The question of the couple and love, especially in the LGBT community, is also a topic that interested Ricky Martin in the scenario of American Crime Story: Versace. “In discovering who Antonio d’Amico was, I found similarities with him, I’m in love, I believe in love, loyalty and family values … (…) Gianni could leave his briefcase on the floor because Antonio was there to pick everything up, there was such love between them, and I understand that,” he said. In addition, the series is an opportunity to discuss homophobia, still strong at the time (the 1990s). “There was homophobia, hatred … Some of these issues are still relevant, and our mini-series is important in that sense so that we do not forget and remind viewers that crimes against the LGBT community are always perpetrated,” adds the artist.

Ricky Martin interview for Le Matin magazine (translated)| 14 December 2017

Why Donatella Versace’s daughter won’t be a character in ‘American Crime Story’

Donatella Versace did not want her daughter, Allegra, portrayed in the upcoming FX series “The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story,” and creator Ryan Murphy removed her character, sources tell Page Six.

In his hit “The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story,” Murphy had actors play young Kim Kardashian and her siblings, whose late father, Robert, legally represented his best friend, Simpson. But Murphy thought better of portraying Versace’s niece, who was a child at the time of the fashion designer’s sensational murder.

Allegra’s now a director at the family fashion house, but keeps a low public profile. She was like a daughter to her uncle, who left her nearly half his business, worth millions, when she was just 11.

“Ryan shot a scene with Allegra,” a source said at the series’ premiere at Metrograph. “But he respected Donatella’s wishes and took it out. Donatella did not want her daughter portrayed in the show.”

Allegra’s brother, Daniel, inherited his uncle’s art collection.

At the screening and an elegant candlelit dinner afterward at the Bowery Hotel, were Murphy and series’ stars Darren Criss, Edgar Ramírez and Ricky Martin.

‘Versace: American Crime Story’ Will Actually Be About Being Gay in the ‘90s

The premiere episode of The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story boasts style in exactly the grand scale you’d expect from a TV series associated with the doomed fashion icon.

The camera turns its lens on the ostentatious opulence of Versace’s Miami Beach mansion almost as a fetish. The fashion is as late-‘90s glamorous and decadent as it is garish and tacky. Sex oozes everywhere, from the sweat of the South Florida beach setting to the lingering gaze on star Darren Criss’s exceptionally sculpted (briefly nude) body.

A hypnotizing, wordless first act, backed by a rousing string-heavy score, gives a Shakespearean start to the whole endeavor, echoed, of course, in the horror of the murder by gunshot that left Versace bleeding to death at the front gate of his home in 1997.

And just wait for Penelope Cruz’s entrance as Donatella Versace, an unveiling dripping with enough melodrama and high fashion to make you gasp. The Oscar-winner, donning what appears to be an upper lip prosthetic to aid in nailing Donatella’s almost indecipherable Italian accent, is perfect—as is the pilot, which thrills as much in its visuals and sensuality as it does in the graphic nature of its titular crime and ensuing manhunt.

Only the first episode of FX’s newest installment of its American Crime Story franchise, the first follow-up to its awards-guzzling People vs. O.J. Simpson season, screened Monday night, for a room packed with curious celebrity fans including Glenn Close, Patricia Clarkson, and Andrew Rannells. That’s not enough for a proper review of the new series, which officially premieres January 17. But creator Ryan Murphy, the producers and writers, and stars Criss, Edgar Ramirez, and Ricky Martin were on hand to tease the season and its perhaps surprising greater message.

More than a murder mystery or a lavish look at the life of a fashion legend, Versace will tackle what it was like to be gay in the 1990s.

“Like in O.J., the themes we’re tackling in this show seem so modern to me,” Murphy said, referring to how the American Crime Story found renewed resonance in the identity politics, race and class bias, media circus, and misogyny surrounding the O.J. Simpson trial. “They don’t seem like they’re frozen in amber,” he continued. “They feel very alive and plucked from today’s headlines.”

The Versace season is heavily based on journalist Maureen Orth’s book Vulgar Favors: The Assassination of Gianni Versace.

Orth had been investigating serial killer Andrew Cunanan (played by Criss in the series) for months before he murdered Gianni Versace (Ramirez) on the steps of his Miami Beach mansion while Versace’s partner (Martin) was inside. Cunanan had evaded police while successfully murdering five men that he knew, the last being Versace. Orth’s reporting revealed a highly intelligent sociopath—he once tested at 147 for his IQ—with tortured feelings about being gay, and perhaps even jealousy that he had all these gifts and promise yet somehow wasn’t succeeding in the same way as these other men.

“We didn’t understand, and you’ll see as the show goes on, that Versace was the last victim, and Andrew had killed people that he knew before this,” executive producer Brad Simpson said. “As we began to unpack the show, we realized this was about the politics of being out in the 1990s.”

Murphy revealed that the season will be telling the story backwards. The first and second episodes deal with the assassination of Versace and the manhunt for Cunanan in Miami, and then the series will head back in time so that, by episode 8, we are seeing Cunanan as a child. Then the final episode will deal with his eventual demise.

Broad cultural themes will of course be explored along the way. Said executive producer Nina Jacobsen, “I think what we realized during the first season is that we wanted every season of the show to ultimately be about a crime that America feels guilty of, and find a way to sort of explore what is a cultural crime as well as a specific crime, or in this case a series of crimes. In this case, to try to explore and re-conjure what it was to be gay in the ‘90s.”

Orth explained that Cunanan was from San Diego, a big military town, growing up while “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” was in the news, which created agony for people who were conflicted over how they felt about being gay, whether they could express themselves, or whether they could be publicly out. The parents of two of Cunanan’s victims didn’t even know their sons were gay until after they were murdered, for a sense of the environment.

Equally fascinating was the incompetency of the police and investigators pursuing Cunanan, who struggled with infiltrating the gay community and understanding its nuances, something Orth said didn’t necessarily reflect a homophobia, per se, but an ignorance.

Then of course there’s the ever-resonant idea of fame, and the craven pursuit of it that is very much embedded in the fabric of today’s culture.

“I think the idea that [Cunanan] was willing to kill for fame, there was kind of a trajectory between that and getting famous through a sex tape like the Kardashians and then right down to becoming the president of the United States because you were a reality TV star,” Orth said.

Murphy said that each actor they cast was actually their first choice to play the roles, from Cruz as Donatella down to Martin’s revelatory dramatic turn. “I have a theory that in every singer is a great dramatic actor waiting to come to out,” Murphy said about the music superstar.

Martin, who spends much of the first episode shaken and in tears after discovering Versace’s body, explained that he actually got to spend several hours of quality time with Antonio D’Amico, the designer’s partner of 15 years, who also helped curate the roster of boys they would also be intimate with. “Every time I see this episode I’m just really moved,” he said.

Murphy first dangled the idea of playing Cunanan in front of Criss, whom he had worked with on Glee three years ago, going so far as to call it the role of the young actor’s career.

There’s an uncanny resemblance between Criss and the real-life Cunanan, down to the fact that they are both part Filipino. With just the first hour to judge by, Criss is extremely watchable in a complicated and potentially off-putting role: a sociopathic narcissist, whose gay self-loathing manifests in an unsettling violent streak.

“I think stories that bend people’s sense of empathy are what really interest me,” Criss said. “It’s Shakespearean. Is has this very operatic feel. It’s Greek in scale. I’m a good, old fashioned acting student. Put me in a Greek tragedy or a Shakespeare play. If I get to do that on FX with Ryan Murphy, then fuck yeah, let’s do it.”

For all the talk of broader themes, there’s one specific detail that Murphy wanted to drive home: the unusual experience of filming the series in Versace’s actual Miami Beach mansion. That meant actually recreating his assassination where it really happened, in front of the house that Versace curated every detail of, which still emanates his soul and passion. It “was one of the most emotional, profound, moving, experiences,” Murphy said. “The day we shot that the crew was crying. The actors were crying. It was very intense.”

It wasn’t just that day, but the entire experience that was emotional for Ramirez, who spent months channeling Versace and living with his unnecessary death—and what that death said about the value of a certain demographic’s life at that time in the U.S.

“Me living in Venezuela, I knew about Andrew Cunanan,” Ramirez said. “He was on the news in my country. [I’m disturbed by] the fact that it took so long to get him, because apparently he wasn’t a threat to society because he was killing gay men. I feel very proud to be part of a project that talks about love and family but at the same time, hopefully makes something light out of something so dark.”

‘Versace: American Crime Story’ Will Actually Be About Being Gay in the ‘90s

Hollywood Issue – Edgar Ramirez

Edgar Ramirez has taken on some big roles before. He played Ares the god of war in Wrath of the Titans, was commissioned as ‘Paz’ to take out Matt Damon’s Jason Bourne in The Bourne Ultimatum, and Bohdi in the 2015 remake of Point Break starring opposite Luke Bracy’s Johnny Utah. This January he personifies fashion icon Gianni Versace. Ryan Murphy’s Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story is the follow-up to American Crime Story: The People v. O.J. Simpson which earned two golden globes one for Best Television Limited Series-second for Sarah Paulson as super lawyer Marcia Clark.

Ramirez threw himself into the role as seen by the trailers and still photo. Known for his full black hair and beard, he disappears into Gianni with a receding hairline and lighter locks while donning the famed embellished over-the-top Italian designer’s look perfectly.

Tell us about getting cast in the American Crime Story telling of Gianni Versace’s death?

He called me up and he offered me to come on board for this adventure. When I read the outline of the story, and Ryan has the ability to create something interesting, that are dramatically gripping at the same time have social relevance. He captures something that is going on in society.

Tell us about your preparation to play the role of Versace?

I tried to educate myself about the House of Versace and the brand. I tracked down several people who were very close to Gianni. I have a very journalist approach to my characters so I would research the story and document information about the controversial murder.

What did you find interesting about the time Versace was becoming a fashion icon?

Up until Versace Sexuality and glamour was always separated. Versace was able to combine those elements. He mixed sexuality from the 70’s and money from the 80’s and the glamour of the 90’s. Everybody went crazy. Gianni became one of the most universal designers.

Did you get to party at the Versace house?

The house was legendary for the parties. It was the legend and myth but Gianni was very quite very reserved. He understood the importance of the celebration of life, sexuality, and color. He would go to bed early and get up early and work. He wasn’t the party animal. The house is gorgeous and spectacular, we were shooting in multiple places in the house. It was very moving. I think it was a house of creativity.

Hollywood Issue – Edgar Ramirez

Inside the New York Preview of Ryan Murphy’s American Crime Story: The Assassination of Gianni Versace

A few lucky New Yorkers got a sneak peek of Ryan Murphy’s American Crime Story: The Assassination of Gianni Versace Monday night at Metrograph. The cast including Darren Criss, Ricky Martin, and Édgar Ramirez attended the special screening along with Murphy and executive producers Nina Jacobson and Brad Simpson.

The second installment of Murphy’s anthology series, premiering January 17 on FX, follows the murder of Gianni Versace (Ramirez) and the nine-day manhunt for Andrew Cunanan (Criss) as well as the personal lives of each man.

Criss had previously worked on two of Murphy’s projects (Glee and American Horror Story), but hadn’t had the opportunity to work directly with him. “I’ve always appreciated his tutelage, his insight, and his encouragement,” the actor said. “Everyone knows him for the quality of his work so to see him and work with him in tandem was really surreal and a real thrill for me.”

To prepare for the role of Cunanan, Criss read Maureen Orth’s book (which the show is based on) and spoke to people who knew the murderer. “Unlike the O.J. case where there was an overwhelming amount of information, this was very limited. He was a thousand different people with a thousand different people,” he said. “You had to speculate a lot of things; at one moment he’s ‘A’ and at the next moment he’s ‘B’.”

Inside the New York Preview of Ryan Murphy’s American Crime Story: The Assassination of Gianni Versace

‘The Assassination of Gianni Versace’: 6 Things We Learned From FX’s First Screening

Darren Criss has taken on a “Shakespearean” role in bringing the tortured life story of serial killer Andrew Cunanan to life in FX’s “The Assassination of Gianni Versace.”

So said “Versace” director and executive producer Ryan Murphy on Monday night as he “played Barbara Walters” during a Q&A with stars and producers following the series’ first public screening, held at New York City’s Metrograph theater.

“Versace” stars Criss, Edgar Ramirez, Ricky Martin, writer Tom Rob Smith, author Maureen Orth, and executive producers Nina Jacobson and Brad Simpson offered insights into the limited series, which has the hard task of following “The People V. O.J. Simpson” as the second installment of FX’s “American Crime Story” franchise.

Here are 6 things we learned from the first look at “Versace”:

Like “People V. O.J. Simpson,” “Versace” takes on larger cultural and societal issues beyond the sensational details of how Cunanan gunned down fashion superstar Versace on the steps of his Miami Beach villa on July 15, 1997. Through the once-and-future prism of a period drama, the first episode raises timely questions about discrimination against LGBT crime victims by law enforcement, disparity in health care for rich and poor, and the sick market for cashing in on grisly celebrity deaths. Versace was one of the first major public figures to live his life openly as a gay man, and, based on the first episode, the then-and-now perspective on cultural attitudes toward the LGBT community is clearly a major theme. “We want every season of this show to be about that crime that America is guilty of,” Jacobson said. “We wanted to re-conjure what it meant to be gay in the 1990s.”

Don’t expect a simple linear storyline in “Versace’s” nine episodes. “We’re telling the story backwards. The first and second episodes are about the assassination [of Versace] and the manhunt, and then we go back in time. In episode eight you meet Andrew Cunanan as a child. The final episode deals with his eventual demise,” Murphy said.

Orth, author of the 1999 book “Vulgar Favors: The Assassination of Gianni Versace,” said Cunanan’s obsession with achieving a measure of celebrity was a product of the modern age. He was “besotted” with the idea of fame. “He was willing to kill for fame. He wanted to be everything Versace was, but he wasn’t willing to work for it,” Orth said. She added a harsh observation about the nation’s current political climate: “The idea that he was willing to kill for fame — there’s a line from there to getting famous from a sex tape like the Kardashians down to becoming president of the United States because you’re a reality TV star,” Orth opined.

Criss became emotionally invested in playing the disturbed serial killer. The role is without question a career-accelerator for the former “Glee” star. Murphy noted that Criss is in every episode, as the story drills down on the factors that made Cunanan kill five people including Versace during his 1997 spree. “Stories that bend people’s sense of empathy are what interest me,” Criss said. “We’re trying to humanize somebody who is so conventionally vilified.” Murphy added: “We’re not interested in the killer-of-the-week approach,” he said. “We’re trying to understand the psychology of someone who would be driven to do those deeds.”

Ramirez also got under the skin of Versace, even though his character spends most of episode one on a gurney in the morgue. Recreating the scenes of Versace’s murder on the actual site of his villa in Miami was a challenging process, said Martin, who plays Versace’s longtime lover, Antonio. “It was a profound, moving experience,” Martin said. “The crew was crying, the actors were crying — it was very intense.” Ramirez felt he channeled the soul of his character during his big death scene. He believed Versace lived through the trauma of being taken to the emergency room before he was declared dead at 9:21 a.m. “He was there,” Ramirez said. “He wanted to express something, but he couldn’t, about the insanity and the tragedy that [his murder] could have been prevented and it wasn’t.”

Criss also emphasized the importance of the production having access to the Versace villa. “That house — it bleeds his soul,” Criss said. “His creativity exits in every wall and every doorknob in the house. It’s a living vestige of his legacy. I did feel his presence. I had to say a prayer for thanks and an apology for us exposing it. I’m hoping some light can be made from this very, very dark thing.”

‘The Assassination of Gianni Versace’: 6 Things We Learned From FX’s First Screening

Strong Spirit

Edgar Ramirez romanced Jennifer Lawrence in Joy and spooked Emily Blunt in The Girl on the Train, but the 40-year-old’s best stories are his own. He grew up all over Venezuela, where his father worked as a military attaché. Ramirez speaks five languages, curses in German, and studied to be a journalist before taking a sharp turn toward acting at 25. He stormed Cannes in 2010 with Carlos, a career-defining, six-hour miniseries in which Ramirez played Venezuelan terrorist Carlos the Jackal, from his days as a young playboy admiring his own junk in a hotel-room mirror to his eventual capture to some 20 years later. This month, in the second season of FX’s American Crime Story, Ramirez becomes another iconic rebel, the titular legendary fashion designer in The Assassination of Gianni Versace, which opens with Versace’s murder on the steps of his Miami Beach mansion. (Penélope Cruz stars as Donatella Versace; Ricky Martin appears as the designer’s longtime partner, Antonio D’Amico.) While Versace famously lived his life openly, Ramirez, who has been linked to former costars Jessica Chastain and Ana de Armas, prefers an existence laid less bare. Here, the international man of mystery—he splits his time between New York, L.A., and Caracas—explains why.

…

ELLE: What surprised you about Versace?

ER: He was a family man. He would wake up very early and go to bed rather late. People fantasize about his life because of the lushness of his clothes and the atmosphere and the mystique around his brand. His parties were legendary. It was necessary for him to be surrounded by that diversity of people—rich people, affluent people, people from the street. … He would get his inspiration from that. And everyone went crazy for the mix.

…

ELLE: You filmed in the house where Versace was assassinated. Could you feel his presence?

ER: I come from Latin America. I’m a magical realist. We feel very comfortable with the unknown. I would say there was a very strong energy. Ricky, Ryan [Murphy], Penélope, and I—we discussed that maybe we never really go completely away. That house was built for creativity. We turned it into a mini studio. Gianni might have felt very happy that the house became again what it was always meant to be: a beacon of creativity.

…

ELLE: Last one: How did Versace’s robes feel?

ER: You saw the pink one? That made me feel sexy. My chest is bare; I had to put on almost 20 pounds, and I was very proud of my paunchy stomach. It made me feel like an emperor. Everyone should feel like an emperor once in their life.

Strong Spirit

Ricky Martin Premieres In American Crime Story: The Assassination of Gianni Versace, In the Midst Of Saving Puerto Rico

Twenty years ago, fashion icon Gianni Versace stepped outside his opulent mansion on Miami’s famed Ocean Drive, where he was brutally murdered by serial killer Andrew Cunanan. His partner of 15 years, Antonio D’Amico, found him dead, surrounded by a pool of his own blood. Fast-forward to 2017, and Latin star Ricky Martin sits there today on the very same marble steps. Channeling the love, the passion and the raw emotion of Versace’s heartbroken Italian lover, Martin makes his debut as D’Amico in the new American Crime Story: The Assassination of Gianni Versace.

Coming off the success of the first installation of the series, American Crime Story: The People v. O. J. Simpson, fans and admirers eagerly await the release of the newest six-part TV movie, starring Penélope Cruz, Edgar Ramirez, Darren Criss, and of course our cover star, Ricky Martin. As usual, the casting choice was very methodical on director Ryan Murphy’s part. Ricky recalls that when he received the call from Murphy, with whom he had previously worked on the hit show Glee, he was immediately thrilled and honored. Though he knew that the role would require diligent research and dedication to accurately portray his iconic character, he was mostly concerned with properly depicting the tragic love between D’Amico and Versace, and to give the portrayal the justice it deserved.

“For me, the most important thing was to be able to make the audience understand the intense love of Gianni and Antonio,” he says. So, he went straight to the source. “I talked to Antonio and asked him to share everything that he went through with me. I was lucky because he was very open and generous and really let me inside of the character.” In addition to consulting Antonio, Ricky delved right into the role and conducted thorough research via books, the Internet, movies—basically, anything he could get his hands on. But Ricky’s alternate reality really came to life when the cast began shooting at the original Versace Mansion in Miami.

“It was amazing to be able to shoot there and be inside where it all happened—it was so intense,” he recalls. “There is still a special magic inside the house even though it has been so many years. They really try to keep it as original as possible, and that made shooting so much more dramatic.”

Day one on set was no easy feat as Ricky’s first scene was one of the toughest of the entire saga. “In my first scene that I did, I had to reenact finding Gianni’s dead body on the street right after the crime,” he reflects. “I spent three, maybe four days, just covered in fake blood, because the way that Ryan films is very cinematic.”

But working alongside some of his co-stars, who happened to be some of his closest friends and colleagues, made the experience that much more memorable. “We’re all like family,” he says. “I knew Edgar [Ramirez] from before, and I’ve known Penélope [Cruz] for years, particularly through our philanthropic work. It always helps when you’re working with people you know, so it was very beautiful to be able to practice lines with them behind the cameras and be able to run scenes without any sort of fear. This helped me become my character, and it was a very special experience to be able to do this entire project with a cast that is so amazing.”

Despite the complexity of the character, D’Amico—a man who goes through intense love and passion, followed by heartbreak, grief, depression and conflict—Ricky was able to tap into his own emotions and wholeheartedly embody him as a person. “When I first read the scenes, I said, ‘Oh my god, this is going to be very difficult,’ just to be able to connect emotionally and find those levels of sadness, uncertainty and depression. But once I closed my eyes, I allowed myself to feel that pain. Because on certain levels, I can put myself in his shoes,” he explains. “As an actor, I don’t get in front of the camera and lie—on the contrary, I just go with what I would feel if I were my character.”

While the two differ in many ways, Ricky is still able to see some similarities between himself and Antonio. “I’m someone that is in love, that’s loyal and believes in family values. I also believe in living life to the fullest and taking advantage of every situation that life gives me and jump into it. And I think Antonio and Gianni had that dynamic,” he explains. “They were also pretty private, although they were in an industry that would ask Gianni for a lot of presence. But at the end of the day, they kept their relationship sacred as well as they could, and I try to do the same thing. I live a life that tends to be very exposed, and I try to be transparent to the world and to my fans, but I also do still have my private moments. And I cherish them like a gem.”

The story itself and the controversial topics that it explores are two of many reasons why Ricky feels his role in the production is so special. Reenacting as cruel and very public of a death as Gianni Versace’s brings forth questions of intolerance, hate, homophobia and injustice in our world. Though strides have been taken since Versace’s death, these issues are still very real and require constant exploration.

“These are all things that Ryan wanted to point out with the making of this movie. There is a lot of injustice in our lives, and we are unfortunately still dealing with these issues. As someone living in the LGBTQ community in the ’90s, intolerance was a very real thing. Andrew Cunanan was in Miami Beach for many weeks, and he was not hiding at all—he was on the list of the most wanted men by the FBI back then—what do you mean they didn’t find him before it happened? It’s not only the question of why he did it, but also, how did we allow that to happen?” he questions.

“Gianni Versace was having the time of his life living in Miami Beach, and then all of a sudden, one day, he walked outside of his house to go buy a newspaper, and when he returned he wasn’t even able to open the door of his house before he was shot. So, what I mean by this all is that Andrew Cunanan was on a killing spree, and Miami was his last stop. I think because he was killing gay men, authorities somewhat turned away and allowed it to happen,” Ricky says. “As a member of the LGBTQ community myself, I must say that I am very happy and proud of everything we’ve accomplished. The fact that we can get married today is amazing—this is something that Gianni and Antonio wanted to do back then but were never allowed—it wasn’t even an option. So, I’m very happy with the steps we’ve taken since then, but there’s still a lot of ignorance and hate in our world that we need to work on—there’s still a lot that needs to be done.”

Ricky Martin Premieres In American Crime Story: The Assassination of Gianni Versace, In the Midst Of Saving Puerto Rico

Martin will appear on television in January in the hotly anticipated “The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story“ as Antonio D’Amico, the partner of Gianni Versace.

“It’s going to be amazing, it’s going to be very special. We won’t disappoint,” Martin said. “And it’s very serious, and incredibly well written. [Ryan Murphy] directed the first two episodes and you’ll see, it’s very magic. And then I have a residency in Vegas — I’ll be back in March. We’re busy — there’s a lot going on. We’re very happy.”

Art Basel Miami Beach: Ricky Martin, Man About Town | 7 December 2017

How Edgar Ramirez transformed himself into Gianni Versace

A few months before fashion designer Gianni Versace was murdered on the steps of his Miami Beach villa by serial killer Andrew Cunanan, then-20-year-old Edgar Ramirez visited his parents in the sun-kissed party city. “If you walked on Ocean Drive, you could feel the vitality and the energy,” the Venezuelan actor tells Alexa of those freewheeling days in 1997. “It was exhilarating, it was exuberant.”

Ramirez, now 40, is revisiting that glamorous — and tragic — time. The actor plays the legendary Italian couturier on FX’s 10-episode “The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story,” premiering on Jan. 17.

It’s a departure for the square-jawed screen star, who has become a Hollywood go-to for variations on masculine archetypes: a deadbeat ex-husband opposite Jennifer Lawrence in “Joy”; a CIA operative in “Zero Dark Thirty” and Panamanian boxing legend Roberto Durán at the center of “Hands of Stone,” a biopic also starring Robert De Niro and Usher.

While Ramirez transformed himself into fighting shape for “Hands of Stone,” dieting and training for hours a day in Panama City gyms, he went in the opposite direction for his fashion-designer role. The normally fit leading man packed on 20 pounds, the Italian way — by indulging in endless plates of pasta — and used prosthetics for the first time. Sporting a receding hairline, graying coiffure, three-day stubble and a generous physique, he bears an uncanny resemblance to the late designer.

Cutting the weight is proving less enjoyable. “Now is when the fun part is over,” he says with a slightly gloomy tone in his voice. “Because I gotta lose it.”

His preparation for the part also included speaking to close friends of Versace, whose private life stood in stark contrast to the glorious excess of his brand’s image. “[People] remember the lush exuberance of the clothes and the sex appeal and the sexuality and the models and the parties,” Ramirez says. “But on the real, personal side, he was not a party animal. He used to go to bed very early and get up very early as well. It was very interesting to discover that side of him.”

Ramirez gained a newfound respect for the refined artist during his preparation. “He was a very cultivated man. He used to say that in order to be a fashion designer, in order to be an artist in general, you have to be very cultivated, you have to be very well-informed,” he says. “He wanted to be a musician before he became a fashion designer, so he took inspiration from a lot of different sources. It was great for me to try to act for a mind like that.”

It’s not a stretch for Ramirez to embody worldly charm. His mother was an attorney and his father was a military officer, which means he spent much of his childhood traveling the world and speaks five languages fluently. If he takes a journalistic approach to researching his characters, there’s good reason: He studied to be a political reporter at university in Caracas before pursuing his love of the performing arts. In 2003, his matinee-idol good looks helped land him a role in “Cosita Rica,” a Venezuelan telenovela. His Hollywood breakthrough came with a role in the 2005 action flick, “Domino,” and since then he has forged a reputation for portraying swaggering macho characters with both intensity and intelligent nuance.

The opportunity to share an unseen side of Versace is part of what drew him to this new project, in addition to working with “American Crime Story” executive producer Ryan Murphy.

While there is plenty of romantic passion in “American Crime Story,” it’s also a familial drama. The central relationship is between Gianni and his sister Donatella, played by a cigarette-smoking Penélope Cruz in tight dresses and a platinum wig. In the 20 years since her brother’s heartbreaking death, Donatella has taken over the brand’s creative direction and built it into a global luxury powerhouse, but here we get a glimpse at their early behind-the-scenes partnership, which could be — shall we say — lively.

Ramirez says that both he and Cruz, who is Spanish, understand the fiery temperament. “We can relate to volatile but strong and beautiful family relationships,” he continues with a laugh. “That’s a world I understand. Like when someone from another culture asks about you and your family, ‘Are you fighting?’ And you’re like, ‘No, this is how we talk!’”

Ramirez treasures the strong bonds he formed on set with his fellow actors. “Penélope and Ricky [Martin, who plays Gianni’s partner Antonio D’Amico] and I became good friends and it was great, there was a lot of compassion for each other,” he says. “It was really beautiful. Penélope is very family-oriented, there was a very great connection between us.”

While Ramirez loved the flashy Versace wardrobe, off-camera he favors low-key, timeless pieces that look stylish, never trendy; so much so that GQ magazine dubbed him “the king of good taste” earlier this year. “I love design in general,” says the star, who cuts a slick figure on the red carpet in narrow suits and classic tuxes. “I love architecture and, of course, fashion. There’s nothing random about how we dress or how we project [ourselves].”

When asked what he does during his time off, Ramirez falters because, well, he can’t remember the last time he had any. But, for an actor, that’s a good thing. “There are no off days,” he says with a laugh. “It’s great to be working and doing what you’re passionate about. I don’t take that for granted at all.” He had just touched down in Los Angeles from Miami, where he presented at the Latin Grammy Awards. The following day, he’ll head to Argentina to film the thriller “La Quietud,” all while promoting “American Crime Story.”

On Dec. 22, Netflix fantasy crime drama “Bright” opens, with Ramirez playing a blue-haired elf, alongside Will Smith’s human LAPD officer and Joel Edgerton’s orc cop. He’s also slated to appear again with Robert De Niro in an as-of-yet untitled flick directed by Jonathan Jakubowicz of “Hands of Stone” fame.

Suddenly, Ramirez remembers what he likes to do with his free time — although with a schedule so jam-packed, maybe it should be obvious. “When I have a day off, I sleep,” he says. “I love to hibernate.”

Still, he insists that his off-duty time isn’t that different from anyone else’s. “I try to relax. It depends where I am and what activities are available. Exercise, work out, try to catch an art exhibition, whatever is available. Nothing out of the ordinary, honestly,” he says. “What we do is extraordinary, but that doesn’t make you an extraordinary person.”

How Edgar Ramirez transformed himself into Gianni Versace