Darren Criss looks and acts like a stand-up guy with a good head on his shoulders. When he stopped by the New Hollywood Podcast, he was nice, approachable, and is personable — much like Blaine, his character on Glee. But in FX’s The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story, Criss does a 180 from his good guy roles by playing the real-life Andrew Cunanan, the man who murdered at least five people, including titular fashion designer. Obviously, Criss is not a serial killer, but his casting in the role is an advancement for authentic representation in Hollywood. Criss, like Cunanan, is half-Filipino — a detail about the actor that many people are surprised to hear.
A San Francisco Bay Area native, his role in Versace marks another collaboration with TV maestro Ryan Murphy, who created Glee as well as American Horror Story, which Criss also appears in. But Versace is a much more dramatic turn for Criss. It’s also a series which he is the lead — and as an Asian, it’s kind of a big deal. In the episode (with a new theme song courtesy of Pete Blyth), we talked to Criss about tackling the nuanced role of Cunanan, his cultural identity, his love for musical theater, and how his new bar has a clever drink special called “The Moesha.” Listen to the episode below.
lorraine: On tomorrow’s show @GLEEonFOX star @DarrenCriss will be telling us all about his latest role as psychopathic killer Andrew Cunanan in the hit series The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story
I thoroughly enjoyed watching the first episode of “The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story” and feel that the tone was set from the beginning of the series. The director laid out identity as the theme of the entire series when revealing many details of each main character in the first episode.
Gianni Versace was a prominent public figure, and his sexual identity was unable to be protected due to the hyper-presence of the media and paparazzi in his life. Versace’s passion for fashion is evident when he references designing his sister’s clothing in his youth, and his Italian background is noticeable in his voice, speech pattern, and presentation. Versace is a seemingly wealthy individual, which is visible when he overlooks the beach from his mansion. A phallic symbol is included in this section to show male dominance.
However, his murderer, Andrew Cunanan is portrayed as impecunious when he is sitting on the beach. The two men are close together in geographical proximity; thus, this paradox creates juxtapose. The duo are placed close together to demonstrate the contrasts between their statuses in terms of their identities. Clearly, Cunanan despises Versace’s male superiority and influence in the limelight because he envies his fame and seeks to be well-known himself.
More specifically than identity, sexual identity is a societal normative that appears thematically throughout the first episode. Cunanan is uncomfortable with being gay, and he attempts to mask his identity in front of heterosexual individuals. However, he is more open in front of people of the same sexual orientation as him. He fears that society and those in his life will not be empathetic toward his lifestyle.
His insecurities with his identity potentially produce jealousy and viciousness that are factors leading to his numerous murder accounts. In opposition, Versace is more prideful in his sexuality than Cunanan. The miniseries is intense and powerful but the accuracy of the figures is questionable due to the show being merely an adaptation of real-life events.
2. THE ASSASSINATION OF GIANNI VERSACE: AMERICAN CRIME STORY
The first season of American Crime Story set an impossibly high bar for later editions of Ryan Murphy’s latest anthology series. While The Assassination of Gianni Versace seemed like the perfect follow up to The People v. O.J. Simpson, the former never quite lived up the hype of the latter. That is essentially a shame—and perhaps its misleading title is to blame. While the 1997 murder of the Italian fashion designer does kick off the season, it’s hardly its focus; instead, serial killer Andrew Cunanan is the leading player as the show follows him on his three-month murder spree across the United States. Darren Criss delivers a phenomenally unhinged performance as Cunanan, bringing humanity to the sociopathic character who left behind little explanation of his motives. —Tyler Coates
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