Traditionally, TV listings are found towards the back of a newspaper. These days, however, anyone wondering what the next hit series will be is better off looking for the most violent item on the front page.
The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story, which premiered in the US this week, is the latest in a seemingly endless new wave of true-crime dramas. Like a recent series of British primetime hits, it taps in to an apparent appetite to relive headline-making cases of the recent past. But unlike our dour docudramas, it does so with unapologetic panache.
It’s a very stylish – and very stylised – account of the serial killer Andrew Cunanan’s life, told in reverse, from his apparently motiveless 1997 murder of the Italian fashion designer Versace back to his troubled early years. The Versace family have branded it “a work of fiction”. It’s a compliment, though they didn’t intend it as one. This anthology series (which last year won nine Emmys and two Golden Globes for its retelling of the O J Simpson trial) puts good storytelling first. American Crime Story’s creator, Ryan Murphy, is also responsible for Glee. His métier is gorgeous, meticulously crafted trash, with a side order of stunt casting: here pop singer Ricky Martin plays Versace’s bereaved boyfriend Antonio.
Given Murphy’s reputation, the emotional depth of American Crime Story has come as a surprise to some critics. But Murphy has never been shallow. Beneath the kitsch, his dramas have always had an understanding of what pop culture can teach us about ourselves. O J Simpson’s trial has taken on different resonances over the decades – as proven by a scene in American Crime Story’s first series, in which OJ’s lawyer Robert Kardashian lectures his daughter Kim on the dark side of fame. Similarly, just as OJ offered interesting observations about race and celebrity, the Versace drama has pertinent things to say about gay identity.
Viewing the past from an ironic distance, Murphy’s bold approach places his true-crime dramas leagues ahead of his British peers’ efforts. The contrast will become unignorable when the show’s second series arrives on BBC Two next month – and, despite all their hand-wringing earnestness, it’s the British shows that feel more exploitative.
One of the big differences is timing: both series of American Crime Story are about events that took place 20 years ago. When a tragedy is too fresh in people’s memories, however, any irreverent, experimental retelling risks accusations of insensitivity. As a result, British filmmakers covering more recent crimes have found themselves hamstrung by convention – but even then, the speed with which they are ready to translate real-life suffering into primetime drama has necessarily felt a bit queasy.
In the space of just four months last year, British viewers suffered through The Moorside (about the 2008 disappearance of Shannon Matthews), Little Boy Blue (about the 2007 murder of 11-year-old Rhys Jones) and Three Girls, broadcast just five years on from the Rochdale sex-trafficking trial that inspired it. (The first two, incidentally, were both written by Jeff Pope, who has become the recognised leader of the genre)
Each show took a similarly down-the-line approach to narrative, and presented the suffering of Northern working-class families in washed-out greys, pushing the audience towards helpless anger at the slow-moving, ineffectual authorities. Each show had similarly doleful performances, earning the same raves from critics. None attempted anything that couldn’t have been achieved better by a documentary.
The other option, of course, is to create dramas that cut straight to the issues, without exploiting real people’s stories to do it. In 2016, the excellent National Treasure – following a fictional Seventies TV star hit by sex abuse allegations – turned the quagmire of Operation Yewtree into art, raising questions a straightforward factual account never could.
But our myopic, ripped-from-the-headlines docudramas are often too close to their subject to offer either documentary insight or dramatic depth.
Nevertheless don’t expect the true-crime trend to abate. Next up from the BBC is The Barking Murders, a three-part drama about the East London rapist and serial killer Stephen Port, who targeted victims on gay dating apps. It will arrive less than two years on from his conviction – let’s hope it is not another case of “too much, too soon”.
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“ACS: The Assassination of Gianni Versace”, Episode 1 – Blog – The Film Experience
The first installment of American Crime Story made such a deep dent in culture by taking the O.J. Simpson murder trial, a case that was heavily imprinted in popular consciousness, and used it to analyze issues of race, sexism, and tabloid culture that still resonate today.
The second season focuses on, as the title establishes, the assassination of famed designer Gianni Versace in 1997 (shortly after the O.J. case) by serial killer Andrew Cunanan. And if the first episode is any indication of what the season as a whole will attempt, it will both broaden and narrow the cultural conversations that the first season tackled.
On the premiere episode, we get a first look into the mind of a murderer, the house of an icon, and the jet of a queen…
Episode 1 “The Man Who Would Be Vogue”
The premiere opens with Gianni Versace’s morning routine on the day of his murder. We follow him through the halls and patios of an overbearingly sumptuous mansion, in an exquisite tracking shot that indicates that excess is an everyday part of this man.Then we see Andrew Cunanan played by a never-better Darren Criss who will inevitably and deservedly going to be showered with awards on the fall. He’s contemplating, executing, and ultimately relishing the act of murdering Versace right on his front porch.
Opening with the murder is an indication that the series, much like in its first season, will not be focusing on the act itself, but rather on the players around it, and the culture that allowed it to happen. Gianni Versace was not the first murder Andrew Cunanan committed, and it was not the final chapter of his story. The series will delve both into the events that led him to commit that murder, and what happened afterwards.
This will be an exploration of Andrew Cunanan, who Darren Criss embodies with overbearing charisma, ambition, wide-eyed naiveté, and the right amount of flickering darkness to make us raise an eyebrow. We see that all throughout his life he has looked from the outside longing to belong, and that his magnetic personality and natural ability to lie through his teeth have carried him through.
In another superbly executed tracking shot, Andrew walks through a gay club with a friend, lusting not only after the boys around him, but this style of life. He meets Versace and insinuates himself into his life, landing a date at the opera he’s producing. He’s a serial liar, and to us it is evident, but you desperately want to believe him.
But this is also about the other players around him: the cops that are investigating Versace’s murder and are full of prejudices around his lifestyle. His lover and partner, Antonio D’Amico (played with impressive grace by Ricky Martin), who has to pick him up from the steps and spend the entire evening covered in his blood.
And it’s also about Gianni’s sister, Donatella, who is given perhaps the greatest television entrance in years: out of a jet into a limousine through the mansion, where, without a word, she’s swallowing her grief. And the moment Penelope Cruz finally speaks with that perfect accent, a couple of octaves down, we know Donatella means business.
She needs to keep the family company a family company, and will do whatever it takes to keep her brother’s legacy alive. It doesn’t seem Donatella will be much in the spotlight throughout the show, but Penelope iz making the best with her time, chewing every single piece of gold-coated scenery.
Whereas The People vs. OJ explored issues of racism and misogyny that reverberated in the present more than ever, Gianni Versace seems to be wanting to tackle both the homophobia and the celebration of gay culture that allowed these murders to happen. The majority of the players were gay themselves, and their relationship with that identity deeply influenced the case, either emotionally (with Ricky Martin’s character), strategically (all of Cunanan’s victims followed a very specific pattern), or legally (the Miami PD relationship with the local gay community was complicated, to say the least)
We’ll see exactly what statement the show frames around the murder as it develops, but the pilot doesn’t shy away from letting us know that identity politics will play a huge role in this; and that, yes, they are also still relevant.
The Assassination of Gianni Versace is perhaps a bit more scattered than its predecessor, but it also seems to enjoy itself a bit more. The show could develop into a lavish drama about passion and murder, or be an intricate exploration of broken minds and gay culture, or a combination of both. But wherever it takes us, I was in from the first moment Edgar Ramirez descended his spiral case in a silk bathrobe.
“ACS: The Assassination of Gianni Versace”, Episode 1 – Blog – The Film Experience
Jon Jon Briones, Ricky Martin and Édgar Ramírez on ‘Versace’ roles (part 2)
(Conclusion)
LOS ANGELES—In this part two of my column on “The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story,” here’s more of Ricky Martin and Édgar Ramírez talking about their roles. The entire cast of the FX Networks’ production is getting enthusiastic reviews, including this one by critic Todd VanDerWerff of Vox:
“…As with any given (Ryan) Murphy production, the show’s cast is electrifying. Édgar Ramírez and Ricky Martin craft a deeply believable love for a lifetime in the handful of scenes they share together as Versace and his partner Antonio D’Amico, while Penélope Cruz might seem over the top as Donatella Versace, until you check out actual footage of the woman and realize the actress has absolutely nailed her performance.
“But it’s Darren Criss as Cunanan who leaves the biggest impression. Criss is best known as a dreamy song-and-dance man from ‘Glee,’ and his take on Cunanan is the very best kind of take on a dark character. He doesn’t want to create empathy for Cunanan so much as a kind of understanding. You are invited to think about him less as a person and more as an aberration, like some dark part of America’s worst self-made flesh. This is going to redefine Criss’ career, and it deserves to.”
Ricky Martin
The pop star, who recently announced his engagement to Jwan Yosef, a Syria-born, Sweden-raised artist (they held hands at the recent Golden Globes, where he, Penélope, Edgar and Darren were presenters), was also grateful that the story was filmed in chronological order, except for the series’ opening scene which shows that tragic day in 1997.
“Something that I’m thankful for was that my scenes were shot in chronological order,” Ricky pointed out. “I had a natural buildup. The first scene I shot was me walking down the stairs, going to pick up my racquet ball, because I’m going to play tennis and Gianni saying, ‘Ciao,’ and me saying, ‘Ciao bello.’
“All I needed to do was go back to those eyes and him saying goodbye, and I get emotional. I was really immersed in this.”
The 46-year-old shared more on D’Amico, who’s often referred to as Versace’s lover and nothing else. “Antonio was raw,” Ricky began. “His honesty was cutting. That was why Gianni was obsessed and so in love with him. Antonio would tell him, ‘I’m sorry you’re wrong. And that’s a horrible sketch, by the way.’ That is the relationship that they had, and that’s what Gianni needed.
“Gianni was surrounded by yes people. The only person who would tell him, ‘You’re wrong,’ was Antonio. I think Antonio would also ask Gianni, ‘Come on, go out, have fun and live. Life is short.’ That stimulated Gianni in many ways.
“Most of the experiences that dictated Gianni’s collection was because of how Antonio exposed him to a pretty tough, heavy, funky sexual hallucinogenic life. I was asking around what happened when people would come to Gianni to talk bad about Antonio. He would become a lion.
“There was a special connection between Gianni and Antonio. They just had to look at each other, and they knew what they both needed. Antonio was a bit of a caregiver. He was the one who’d give him his vitamins every morning. So, Gianni felt protected by Antonio.”
Édgar Ramírez
Édgar spoke about his different challenge when they shot the opening scene, which took days. “It was an interesting exercise of abandonment and trust because I spent days with my eyes closed, being handled by all the [actors playing] paramedics and witnessing the emotions that Ricky put into it,” said the Venezuelan actor.
“Gianni was declared dead roughly an hour after he was shot, so he might have been alive. He might have been listening to all the things that were going on around him, without being able to react because his body was shut down.
“I can’t fall asleep, but I had to be as quiet as possible. It was an exercise of trust.
“When we shot in LA, when they put me on the gurney for the first time and strapped me, I had like seven people around. I had a panic attack. My mind knew that it was fine, but my body was reacting to people talking.
On working with Darren, Édgar remarked, “Darren is great. I have never worked with him before. He has such a strong energy—he is a singer, musician, composer and a very fine actor. It’s interesting because we hardly encounter each other, but we share the same space many times. So we became closer personally on set. I’m very happy to be doing this with him. I know his work before from ‘Glee.’ ”
Édgar also discussed the dynamics between Gianni, Antonio and Donatella, as portrayed in the limited series. More than a week before “The Assassination…” premiered in the US on Jan. 17, the Versace family issued a statement blasting the series as a “work of fiction.”
“…The Versace family has neither authorized nor had any involvement whatsoever in the forthcoming TV series about the death of Mr. Gianni Versace, which should only be considered as a work of fiction,” the statement read.
Despite this statement, Donatella recently sent flowers to Penélope, according to Ryan. He told The Hollywood Reporter, “Donatella Versace sent Penélope Cruz a very large arrangement of flowers when she was representing the show at the Golden Globes. I don’t know if she’s going to watch the show, but if she did, she’d see that we treat her and her family with respect and kindness, and she really is a feminist role model in my book because she had to step into an impossible situation, which she did with grace and understanding.”
Donatella was quoted by The New York Times in 1999 as saying, “My relationship with Antonio is exactly as it was when Gianni was alive. I respected him as the boyfriend of my brother, but I never liked him as a person. So the relationship stayed the same.”
For his part, Édgar was diplomatic in his comments: “That’s one of the most interesting interactions in the story. The house of Versace had everything to do with that relationship. At times, it feels like a Greek tragedy. Also, the way it’s written and told, it feels almost like ‘The Borgias.’ It has a very classic element, which has to do with the cultural component.
“Gianni and Donatella were very close. They completed each other in many aspects. The first woman Gianni ever made dresses for was his little sister. She was his muse in many ways and, at the same time, she was his wild side.
“She was like his presence out in the world. She’d go out and inform Gianni about what was going on. She was in tune with what was going on in society.
“The house of Versace is a result of their interaction together. Gianni was at the center, but it was a family business. It’s a very Italian and Latin thing to have a family business for generations, for better and for worse.
“Because there is no one that you can trust more than your family. At the same time, you’re talking about business, so it always gets complicated. It’s a very endearing, intense, high-voltage relationship. But, there was a lot of love. For Gianni, family was a priority, and it was very important.”
Jon Jon Briones, Ricky Martin and Édgar Ramírez on ‘Versace’ roles (part 2)
The Assassination of Gianni Versace first impression: After People v OJ, this show is another feather in Ryan Murphy’s hat
The Assassination of Gianni Versace has been long awaited and fans were more than ecstatic when creator Ryan Murphy preponed this to be the second season of American Crime Story instead of the third. The story has elements that capture the voyeuristic nature of the audience. What happens behind closed doors of celebrities and how a failed FBI manhunt led to the murder of the fashion icon Versace make for a compelling TV series.
While in the first season, The People v. O. J. Simpson, we never saw the crime happen but witnessed the aftermath, the speculation and the court case, here we witness the gruesome murder in the first 7 minutes of the premiere episode.
The show starts off by displaying the grandeur of Versace’s Miami mansion, the immense wealth and the innumerable servants showcase the king-like lifestyle that Gianni enjoyed. In his pink bathrobe and servants who are ready with a glass of juice as he descends from the steps of his palatial home, we get a glimpse of the life he led, fearlessly.
While we are getting an introduction of the murder victim, we are also introduced to the murderer, Andrew Cunanan, played by Darren Criss. The closet gay guy, who tells people what they want to hear, admires Versace, just like he admired other powerful men and isn’t shy about lying in order to get what he wants. He makes up stories about his family in the Philippines, his father running off with a farm boy and him writing a book and he tells them without blinking an eye. Darren, also has a striking resemblance to the real Cunanan, which makes the story look more authentic.
The first episode explores the social standing of the LGBT society, the homophobia, the assumption that a gay partner would be a pimp; all these questions come up in the police investigation which only goes out to show that a common man just wasn’t aware of what a same sex relationship looks like.
Cunanan’s motives to murder aren’t pronounced out loud in the first episode but all hints point to the fact that it was the social stigma and his inability to deal with his sexual orientation that led him to commit the heinous act. After the audience is shown the murder scene, the show moves to flashback where we see the apparent first encounter between the murderer and the victim in a San Francisco nightclub. The encounter is awkward at first when Versace tries to brush him off but soon the conversation progresses with heavy sexual undertones. This is where you realise that the murder wasn’t as volatile as it first looked like.
In long sequences without any dialogues and with some classic opera music playing in the background, the series sets the tone, they aren’t going for cheap tricks but instead taking the fancier route. Certain scenes have Ryan Murphy’s signature and those compel you to stick to the series. There’s one where a passerby is auctioning off the only polaroid of Versace’s dead body and one where a fan runs towards the bloodied steps, dips a magazine paper in it and saves it like a souvenir in a plastic bag. This, also heavily focuses on the crazy celebrity fandom that has engrossed America for several years, where even the dead man’s blood is a prized possession.
The show is based on Maureen Orth’s book Vulgar Favors but the Versace family has declared this as a piece of fiction. Ryan Murphy believes this to be a piece of docu-drama based on real events.
Penelope Cruz comes in the later part of the first episode and plays Versace’s sister, Donatella. Her strong headed attitude makes her look like an ice queen but that is the need of the hour. The emphasis on family and not trusting strangers is repeated many times with suspicious glances to Versace’s long-time partner Antonio D’Amico, played by Ricky Martin. Ricky is stiff and until now hasn’t contributed much to the show, even though he had enough opportunity. Edgar Ramirez’s Versace is fabulous. He’s flamboyant but also sincere, his enigma is believable and enchanting and his scenes with Criss’ Cunanan keep you hooked enough that you don’t want to miss out on a single moment.
The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story is engrossing and we’re looking forward to the remaining eight episodes but we wonder how they will explain the ‘assassination’ in the title.
American Crime Story: The Assassination of Gianni Versace
Welcome back to another season of American Crime Story. Last time we met, I was regaling you with tales of being a youthful college student in my native Los Angeles as OJ Simpson was tried and acquitted for the murder of Nicole Brown Simpson, and we all fell profoundly and deeply in love with Sterling K. Brown. Today, we reconvene to discuss the murder of Gianni Versace — the 20th anniversary of which was just this last July — at the hands of serial killer and pathological liar Andrew Cunanan, in Miami. I was a youthful Los Angeleno just out of college when this happened, and I do not, therefore, have great personal insight to this specific milieu, beyond being alive and alert in 1997.
I can say, though, that as someone who remembers the summer of 1997 well: It was a weird summer. Versace was gunned down on the steps of his house, and six weeks later, Princess Diana died in a car accident. Mother Theresa died less than a week after that. The Heaven’s Gate mass suicide had happened in March and was still getting a lot of news play (related, we had a giant comet hanging over us that year, which I personally think scrambled people’s brains a little, even though if you asked me the direct question, I would tell you that I don’t believe in that). And I was newly out of college and had no idea what I was doing with my life, which certainly wasn’t globally noteworthy, but made me personally feel strange.
It is so interesting to be watching this story play out and remember the way it unfolded in a time without real internet. The internet existed, but not in the way it does today. If a major fashion designer were murdered on the steps of his house today, I assume we’d all be on Twitter for 72 hours straight. As it was, I mostly found out what was happening by opening the Los Angeles Times (which makes a cameo in this episode, which amused me; surely what most people in Miami were reading was the Miami Herald). Things change so quickly in our lifetimes.
But let’s discuss the episode! I’m not going to recap it blow-by-blow, but instead, thought we could talk about it in general here, before zipping through its amazing sets and wardrobe in the slideshow.
1. My god, EVERYONE is in this: Dascha Polanco! Will Chase! Stan from Mad Men! Schmidt from New Girl! Ricky Martin! Darren Criss, obviously. Penelope Cruz! Annaleigh Ashford, looking so plain-faced that it took me forever to place her! CATHY MORIARTY, popping up for me at basically the same time she popped up for Heather on This Is Us, leading to us wondering what is going on in the universe to lead Cathy Moriarty to appear simultaneously on both of our TVs. (It seems like a good omen.) Judith Light is going to appear later. It’s exciting!
2. Overall, I thought the pilot was very good. I didn’t read any reviews prior to watching it, but I saw a lot of tweets indicating that several TV critics thought it was very different than The People vs. OJ, and people who want what they got from OJ might be taken aback. Personally, I didn’t expect them to be particularly similar, but that is perhaps because I knew I wouldn’t have the same personal connection regardless. I think it was very well-acted — Darren Criss is great; it’s too soon to tell how Penelope Cruz is, as Donatella, but (a) even mediocre Penelope Cruz is probably gonna be pretty good, and (b) Donatella is a tough role to shoulder thanks to SNL.
2b. I did think there was one false note — and I am interested to hear from those of you who lived in Miami and/or followed this more closely than I did about others. When Detective Will Chase is questioning Ricky Martin, Det. Will Chase seems perplexed by the idea that Ricky Martin and Versace are romantic partners whose relationship is sexually non-monogamous. It’s 1997 Miami: There is no way he hasn’t come across that scenario before. I would not have been particularly phased by that at the time if I stumbled across it in the lives of some extremely rich adults, and I was a 22 year old with very little life experience. (I did read a lot of books, though.)
3. The tile in this thing is EXCEPTIONAL.
What did you think? As ever, I also recommend reading the coverage at Vanity Fair, which obviously covered this AT LENGTH when it happened, as Terrible Things Happening To Rich People is right in their wheelhouse.
(PS: There is one slide within that is potentially NSFW.)
And very familiar underpants for anyone who ever read a fashion magazine in the mid-90s. (Also: the ceiling in this bathroom! Amazing! This entire pilot was like, LOOK AT THIS ROOOOM!!)
Something I didn’t know, which I found really interesting, was how close Versace’s house was to the main drag there in Miami. He literally walked out the front gate and was on the street, free to be molested by looky-loos, or, tragically, shot. Obviously, this is the case for famous people in MANY cities in the world – New York, London – but I always think of Miami as being like Los Angeles, in that many if not all of the more overwhelmingly grand homes are set further back from the street. I say this with the expertise of someone who has only flown through the Miami airport and knows it from The Golden Girls, so. You know. Expertise!!
Andrew Cunanun had this in his bag along with his gun and I swear to god I checked this book out of the library once myself. (It is out of print now.)
This mansion has so many frescos. SO MANY. (I enjoy a good mural/fresco, as you know. Basically, I hate a bare wall.)
The floors are ALSO dramatic. Mr Versace was a maximalist and I am here for it.
This is basically like a tiny, Miami Hearst castle.
A little sad foreshadowing here. (Diana wore a lot of Versace; including, if I recall correctly, in the editorial in this issue of VF.)
Raise your hand if you knew a dude who owned this shirt. (I certainly did.) The late 90s were replete with Versace knock-offs for dudes.
I thought it was interesting how much this episode focused on the way Andrew changed his clothing to suit wherever he was going – from borrowing his brother-in-law’s conservative Armani-ish suits for the opera, to literally wearing an ascot and cordoroy blazer to Cal, where he is (preending to be) a student. (He lies a lot, about everything, and people can tell.)
This poor child, on the other hand, is NOT true to my memory of being part of the UC system in the mid-90s. Sweet summer lover, wander over to a group of kindly girls and let them fix you a bit. You’re in the English department! WE LOVED TO MAKE PEOPLE OVER. Anyhoods, I hope this sad noodle with the terrible sweater who loves Andrew does not die.
It’s possible I have done this myself and I’m concerned about what that means for me.
I was not going to deny you Darren Criss’s butt, even though he is playing a sociopath.
This gown is quite stunning.
Is it a successful date if there is no harp? Asking for a friend.
I just wanted to note that, so far, Ricky Martin is very good in this part and that, in general, I am ready for Ricky Martin to be very famous again. You young people don’t even know how EXCITING it was when those of us who didn’t know about rocky Martin were introduced to him at the Grammys in 1999, when he sang Cup of Life in leather pants.
Will Chase, however, looks vaguely absurd in these glasses and that stache. He looks like he’s an actor playing an actor playing a cop.
I am here for this, however.
THESE WALLS ARE AMAZING. I CAN’T STOP SCREAMING ABOUT THEM.
I will note that I felt as if some of the blah blah about the Versace business felt a bit tonally out of place in this episode; in a sense, I think it worked well to establish that Donatella is a smart woman in her own right, but I’m not sure if the audience totally cares about stock options at this moment?
Ryan Murphy directed this episode and I forgot how much he loves an overhead shot. (It was well – and very dramatically – directed, because Ryan Murphy is a much better director than he is a writer. I don’t believe he wrote any of these episodes, which bodes well for the show.)
I TOLD YOU Cathy Moriarty would show up!
I know shit is bad right now, Donatella, but you look very glamorous whilst in mourning.
Schmidt, on the other hand, has looked MUCH BETTER.
American Crime Story – The Assassination of Gianni Versace: S02E01: The Man Who Would Be Vogue
AN IMPRESSIVE PREMIERE SETS THE SCENE FOR A VERY DIFFERENT CRIME
How do you follow the crime of the century? That’s the question Ryan Murphy and FX must have been asking after the monumental success of American Crime Story’s first season. Brushing off charges of exploitation and insensitivity, The People v O.J. Simpson was a surprisingly detailed and compassionate tale with the racial politics of the early 90s and 2016, and how they mirrored each other through the filter of the O.J. Simpson murder trial. It topped many best of year lists, won a ton of awards, and briefly put Cuba Gooding Jr on the map again. The question must be asked again: how do you follow it?
The Assassination of Gianni Versace has a lot to live up to, and by the basis of The Man Who Would be Vogue it’s safe to say that Ryan Murphy has another hit on his hands. In many ways, season two of American Crime Story is completely different than season one. Sure, there are lots of similarities: it’s 90s setting, the crime featuring a number of famous faces, actors from Ryan Murphy’s previous projects, but The Assassination of Gianni Versace has a completely different feel than its predecessor.
One of the most important differences is the cut and dry nature of the crime itself. There is absolutely no ambiguity about who murdered Gianni Versace: that would be serial killer Andrew Cunanan, played by Darren Criss. Also, if you think that season two will have the same structure of the first season, which isn’t unusual if you aren’t familiar with the crime, don’t get your hopes up. There will be no trial, instead there will be what the author of the book this season is based on Maureen Orth called “the largest failed manhunt in U.S. history.”
If the crime seems straightforward, the lead up, and consequences of it are anything but. The Man Who Would be Vogue spends its first ten minutes showing the contrasting circumstances of victim and killer. Ryan Murphy’s camera follows Versace (Edgar Ramirez) through his palatial mansion much like a king wander around his castle. As he makes his way through his morning routine, we are shown the same time frame from Andrew Cunanan’s perspective. It’s here that the contrast becomes so effective. As Versace is calmly waking up for what might be an unremarkable day, Cunanan is on the beach, which is stained red in many places, preparing for the act that will make him as famous as the man he is about to kill.
I didn’t like Glee so I wasn’t that aware of Darren Criss until he started popping up in some predictable places: as a dead hipster in American Horror Story: Hotel, and some unpredictable places: as the Music Meister in the Supergirl/Flash musical crossover. None of these roles prepared me for his magnetic performance as Andrew Cunanan. Clearly the most eye-catching part of this premiere, at least until Penelope Cruz turns up, Criss, along with Murphy, and head writer Tom Robbin Smith, have crafted a captivating sociopath who, if he wasn’t a real person, I would have called a larger than life imitation of Tom Ripley.
With this season placing such importance on circumstances leading to the murder, going as far back as 1990 when Cunanan allegedly met Versace, Criss has to craft a character in which the lengths of his insanity went to make narrative sense. This is harder than you would think as real-life people don’t tend to stick to character architypes, or act in ways that make logical sense within a story. The advantage of Cunanan is that he is constantly inventing himself over and over again in every situation he finds himself in. This is shown effectively through his accounts of that possibly made-up meeting with Versace. We first see it as it supposedly happened: with Cunanan sensing an opening that frequently closes only for him to rip it open again. It’s this persistence, and a story about his family ties to Italy, that helps him connect to Versace enough that the designer invites him to the opera. From here we hear two alternative versions of this story from Cunanan’s point of view that put him in a more cool and favourable light. He’s a pathological liar that creates himself anew over and over again: symbolised by his nearly empty wardrobe and his confession (even if it is superficial) that he has nothing.
The best scene of the episode is a culmination of all of Cunanan’s skills. In a borrowed suit, he improvises a privileged history of himself to put him on somewhat equal footing to Versace. The way Criss moves around the stage is almost comically that of an actor putting on a performance, which is exactly what he is doing. This is complicated further by the niggling thought that this entire scene could be a fiction as well. What is real though, is Cunanan’s crimes, which turn out to be more serious than just Versace.
Apart from the meat of the episode between Ramirez and Criss, The Man Who Would be Vogue has got some season-long plots to set up. It’s here where American Crime Story feels the most familiar. Not only is law enforcement involved, including Miami PD and the FBI, there is also the media, and bystanders that are on hand to hustle for profit or souvenirs.
8/10 – The pieces have been put in place, the big players introduced, and the story set in motion. American Crime Story has figured out how to follow its first season: go bigger.
American Crime Story – The Assassination of Gianni Versace: S02E01: The Man Who Would Be Vogue
A Life on Stage to A Life of Crime: The Broadway Players of THE ASSASSINATION OF GIANNI VERSACE: AMERICAN CRIME STORY
Earlier this week, FX premiered THE ASSASSINATION OF GIANNI VERSACE: AMERICAN CRIME STORY, the second installment of its award-winning original series. The nine-episode limited series, based on Maureen Orth’s book Vulgar Favors: Andrew Cunanan, Gianni Versace, and the Largest Failed Manhunt in U. S. History., continues Wednesdays at 10PM.
As with many other Ryan Murphy creations (executive producer/pilot director), the series is already littered with appearances from some of Broadway’s finest players, including some Tony winners! Have you spotted them all yet?
TV Recap: Gay Clubbing And Murder In Debut of ‘American Crime Story’ Season 2
“The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story” has been hotly anticipated ever since its announcement. Mired in controversy from the very start, the Versace family denounced the Ryan Murphy-helmed FX show, despite Donatella’s affection for leading lady Penelope Cruz. Dropping earlier this week, the new program has some critics disappointed, while others eagerly await more.
The series opens in Miami Beach, Florida in 1995. A swelling orchestra and painted clouds in garish colors gives way to a room lit in neon undertones, where we are introduced to our main character: the eponymous Gianni. In designer boxers and a plush robe, he takes to a balcony where he watches a boy on a beach. That boy is Andrew Cunanan, who will go on to kill Gianni.
Cunanan ruffles through his bag to find a book about Vogue magazine and a gun. Lesions on his leg hint at a disease festering in his body (already Murphy’s series is not shying away from discussing AIDS). He walks into the water and screams. Gianni dines on fresh fruit.
While Gianni denies a couple an autograph, Cunanan vomits into a toilet, noting graffiti scrawled in the toilet stall denigrates queers. After running some banal errands, Versace returns home, where he is shot to death by Cunanan.
In 1990, Cunanan is shown partying at a gay club (Murphy’s signature display of excess continues here), where a friend gets him into a VIP section. He weasels his way into a conversation with a slightly younger Versace. Cunanan is shown lying about the encounter later, over-exaggerating his social prowess and similarly denigrating queer people.
In another passing conversation, Criss’ character is shown to be somewhat of a pathological liar with a handful of (sexual) traumas in his past. Darren Criss’ ability to accurately and sensitively play a gay man will surely be the topic of considerable debate as the series progresses, but already his purposefully effeminate mannerisms are a bit, well, questionable, to say the least. (He’s trying, that’s for sure.)
Cunanan somehow manages a date with Versace at an opera the designer created costumes for. Cunanan tells a tall tale about his origin — obviously suspect at this point. Clearly he’s attempting to seduce Versace.
Back to 1995, Versace’s body lies on the steps of his palace. A butler or servant of Versace’s goes after Cunanan, but he escapes after threatening the employee with a gun. Ambulances rush to the mansion while Cunanan attempts to calm himself after the killing.
Paparazzi and camera crews rush to cover the killing while police pursue Cunanan. Attempts are made to revive Versace, but to no avail.
Teasers leading up to “ACS” showed characters bathed in tawdry neons, making many wonder what the series was aiming for in its tone. At this point, it’s clear Murphy is taking a step back from the campy, over-the-top vibe of “American Horror Story.” He’s trying to take this story seriously, and he perhaps imagines the events themselves as a kind of lavish opera, although tacky flourishes betray those intentions (perhaps intentional, perhaps accidental).
The death of Versace has attracted some eccentric people, including a tourist who sneaks into the crime scene to drench a Versace ad in the creator’s blood, and an aspiring model who vamps in the background of news reports on the murder. Cunanan is shown mimicking the shocked reactions of those learning the news. It’s not exactly subtle (Murphy has no ability to do anything with subtlety), but the shot of Criss covering his mouth with his hand shortly after seeing a nearby woman doing the same shows Cunanan’s attempts at parroting normal human behavior.
Donatella (Cruz) arrives in Miami while police interrogate Versace’s partner, Antonio D’Amico (Martin), with some sadistic cruelty, accusing him of pimping boys and men for Versace’s pleasure. Martin admits to bringing men home for sexual encounters, but police mistake the complexities of gay relationships as some kind of perverse or evil behavior. D’Amico has no ability to explain his love for Versace to these people; they have no desire to understand. Donatella forbids Martin from speaking to anyone else on the matter.
Martin is already the standout actor in the show. Covered in blood and crying for his lover, he’s clearly attempting to prove his chops — and definitely succeeding. Cruz and Criss are doing their best, but they can’t seem to shake the inherent campiness of their characters. Cruz in particular is trying to treat Donatella with decency, but her commitment to seriousness makes her depiction feel wooden. It feels like she fears making Donatella too silly, and the character’s depth suffers as a result.
Murphy here is clearly attempting to use Versace’s murder to discuss a handful of LGBTQ+ social issues ranging from HIV/AIDS to the lack of acceptance of non-traditonal queer relationships. Whether he’ll be able to tackle these subjects with clarity or nuance remains to be seen.
TV Recap: Gay Clubbing And Murder In Debut of ‘American Crime Story’ Season 2
Darren Criss on Not Whitewashing Half-Filipino Andrew Cunanan In ‘Versace’ — Turn It On Podcast
Darren Criss calls it “serendipity” that he already was in Ryan Murphy’s orbit when the producer focused in on telling the tale of serial killer Andrew Cunanan for “The Assassination of Gianni Versace,” the latest edition of “American Crime Story.” Cunanan was half-Filipino, just as Criss is, which gave the actor a rare opportunity to play his ethnicity.
“I believe there are a lot of great half-Filipino actors out there that could have done this a lot of justice, [but] when Ryan talked about doing this three years ago, before we actually got the ball rolling last year, I would joke with him saying, ‘Hey man, I would love to do this, but if you don’t want me to do it with you, I defy you to find another guy who looks kind of like him, who’s in the same age range, who’s in your Rolodex of actors. Because if you don’t cast a half-Filipino guy, the Filipino community is going to cry bloody murder. So I don’t know what your other options are!’
“I would have never held that against him but I would jokingly think that. I’m glad it all came to fruition when it did.”
Executive producer Nina Jacobson said it was important that the actor playing Cunanan was half-Filipino, especially after having just produced the upcoming film “Crazy Rich Asians.”
“We did not want to whitewash a role,” she said. “Andrew was half-Filipino, and it was really important to not just get a guy and say that he was. We wanted to be authentic in terms of Andrew’s background. And the fact that Darren had kind of this striking resemblance physically, the chops of an actor and professionalism to take on a role of this disturbing hard role to play that he also could authentically play a half-Filipino character as opposed to the usual Hollywood thing.”
Criss said that he doesn’t think whitewashing comes out of any conscious malice, but admits that he may harbor “half-white privilege” in that view.
“What makes good casting work is when you have good actors. There are a lot of great Filipino actors that I think people just aren’t thinking outside of the box enough,” he said.
Criss pointed specifically to Jon Jon Briones, who plays Modesto Cunanan in “The Assassination of Gianni Versace.”
“He’s a tried and true Broadway veteran, he’s been acting for years, he’s not just some newbie — maybe to the film and television world but certainly not as a craftsman of acting,” Criss said. “And Ryan asked me, ‘Who is this guy, I love him! Where’s he from, how come he doesn’t get roles?’ I said, ‘Ryan, he does but he’s a Filipino man who looks a certain way. You have to understand the roles he’s being offered.’ The Thai terrorist on ‘CSI.’ And he’s from the original cast of ‘Miss Saigon,’ he’s doing Miss Saigon right now. He’s the Engineer on Broadway. What it takes is a role like this, hopefully, where people go, ‘oh! This guy is really good!’ It sucks we have to wait around for roles that show you off within the corner you’re put in to be able to play in the larger room.”
“The Assassination of Gianni Versace” may have Versace in the title, but it’s really the story of Andrew Cunanan, and the tale of how he became the killer of not just Versace but several other socialites across the country. It was a juicy role for Criss, and IndieWire’s Turn It On podcast recently met up with the actor to discuss the mystery of Cunanan, the sensitivity of the fact that so many people impacted by Cunanan may be watching, and how his ethnicity as a half-Filipino man made him the perfect fit for the role. Later in this episode, we also talked to American Crime Story producers Brad Simpson and Nina Jacobson about the franchise. But first, we talked to Criss about how this role impacted him. Listen below!
Criss said “Versace” was a tremendous role for him, but he’s muted in his enthusiasm because of the realization that Cunanan’s murders impacted many people who are still around and may watch the show.
“Now they have to deal with this being on television and being water cooler fodder at work,” he said. “That’s something I’m very much aware of. Saying this is a dream role I’m careful of because I don’t want to be insensitive to the lives that were affected. However, beyond it being a very interesting part as an actor, I got to work with all these people and we got to travel to interesting places All the boxes were ticked. I got to do a show with Penelope Cruz, Edgar Ramirez, Ricky Martin.”
It was also a bit of a challenge because there isn’t much documentation of Cunanan’s life — which meant Criss had to come up with some of the character on his own. “In that sense, I am relieved from having to do an imitation job,” he said. “He’s not a person that people are familiar with who are expecting me to do my version of Andrew. It gives me a lot of leeway.”
Darren Criss on Not Whitewashing Half-Filipino Andrew Cunanan In ‘Versace’ — Turn It On Podcast
Remote Controlled: ‘Versace’ Star Darren Criss on Playing Andrew Cunanan, Plus ‘The Four’ Experts
Welcome to “Remote Controlled,” a podcast from Variety featuring the best and brightest in television, both in front of and behind the camera.
In this week’s episode, Variety’s executive editor of TV Debra Birnbaum talks with Darren Criss, who stars in the new installment of FX’s “American Crime Story” franchise, “The Assassination of Gianni Versace.”
Criss says that he’d been discussing playing serial killer Andrew Cunanan with series creator Ryan Murphy for several years. “My reaction was, I’d be thrilled to do this,” he says. “I thought it was something he forgot about and was just spitballing. But he stuck to his word, and I’m so glad he finally decided to do this.”
But he knew the part would always be his, he admits. “I almost defy you, Ryan, to find someone else in your camp who somehow looks like this guy, is actually half-Filipino, is in the same age range,” he says. “Good luck!”
Criss wasn’t intimidated, though, by the thought of playing a serial killer. “People always think that’s some sort of departure, and while I understand that curiosity, I can’t help but feel that same curiosity would be present if I had started with something like this, and this is what you knew me for,” he says. “People forget that actors are actors, and we depart for a living.”
And he says he found ways to relate to Cunanan, and hopes other people will, too. “We all have more in common not only with each other, but the worst person you can think of than we like to admit,” he says. “The differences are small in number but huge in content.”
Criss did his own research and talked to people who knew him. “The show explores the best parts of him and the worst parts of him,” he says. “It’s really a healthy mix of a lot of unhealthy things.”
The more he learned, the more he sympathized with Cunanan. “My heart just broke constantly for this guy,” he said. “The wasted potential is the most heartbreaking tragedy of all of it.”
Remote Controlled: ‘Versace’ Star Darren Criss on Playing Andrew Cunanan, Plus ‘The Four’ Experts
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