryan Murphy on “Glee” for a bit. Although never directly, in the sense that, because I joined the second season. So I didn’t have that sort of “We’re building this thing together” relationship, but I was always sort of envious. I remember visiting the set of “Scream Queens” in New Orleans, and I had my 15 minutes with Ryan. I was like, “Hey man, heard you’re doing ‘American Horror Story’ with Lady Gaga. Let me know if you need like a wily bellhop on that show!”
Moore: So you just pitched yourself!
Criss: Relentlessly, without any shame. And he was like, “No, but I’m doing this crime story. I want to make it an anthology and I really want to explore this story about Andrew Cunanan and Gianni Versace. How much do you know about Andrew Cunanan?” The only reason I remembered it was because he was half Filipino and being a half-Filipino kid, it’s a thing that I would remember ’cause of we have similar ethnic background. He said he wanted to have it be a manhunt character piece, and so, as an actor, you’re like, “Sure.” The word character piece is great, not for the ego of being all about you.
Moore: Right, just for the juicy challenge of it.
Criss: Yeah, and also just having the breadth of space to dive into something. Which you aren’t always granted the luxury of doing.
Mandy Moore and Darren Criss on Challenges of Stepping Into Leading Roles
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