Las vidas del polifacético actor venezolano Edgar Ramírez

(Google translate under the cut)

…

No vinimos a hablar sólo de política, se disculpa Edgar: “Me pongo muy intenso”, sonríe. Las ocho personas que le aguardábamos en el salón del hotel esperábamos ver entrar al Edgar Ramírez del cine, de quijada prominente y cuadrada, y de cuerpo robusto, labrado a golpes de entrenamiento. En cambio, aparece un Edgar Ramírez con algunos kilos encima. Parece una persona diferente, pero tenía que serlo: se encuentra en medio del ajetreo de las grabaciones de American Crime Story, en cuya segunda temporada interpretará el papel de Gianni Versace, el diseñador italiano. “Pasta, mucha pasta, y nada de ejercicio”, revela, como un secreto, a mitad de una sonrisa discreta. Más allá de lo físico, la adaptabilidad de su cuerpo es una alegoría de su capacidad para adecuarse a un nuevo proyecto, sin moldes.

Le gusta la moda, y más que la moda, el estilo. Tan es así que, desde hace tiempo, tiene una estrecha relación con la relojera suiza Vacheron Constantin. Para la sesión de fotos, es muy meticuloso en seleccionar aquello que le agrada y no le preocupa hacer a un lado aquello que no va con su personalidad.

Hace ya un año, en septiembre de 2016, recibió una llamada de Ryan Murphy, uno de los productores de cine y televisión más prolíficos de los últimos tiempos, premiado por las series Nip/Tuck, Glee y American Horror Story. Edgar Ramírez, dice, llevaba tiempo intentando unirse a uno de sus proyectos, pero no fue hasta ahora cuando recibió la invitación de protagonizar la segunda entrega de American Crime Story, la más reciente apuesta de Murphy.

Muy al estilo de este productor, American Crime Story presenta temporadas de antología, es decir, que cada una funciona con una historia independiente de las otras. La primera entrega, sobre el caso del exjugador de futbol americano, O. J. Simpson, condenado por el asesinato de su exesposa y el amante de ésta, fue bien recibida por la crítica. La segunda entrega, que se estrenará en 2018, girará en torno al asesinato del fundador del emporio Versace, el 15 de julio de 1997, en la puerta de su mansión en Miami. Más que una serie biográfica, será un drama para poner en contexto uno de los crímenes más polémicos de los últimos años.

Entre las grabaciones en Los Ángeles y Miami, han sido meses de trabajo extenuante para Edgar Ramírez. A ratos, parece perderse en sus pensamientos. “Perdón si ya no doy una, pero es que de verdad que estoy muerto, entre viajes y rodajes…”, dice, más que cansado, con cierto tono de hartazgo; sin bostezos, sólo con muchas pausas. “Y mañana hay que pararse temprano de nuevo para grabar. Seguimos en esto, sí, por supuesto, de hecho, la serie se sigue escribiendo, esto no se ha acabado”.

Pero parece reanimarse cuando se le pregunta de la serie, de qué se siente trabajar al lado del cantante Ricky Martin, quien interpretará a Antonio D’Amico, expareja de Gianni Versace, y con Penélope Cruz, quien encarna a Donatella Versace, hermana del diseñador y actual vicepresidenta de la marca. “Penélope es genial, simplemente genial”, dice, y agrega que, junto con ella, también hará una película el próximo año, sin revelar más detalles.

El asesino, Andrew Cunanan, será interpretado por el joven Darren Criss, quien ya ha trabajado con Murphy desde la serie Glee. Ya que una de las características del trabajo del director es rodearse de un equipo que suele repetir en varios de sus proyectos. “Ryan tiene el don de trabajar con gente maravillosa que entiende muy bien lo que él quiere. Es muy abierto y muy sensible a las ideas que uno trae a la mesa. Pero, como todo buen director y como buen creador, no puede escapar a sus obsesiones. Es muy específico, sabe muy bien lo que quiere, confía mucho en su instinto, pero empodera a la gente”, dice Ramírez.

Más allá de la caracterización —en su cuenta de Instagram ha compartido fotos del proceso de maquillaje—, para ponerse en la piel de Gianni Versace, Edgar Ramírez realizó una investigación muy extensa sobre el diseñador de modas. Vio películas, leyó libros y entrevistó a gente cercana a él: todo cuanto estuviera a su alcance para comprender cómo funcionaba la mente de uno de los grandes diseñadores de nuestro tiempo.

“Fue un hombre pionero en combinar lujo, sexualidad y celebridad con moda, eso no se había hecho. Antes, el lujo y el glamour iban por un camino y el sexo y la sensualidad iban por otro, y él logró combinar esos mundos de una manera tan exclusiva como lo hizo”

….

We did not come to talk only about politics, apologize Edgar: “I get very intense,” he smiles. The eight people who waited for him in the hotel lounge waited to see Edgar Ramirez enter the cinema, with a prominent and square jaw, and a robust body, carved out by training. Instead, Edgar Ramirez appears with a few kilos on top. It looks like a different person, but it had to be: it is in the middle of the hustle and bustle of the recordings of American Crime Story , whose second season will play the role of Gianni Versace, the Italian designer. “Pasta, lots of pasta, and no exercise” reveals, like a secret, half a discreet smile. Beyond the physical, the adaptability of his body is an allegory of his ability to adapt to a new project, without mold.

He likes fashion, and more than fashion, style. So it is that, for a long time, has a close relationship with the Swiss watchmaker Vacheron Constantin. For the photo shoot, he is very meticulous in selecting what pleases him and does not worry about putting aside that which does not go with his personality.

A year ago, in September 2016, he received a call from Ryan Murphy, one of the most prolific film and television producers of recent times, awarded the Nip / Tuck , Glee and American Horror Story series . Edgar Ramirez, he says, had been trying to join one of his projects, but it was not until now that he received the invitation to star in the second installment of American Crime Story , Murphy’s latest bet.

Very much in the style of this producer, American Crime Story presents seasons of anthology, that is to say, that each one works with a history independent of the others. The first installment, on the case of ex-football player, OJ Simpson, condemned for the murder of his ex-wife and her lover, was well received by critics. The second installment, to be released in 2018, will revolve around the murder of the founder of Emporium Versace, on July 15, 1997, at the door of his mansion in Miami. More than a biographical series, it will be a drama to put into context one of the most controversial crimes of recent years.

Among the recordings in Los Angeles and Miami, have been months of strenuous work for Edgar Ramirez. Sometimes he seems lost in thought. “I’m sorry if I do not give one, but it’s really that I’m dead, between trips and shootings …”, he says, more than tired, with a certain tone of tiredness; without yawning, only with many pauses. “And tomorrow we have to stop early to record again. We continue in this, yes, of course, in fact, the series is still writing, this is not over. ”

But he seems to be encouraged when asked about the series, what it feels like to work alongside singer Ricky Martin, who will play Antonio D’Amico, an ex-couple of Gianni Versace, and Penelope Cruz, who plays Donatella Versace, sister of the designer and current vice president of the brand. “Penelope is great, just great,” she says, adding that along with her, she will also make a movie next year, without revealing more details.

The murderer, Andrew Cunanan, will be played by young Darren Criss, who has already worked with Murphy since the Glee series . Since one of the characteristics of the director’s work is to surround himself with a team that is often repeated in several of his projects. “Ryan has the gift of working with wonderful people who understand very well what he wants. It is very open and very sensitive to the ideas one brings to the table. But, like any good director and as a good creator, he can not escape his obsessions. He is very specific, he knows very well what he wants, he trusts his instinct a lot, but he empowers people, “says Ramirez.

Beyond the characterization – in his account of Instagram has shared photos of the process of makeup -, to put itself in the skin of Gianni Versace, Edgar Ramírez realized a very extensive investigation on the fashion designer. He watched movies, read books, and interviewed people close to him: everything within his power to understand how the mind of one of the great designers of our time worked.

“He was a pioneer man in combining luxury, sexuality and celebrity with fashion, that had not been done. Before, luxury and glamor went one way and sex and sensuality went on another, and he managed to combine those worlds as exclusively as he did. ”

Las vidas del polifacético actor venezolano Edgar Ramírez

Backstage tour of ‘American Horror Story’: The devil’s in the details

For “The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story,” set to premiere in early 2018, Murphy insisted that his crack research team chase down the most trivial of factoids: the backpack and shoelaces favored by killer Andrew Cunanan, the ashtray where Versace stashed his keys, the orchid plant on his dining room table.

“Detail is everything,” said producer Alexis Martin Woodall, who has worked with Murphy for a decade. “If you have to stop in the midst of a great moment because you’re looking at the artifice, then we’re not doing our job. Every bit of polish has to be there so the minute you hit ‘play’ or turn on the TV, you’re in it. We’re all obsessive about that.”

With at least three series in production at any moment, Murphy doesn’t have time to personally sweat over every prop and color scheme. He’ll meet with department heads months before the cameras roll, offer general notes and then have his team report back with miniature models and storyboards a few weeks later. Even after the sets are up, Murphy still must give his stamp of approval — and a thumbs down can come at any time.

Mossa, for example, had to pull a driftwood sculpture in the “Cult” living room because Murphy decided it didn’t fit.

“He makes decisions very quickly, which I find great,” said set designer Judy Becker, who is overseeing the look of “Versace” and whose work on “Feud” is up for an Emmy. “I don’t take things personally. If he doesn’t like something, I’ll say, ‘Fine,’ and find something else. It’s the people who are indecisive that are hard to work with.”

For “Versace,” the film crew shot scenes at the designer’s home in Miami Beach, capturing his lavish swimming pool (now part of a hotel). Becker made sure that the decorated picture frames in his hallway mimicked Versace’s taste.

Film crews won’t actually shoot in Minnesota, where Cunanan’s killing spree began, but they scouted areas of Los Angeles that could double for downtown Minneapolis and screenwriter Tom Rob Smith pored over 400 pages from Twin Cities police reports to help shape the interior scenes featured in two of the 10 episodes.

Being detail-oriented doesn’t always mean historically accurate, however. Becker and Murphy took liberties in reproducing Versace’s Milan workplace.

“He and [his sister] Donatella worked in a bare white space. We felt we had to improve upon reality to make it interesting to a TV audience,” said Becker as she showed off the Italy-based set, which is so swank it could double as a nightclub. “In ‘Feud,’ Hedda Hopper really lived in a ranch house. That wouldn’t have looked good on-screen. I like to know what reality is and then we can decide whether to go with it or not.”

That philosophy may not win Murphy and company any hurrahs from historians, but it’s made his shows catnip to viewers. In addition to “Cult” and “Versace,” he’s developing miniseries about Hurricane Katrina and Princess Diana’s divorce.

Expect the details to be dazzling.

“That, to me, is one of the joys of the work,” Murphy said.

Backstage tour of ‘American Horror Story’: The devil’s in the details

Darren Criss On Playing Gianni Versace’s Killer – American Crime Story Season 2: Versace

dcriss-archive:

Two years on from The People vs OJ Simpson: American Crime Story, Ryan Murphy’s most acclaimed anthology series will return for its second run, this time chronicling the murder of designer Gianni Versace. The opening nine minutes were shown to reporters at the TCA Press Tour this week, and they are ravishing, exhilarating and deeply stressful, devoting equal time to establishing Gianni Versace (Edgar Ramirez), larger-than-life and seemingly untouchable, and the man who is about to kill him, Andrew Cunanan (Darren Criss), shaky and clearly unhinged.

After the footage screened, the show’s producers and cast fielded questions from journalists, with Criss, Murphy and the series writer Tom Rob Smith (London Spy) weighing in on their unusual portrait of a serial killer.“

Andrew was so many different personalities to so many different people,” Criss told BAZAAR.com, referring to multiple conversation he’s had with people who knew Cunanan. “For me, that makes things a bit easier—we see him at his best, we see him at his worst, we see him at his most charming, we see him at his most hurt. It’s been one of the most exhilarating characters that I’ve spent time with because he is so all over the place, and he’s capable of truly great things. My goal is to have people exercise their sense of empathy, because from the get-go we all know that he’s capable of something truly horrendous… it’s been a wonderful challenge to find as much humanity as possible.

”The book Vulgar Favors: Andrew Cunanan, Gianni Versace, and the Largest Failed Manhunt in U.S. History, by Vanity Fair writer Maureen Orth, is the source material for the season. Very little is known about Cunanan beyond what Orth pieced together, but Smith teases out a parallel between Versace and his killer. “We were talking earlier about the similarities between somebody like Gianni and someone like Andrew,” Criss continued. “On paper, you go, that’s insane, you can’t possibly compare the two, and obviously they’re very, very different men. But we try to find common denominators between these two men who had different levels of brilliance that were guided in very, very different ways.”

Per Smith, Cunanan’s story is “much closer to a story of radicalization than a typical serial killer.” Prior to his killing spree in 1997, Cunanan had no criminal record of any kind; instead, “go back a year and he’s in a million dollar condo in La Jolla talking about politics or art, and really charming people. How do you get that person in that condo to a person who can brutally kill someone with a hammer?” The series opens with the event we all know about—Versace’s murder on the steps of his Miami home—and then, over the course of ten episodes, deconstructs that event and its backstory through the parallel tangents of victim and killer.

“You’re looking not at someone who is inherently monstrous,” Smith concluded, “but someone who has similarities to Versace from the outset, and the reasons why his footsteps go in one direction and Versace goes in a completely different direction.”

The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story will air in January 2018.

Darren Criss On Playing Gianni Versace’s Killer – American Crime Story Season 2: Versace

“The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story” Will Detail American Homophobia In The ’90s

dcriss-archive:

Yesterday, television critics got a first glimpse of the opening scene from The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story as part of the TCA Press Tour. Premiering January, the FX mini-series recounts the fashion designer’s murder in reverse—beginning with the day he was shot outside of his Miami Beach home and then unraveling the events leading up to that day across 10 episodes.

Creator Ryan Murphy was joined by screenwriter/executive producer Tom Rob Smith, EP Brad Simpson, and series stars Darren Criss, Edgar Ramirez and Ricky Martin for a panel about the series, which is still in production. Ramirez stars as Versace, who was at the height of his success when he was gunned down by Andrew Cunanan (Criss) in 1997. Martin plays his lover, Antonio D’amico, who recently expressed his distaste for the show.

“The picture of Ricky Martin holding the body in his arms is ridiculous,” D’Amico said. “Maybe it’s the director’s poetic license, but that is not how I reacted.” But during the panel, Martin revealed he’d since spoken with D’Amico.

“The first thing that came out of my mouth when he picked up the phone [was], ’I’m so happy we’re talking. And I just want you to know that this is treated with utmost respect,‘” Martin said at the panel. “But more than anything, there is a level of injustice with this story.”

“I told him that ’I will make sure that people fall in love with your relationship with Gianni,” the out singer added. “That is what I’m here for. I really want them to see the beauty and the connection that you guys had.’ And he was extremely happy about it.”

Like all Murphy productions, painstaking detail was put into The Assassination of Gianni Versace, with scenes shot in Versace’s home, Casa Casuarina, now a hotel.

“I was very emotional shooting it, as we all were,” Murphy said. “I mean, Darren and I were, and Ricky. The assassination was important and tough to shoot, and the crew was crying, and we were very emotional doing it. We shot exactly on the exact step where he died.”

Production designer Judy Becker (Carol) was also able to recreate the home and Versace’s design studio/office on the Fox studio lot.

“It is tiny things I love,” said Murphy, who placed Versace’s favorite orchid on a table as a tribute. “There was an ashtray that was actually made that year that he designed that Edgar snatches the keys out of. I really loved hunting those things down and finding them as a tribute to that character.”

Murphy has long been a fan of Versace, whom he called a fearless designer and an inspiration for being out when even fashion designers seldom did.

“I was always very moved by him. He was a very important and cultural figure, and he lived outrageously and daringly, and he was a disrupter,” he said. “And I think his life was opera… I remember being so proud and excited when he did that interview in theAdvocate, because, at the time, there wasn’t really a lot of people who were brave enough to live their life in the open. I was very emotional shooting it, as we all were.”

Murphy’s inspiration for the series was two-fold: Besides his love of Versace, he also wanted to explore the cultural context in which his murder took place. As EP Brad Simpson mentioned, Versace was killed just three months after Ellen DeGeneres came out.

“Nobody was out. There were no out celebrities,” Simpson said. “There was Elton John. There were no out fashion designers. You know, Versace had given an interview with his lover, and chosen to live openly as a gay man, and that was part of the reason why he was targeted and killed. Andrew Cunanan was a serial killer who killed other gay men.”

The exploration of Cunanan’s motives are a huge part of The Assassination of Gianni Versace, something Murphy believes hasn’t been touched on yet. Cunanan was a 27-year-old hustler who had relationships with wealthy older men. Those who knew him describe his desire for status symbols—lavish houses, fine clothes, vacations. But his access to the men who could provide these luxuries was limited and eventually, he began a killing spree, murdering five gay men across the U.S.

“We pay tribute to all of the victims that are in many ways forgotten and not talked about,” Murphy said. “And I think having episodes that center on their lives and how they were taken too soon is important.”

Cunanan’s other victims include his ex-lover David Madson, Chicago real estate developer Lee Miglin, friend Jeffrey Trail, and cemetery caretaker William Reese. The murders of Trail and Miglin were particularly violent—Trail was beaten to death with a claw hammer, and 72-year-old Miglin was stabbed more than 20 times with a screwdriver, his throat sawed open with a hacksaw.

“Nobody’s really, sort of, traced the Andrew Cunanan of it all that I think Darren does so brilliantly,” Murphy said. “The pain that he brings to that, and why and answer why did he do it. Was he a madman or was he a victim of the times? And I think the answer is, sort of, both. And both things we examine in the show.”

Criss met with dozens of people who knew Cunanan at different points in his life, all of whom describe him very differently.

“There’s a lot left a lot of blanks to fill in, which has been a very interesting ride,” he explained. “Andrew was so many different personalities to so many different people,” he added. “That makes things a bit easier because we’re not just following what we would assume to be a murderous, horrible person all the time. We see him at his best; we see him at his worst; we see him at his most charming; we see him at his most hurt.”

Screenwriter Tom Rob Smith penned all 10 episodes, largely based on Maureen Orth’s 2000 true crime book Vulgar Favors. He said he wanted to connect any similarities Cunanan and Versace had, like their interest in living large. But of course, Versace’s career provided for him in a way that was out of Cunanan’s grasp.

“It’s much closer to a story of radicalization than a typical serial killer,” Smith said. “I mean, he killed five people… Technically, he went on a spree. But if you go back a year from most serial killers, they’re committing crimes of one description or another, like assault or arson. There are these signals. With Andrew Cunanan, you go back a year and he’s in a million-dollar condo in La Jolla talking about politics or art, and charming people. How do you get from that person in that condo to someone who can attack someone with a hammer and brutally kill them?”

Smith said it was important for him to present Cunanan “not just someone who is intrinsically monstrous, but who, has similarities to Versace from the outset” and explore “why his footsteps go in one direction and Versace’s go in a completely different direction.”

But don’t expect the series to be a pity party for Versace’s killer.

“It’s about the choices you make,” said Smith. “We’re tracking those choices and seeing how society impacted them, and how he chose various things and the people around him. You’re taking a murder that we all know… and you’re taking it apart and going back to the very nuts and bolts [of it.]”

For Murphy and the other producers, The Assassination of Gianni Versace is a larger story than just a celebrity murder. It’s about being out of the closet in 1990s America.

“I think it’s more than why [Versace] was killed. It was sort of why it was allowed to happen,” Murphy said. “I think the thing about American Crime Story is that we’re not just doing a crime. We’re trying to sort of talk about a crime within a social idea. Versace, who was the last victim, really did not have to die. Part of the thing that we talk about in the show is one of the reasons Andrew Cunanan was able to make his way across the country and pick off these victims, many of whom were gay, was because of the homophobia at the time.”

He recalled how police in Miami refused to put up wanted posters for Cunanan even though they knew Cunanan was a major suspect and likely headed toward the city. “I thought that that was a really interesting thing to examine,” Murphy added, “particularly with the president we have now and the world that we live in.”

“The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story” Will Detail American Homophobia In The ’90s

Ryan Murphy on why FX’s Gianni Versace ‘Crime Story’ is important to him

dcriss-archive:

LOS ANGELES — Gianni Versace is the murder victim in the next edition of FX’sAmerican Crime Story, but the story will extend beyond the famed fashion designer.The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story, the next chapter in the Emmy-winning anthology series that opened with O.J. Simpson’s murder trial, examines the lives of Versace (Edgar Ramirez) and his killer, Andrew Cunanan (Darren Criss), who shot and killed Versace outside his palatial home in Miami Beach in 1997. It premieres in January.

Cunanan, who had killed four other men across the country before shooting Versace, later killed himself.

Penelope Cruz plays Versace’s sister, Donatella, and singing star Ricky Martin plays Antonio D’Amico, the Italian designer’s partner.The series opens with a nearly wordless, operatic eight-minute sequence detailing the moments leading to the murder of the fashion designer, who was open about being gay at a time when many prominent gay people weren’t. The scene, shown Wednesday to the Television Critics Association, , features lush cinematography and orchestral music and was shot partly in Versace’s beautifully appointed home.

The new season, which uses Maureen Orth’s book, Vulgar Favors, as its source material, will look backward from the murder to examine the men’s lives. It also will will go beyond the crime itself to examine prevailing social attitudes, including homophobia, executive producer Ryan Murphy said.

“Versace really did not have to die,” he said. “One of the reasons Andrew Cunanan was able to make his way across the country and pick off these victims, many of whom were gay, was because of homophobia at the time, particularly within the various police organizations that refused in Miami to put up wanted posters, even though they knew Cunanan was probably headed that way.”

Murphy says the season, which features an episode focusing on the “Don’t ask, Don’t tell” military policy, remains relevant today, “particularly with the president we have and the world we live in.” After the panel, executive producer Brad Simpson noted the coincidental timing of a recent tweet in which President Trump said transgender people would not be allowed in the military.

Murphy called Versace “a very important cultural figure” and Ramirez sees the designer as a disrupter who changed fashion and attitudes. “He combined sexiness and glamour and opulence like no one has done before.”

Criss said it’s important to depict the complexity of Cunanan and not present a monster caricature. "We’re not just following what we would assume to be a murderous, horrible person all the time. We see him at his best and his worst. We really get to know him as a person.“

Considering Versace’s career, the season will look at fashion as it portrays the designer’s life, offering a bonus after the lawyer-heavy O.J. courtroom drama, Murphy said. “It was a real relief for me not to have to shoot boxy wool suits.”

A third Crime Story, centering on the devastating Hurricane Katrina that hit New Orleans in 2005, was planned to air first but is now due sometime in late 2018 or early 2019

Ryan Murphy on why FX’s Gianni Versace ‘Crime Story’ is important to him

“The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story” Will Detail American Homophobia In The ’90s

dcriss-archive:

Yesterday, television critics got a first glimpse of the opening scene from The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story as part of the TCA Press Tour. Premiering January, the FX mini-series recounts the fashion designer’s murder in reverse—beginning with the day he was shot outside of his Miami Beach home and then unraveling the events leading up to that day across 10 episodes.

Creator Ryan Murphy was joined by screenwriter/executive producer Tom Rob Smith, EP Brad Simpson, and series stars Darren Criss, Edgar Ramirez and Ricky Martin for a panel about the series, which is still in production. Ramirez stars as Versace, who was at the height of his success when he was gunned down by Andrew Cunanan (Criss) in 1997. Martin plays his lover, Antonio D’amico, who recently expressed his distaste for the show.

“The picture of Ricky Martin holding the body in his arms is ridiculous,” D’Amico said. “Maybe it’s the director’s poetic license, but that is not how I reacted.” But during the panel, Martin revealed he’d since spoken with D’Amico.

“The first thing that came out of my mouth when he picked up the phone [was], ’I’m so happy we’re talking. And I just want you to know that this is treated with utmost respect,‘” Martin said at the panel. “But more than anything, there is a level of injustice with this story.”

“I told him that ’I will make sure that people fall in love with your relationship with Gianni,” the out singer added. “That is what I’m here for. I really want them to see the beauty and the connection that you guys had.’ And he was extremely happy about it.”

Like all Murphy productions, painstaking detail was put into The Assassination of Gianni Versace, with scenes shot in Versace’s home, Casa Casuarina, now a hotel.

“I was very emotional shooting it, as we all were,” Murphy said. “I mean, Darren and I were, and Ricky. The assassination was important and tough to shoot, and the crew was crying, and we were very emotional doing it. We shot exactly on the exact step where he died.”

Production designer Judy Becker (Carol) was also able to recreate the home and Versace’s design studio/office on the Fox studio lot.

“It is tiny things I love,” said Murphy, who placed Versace’s favorite orchid on a table as a tribute. “There was an ashtray that was actually made that year that he designed that Edgar snatches the keys out of. I really loved hunting those things down and finding them as a tribute to that character.”

Murphy has long been a fan of Versace, whom he called a fearless designer and an inspiration for being out when even fashion designers seldom did.

“I was always very moved by him. He was a very important and cultural figure, and he lived outrageously and daringly, and he was a disrupter,” he said. “And I think his life was opera… I remember being so proud and excited when he did that interview in theAdvocate, because, at the time, there wasn’t really a lot of people who were brave enough to live their life in the open. I was very emotional shooting it, as we all were.”

Murphy’s inspiration for the series was two-fold: Besides his love of Versace, he also wanted to explore the cultural context in which his murder took place. As EP Brad Simpson mentioned, Versace was killed just three months after Ellen DeGeneres came out.

“Nobody was out. There were no out celebrities,” Simpson said. “There was Elton John. There were no out fashion designers. You know, Versace had given an interview with his lover, and chosen to live openly as a gay man, and that was part of the reason why he was targeted and killed. Andrew Cunanan was a serial killer who killed other gay men.”

The exploration of Cunanan’s motives are a huge part of The Assassination of Gianni Versace, something Murphy believes hasn’t been touched on yet. Cunanan was a 27-year-old hustler who had relationships with wealthy older men. Those who knew him describe his desire for status symbols—lavish houses, fine clothes, vacations. But his access to the men who could provide these luxuries was limited and eventually, he began a killing spree, murdering five gay men across the U.S.

“We pay tribute to all of the victims that are in many ways forgotten and not talked about,” Murphy said. “And I think having episodes that center on their lives and how they were taken too soon is important.”

Cunanan’s other victims include his ex-lover David Madson, Chicago real estate developer Lee Miglin, friend Jeffrey Trail, and cemetery caretaker William Reese. The murders of Trail and Miglin were particularly violent—Trail was beaten to death with a claw hammer, and 72-year-old Miglin was stabbed more than 20 times with a screwdriver, his throat sawed open with a hacksaw.

“Nobody’s really, sort of, traced the Andrew Cunanan of it all that I think Darren does so brilliantly,” Murphy said. “The pain that he brings to that, and why and answer why did he do it. Was he a madman or was he a victim of the times? And I think the answer is, sort of, both. And both things we examine in the show.”

Criss met with dozens of people who knew Cunanan at different points in his life, all of whom describe him very differently.

“There’s a lot left a lot of blanks to fill in, which has been a very interesting ride,” he explained. “Andrew was so many different personalities to so many different people,” he added. “That makes things a bit easier because we’re not just following what we would assume to be a murderous, horrible person all the time. We see him at his best; we see him at his worst; we see him at his most charming; we see him at his most hurt.”

Screenwriter Tom Rob Smith penned all 10 episodes, largely based on Maureen Orth’s 2000 true crime book Vulgar Favors. He said he wanted to connect any similarities Cunanan and Versace had, like their interest in living large. But of course, Versace’s career provided for him in a way that was out of Cunanan’s grasp.

“It’s much closer to a story of radicalization than a typical serial killer,” Smith said. “I mean, he killed five people… Technically, he went on a spree. But if you go back a year from most serial killers, they’re committing crimes of one description or another, like assault or arson. There are these signals. With Andrew Cunanan, you go back a year and he’s in a million-dollar condo in La Jolla talking about politics or art, and charming people. How do you get from that person in that condo to someone who can attack someone with a hammer and brutally kill them?”

Smith said it was important for him to present Cunanan “not just someone who is intrinsically monstrous, but who, has similarities to Versace from the outset” and explore “why his footsteps go in one direction and Versace’s go in a completely different direction.”

But don’t expect the series to be a pity party for Versace’s killer.

“It’s about the choices you make,” said Smith. “We’re tracking those choices and seeing how society impacted them, and how he chose various things and the people around him. You’re taking a murder that we all know… and you’re taking it apart and going back to the very nuts and bolts [of it.]”

For Murphy and the other producers, The Assassination of Gianni Versace is a larger story than just a celebrity murder. It’s about being out of the closet in 1990s America.

“I think it’s more than why [Versace] was killed. It was sort of why it was allowed to happen,” Murphy said. “I think the thing about American Crime Story is that we’re not just doing a crime. We’re trying to sort of talk about a crime within a social idea. Versace, who was the last victim, really did not have to die. Part of the thing that we talk about in the show is one of the reasons Andrew Cunanan was able to make his way across the country and pick off these victims, many of whom were gay, was because of the homophobia at the time.”

He recalled how police in Miami refused to put up wanted posters for Cunanan even though they knew Cunanan was a major suspect and likely headed toward the city. “I thought that that was a really interesting thing to examine,” Murphy added, “particularly with the president we have now and the world that we live in.”

“The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story” Will Detail American Homophobia In The ’90s

FX Reveals ‘American Crime Story: Versace’ Opening Scene, Ryan Murphy Dishes on Show’s ‘Political Overtones’

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*SPOILER WARNING! – Article has description of the first 9 mins of the first scene of ACS Versace.*

Ryan Murphy is bring the harrowing 1997 murder of fashion icon Gianni Versace to the screen in the upcoming season of American Crime Story, and FX revealed the opening minutes of the premiere episode at the Television Critics Association press tour on Wednesday.

SPOILERS
The first episode starts off with a title card that reads July 15, 1997, the morning of Versace’s murder. The legendary fashion designer (played by Edgar Ramirez) wakes up in bed and walks out onto the balcony of his home in Miami Beach, Florida.

Meanwhile, serial killer Andrew Cunanan (played by Darren Criss) sits on the beach with a book featuring Versace on the cover, as he pulls a gun out of his backpack. Struggling with some internal conflict, Cunanan walks into the surf and screams at the sky.

In his home, Versace takes some morning medication, changes into a black shirt and some light pants, and heads out into the city, walking to a newsstand to buy copies of Vogue and Vanity Fair (which features Princess Diana, who had not yet been killed, on the cover). As he goes about his day, Cunanan is throwing up in a bathroom.

The tension mounts as Versace returns home and walks up his steps – shot on location where the real Versace was actually killed. As he opens the gate to his opulent estate, Cunanan runs at him, gun drawn, and fires off a round. The first shot misses, but the second doesn’t, and as the murder occurs, the episode cuts to the show’s official title card – The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story.
END OF SPOILERS

Speaking with reporters at TCA on Wednesday, Murphy opened up about why the show chose to use the word “assassination” in the title, as opposed to murder or homicide, and the producer explained that they chose it for its “political overtones.”

“It denotes somebody who’s taking the life of somebody else to make a point. That’s exactly what Andrew Cunanan did and what he was trying to do and that’s explored in the show,” Murphy shared. “The interesting thing that we’re doing with this show is we’re telling the story backwards. The first episode deals with the literal murder or assassination itself and then we tell the story in reverse, so we get into how he had that motive and why he wanted to do what he wanted to do.”

For Murphy, delving into the nuances of Versace’s death and Cunanan’s motivations and murder spree was vitally important to elevate the series above just retelling the details surrounding the event. The show’s true intent is to examine the pervasive political climate of the 1990s that allowed the crime to happen.

“More than why [Versace] was killed, it’s [about] why it was allowed to happen,” Murphy said. “The thing about American Crime Story is that we’re not just doing a crime, we’re trying to talk about a crime within a social idea… Versace, who was the last victim, really did not have to die.”

Cunanan was responsible for at least five other murders in the months leading up to shooting Versace. He committed suicide a week later.

“Part of the thing that we talk about in the show is one of the reasons Andrew Cunanan was able to make his way across the country and pick off these victims, many of whom were gay, was because a homophobia at the time,” he continued. “So we thought that that was a really interesting thing to examine, to look at again, particularly with the president we have and the world that we live in.”

Murphy explained that one episode of the upcoming season is dedicated to the military’s “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy, which was enacted under President Bill Clinton and generated a lot of controversy at the time.

“I just thought it was topical and really social and about something, which I think is this show at its best,” Murphy added.

Before the first episode of the show even aired, it was already facing push-back from some of the real-life people involved – chiefly Antonio D’Amico, Versace’s lover, who denounced the mini-series when photos of the cast were first leaked online.

However, Murphy explained that he’s subsequently reached out to D’Amico, as has Ricky Martin, who plays him in the series.

“Ricky spoke to him today and he was very great and excited to talk to Ricky,” Murphy said, adding that it’s “very hard to judge anything that you’re watching based on a paparazzi photograph, which is apparently what his judgment was about.”

“When you’re doing a show like this or a show like [The People v. O.J. Simpson], you’re not really doing a documentary, you’re doing a docu-drama. So there are always certain things that you’ll take liberties with,” Murphy explained. “You have to be respectful but you also have to make it your own.”

“Our version of the show is based on a book that Maureen Orth wrote,” Murphy said, referring to the extensively researched true crime tome Vulgar Favors: Andrew Cunanan, Gianni Versace, and the Largest Failed Manhunt in U.S. History, first published in 1999. “She has a definite point of view in that book. We’re true to that point of view.”

Executive Producer Brad Simpson reiterated Murphy’s point, explaining that the series is “really about the victims.”

“We examine the victims [on this show],” Simpson said. “In many ways we’re trying to bring to life and celebrate the lives of these people that Andrew Cunanan snuffed out.”

Murphy later opened up about the show’s stellar cast – which also includes Penelope Cruz as Donatella Versace, Max Greenfield as Santo Versace, and Finn Wittrock and Jeffrey Trail, one of Cunanan’s earlier victims – and marveled, “The thing that’s amazing about this cast is they were all of our first choices.”

Reflecting on casting Ramirez as Versace, Murphy said he was “the only one” he ever considered.

“I had many meetings with Edgar. I was literally like, ‘I’m not going to let you say no. I just know that you are that character,’” he shared. “I’ve seen a lot of his work and I think his previous work is incredibly soulful and Edgar has a great soul and a great mystery. You cannot deny the physical appearance and the resemblance, which is startling.”

Ramirez, who joined the cast and crew at the TCA panel, had nothing but praise for Murphy and for what the show has managed to accomplish.

“For the first time he combined sexiness and glamour and opulence like no one had done before,” the Gold star explained. “It’s very interesting how the story captures an amazing story but also captures the spirit of the time.”

The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story will premiere in January 2018 on FX.

FX Reveals ‘American Crime Story: Versace’ Opening Scene, Ryan Murphy Dishes on Show’s ‘Political Overtones’

‘My life was torn in two when Gianni was shot’ – Versace’s lover breaks silence

Since Italian fashion designer Gianni Versace was shot dead outside his Miami Beach home in 1997, his murder has been pored over in countless articles, books and films. Now the shooting will be examined on television next year in the award-winning American Crime Story.

Amid the speculation, Antonio D’Amico, Versace’s boyfriend of 15 years and the person who found him sprawled on the steps of the mansion, has remained remarkably taciturn. But the forthcoming series, in which he will be played by singer and actor Ricky Martin, has spurred D’Amico to speak his mind.

“There has been so much written and said about the murder, and thousands of suppositions, but not a trace of reality,” D’Amico told the Observer.

The 58-year-old has not been consulted for the series, which will be entitled American Crime Story: The Assassination of Gianni Versace, and said the images he has seen online of how he reacted are incorrect.

“The picture of Ricky Martin holding the body in his arms is ridiculous,” he said, adding that it was like looking at a mimic of Michelangelo’s Pietà, which depicts the body of Jesus in the arms of his mother after the crucifixion. “Maybe it’s the director’s poetic licence, but that is not how I reacted.”

D’Amico says the tragedy of his lover’s murder on 15 July 1997 tipped him into a deep and long depression. Even now he will only briefly discuss it. Versace, who was 50 when he died, was killed shortly before 9am as he returned to his Ocean Drive home after buying a newspaper at a nearby cafe. D’Amico was drinking coffee on the veranda close to the mansion’s entrance when he heard the shots.

“I felt as if my blood had turned to ice,” he said. He and Versace’s butler went outside to investigate.

“The house had stained glass windows so we couldn’t see what had happened from inside, so we had to open the gate. I saw Gianni lying on the steps, with blood around him. At that point, everything went dark. I was pulled away, I didn’t see any more.”

Just days before, Versace had celebrated the successful launch of a collection at a show in Paris. He was shot by Andrew Cunanan, a 27-year-old gay man who had murdered at least four other people in a three-month killing spree before turning up at the fashion designer’s home. After a huge manhunt, the body of Cunanan was found eight days later in a Miami houseboat. He had apparently shot himself with the same gun that killed Versace.

Twenty years on, it is not known whether the murder was planned or carried out at random, leading to much gossip and speculation, including a rumour that Versace may have been murdered by the mafia due to debts he owed to the criminal organisation. There was also speculation that Versace may have met his killer years earlier.

D’Amico insists: “They never knew each other … so much has been fictionalised. Unfortunately Gianni died, unfortunately this guy killed him, unfortunately it happened: but now, let it drop.”

The murder tore D’Amico’s world apart. He went from partying with the likes of Elton John and Sting to shutting himself away in solitude. Meanwhile, tensions with the Versace family, in particular Gianni’s sister Donatella, put paid to him receiving what was left to him in the will – a monthly pension for life of about €26,000 and the right to live in Versace’s homes.

As the properties belonged to the Versace fashion house they came under the control of Donatella (to be played by Penélope Cruz) and older sibling Santo, as well as Gianni’s niece Allegra. D’Amico, who had been a designer at Versace Sport, received just a fraction of the pension and walked away from fighting for the rest. He then slipped into a depression lasting several years.

“I had never been through a depression and never saw a therapist as I was advised to: why did I need to tell someone else what had happened when I knew I was this way because Gianni’s death had torn me in two? I was in a nightmare, I felt nothing and gave no importance to anything … the house, the money … because it felt false to have expectations of life.”

In an interview last June, Martin, who came out as gay in 2010, spoke about a scene in the television show in which Gianni, played by Edgar Ramirez, is walking along the beach with Antonio when he suddenly becomes weak. His boyfriend touches him and Gianni responds: “Don’t touch me! The paparazzi!”

But Versace never tried to hide his sexuality, D’Amico said, and was one of the first people in the public eye to declare being gay in the late 1980s.

“We lived like a natural couple, there was never a problem,” he said. “It was the right moment for him to come out in public, but everyone involved in our world knew. He never tried to hide who he was.”

D’Amico doesn’t plan to watch American Crime Story but said he’d be happy if Martin got in contact to get some insight into his relationship with Versace. “It’s getting to know the small things about a relationship … for example, Gianni was so ordered and focused at work but in his private life everything was disorganised. He’d leave the bathroom in a mess. At a certain point I said ‘enough’! And when it came to cooking, he didn’t even know how to [boil] an egg.”

D’Amico eventually emerged from his depression after deciding it was a question of either starting to live again or stopping completely. He found love again in 2005, and now lives a simple life with his partner in the northern Italian countryside. He has also relaunched himself as a designer, recently bringing out a collection of sportswear for the golf sector.

“Sincerely, after two decades, I will always be connected to Gianni as a person I loved for more than 15 years,” D’Amico said.

“But today, I am a different person … the world continues to go around … You can look back at the past until a certain point, [but] then you need to look ahead to the future.”

‘My life was torn in two when Gianni was shot’ – Versace’s lover breaks silence

Darren Criss portrays Andrew Cunanan in ‘Versace’ movie

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Darren Criss as Andrew Cunanan in ‘Versace: American Crime Story’ with Annaleigh Ashford as Elizabeth Cote and Nico Evers-Swindell as Phil Cote (Photo by Jeff Daly/FX Networks)

Los Angeles – The weather in Miami was hot but Darren Criss, wearing a long-sleeved white shirt, was hotter.

The 30-year-old former “Glee” actor who portrayed Blaine Anderson, the lead singer of The Dalton Academy Warblers, has indeed gone a long way.

The Fil-Am actor, whose parents are Cerina Bru from Cebu and Charles William Criss from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, met with us one day at the late fashion designer Gianni Versace’s former home in Miami.

The charming, eloquent and talented actor talked to us about portraying the Fil-Am serial killer Andrew Cunanan who killed the famous fashion designer just outside of his Miami mansion in Ryan Murphy’s third season of his anthology series, “The Assassination Of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story.”

Asked what he discovered about Andrew in his research of him, Darren replied, “That’s a very loaded question, a half hour is not enough time for me to go through that. I think the main thing to remember about any character you’re playing whether they’re real or not is your job as an actor, as a storyteller. I don’t even want to make it specific to actors. This goes to anybody who is a creative person. It’s your job to find as many common denominators with that person as possible.

“It’s important, especially for me for this particular story. This is a real person who did really horrible, tragic things to real people. Their families are still affected by the things that he did. But I still maintain the idea that we all have more in common with someone like Andrew than we don’t.

“Obviously, there are big variables. I’d like to think most of us don’t have actual murderous tendencies. However, at the end of the day, we are flesh and blood. We have mothers; we have fathers; we have dreams; we have hopes; we have regrets and failures that all make us who we are. So, the short answer is I found that we really do have a lot in common and that shouldn’t be misconstrued with the things that we know him for, which are obviously these horrible acts.

“But there’s a certain point in all of our lives that could have taken us into this certain path. You really have to identify what those moments are so that as a viewer, you’re not just antagonizing this person from the get go because you know what he’s done. You have to understand how he got there and what the links are between you and that person. So I found an awful lot of those.”

Sides to a story

Darren explained further that there are three different versions of Andrew Cunanan that he has to deal with.

He said, “There is the real version that none of us knew. There is the version that people did know but even that person was like 20 different people and then there’s the version that we’re telling. So as an actor, I can try and contact these family members or friends but they’re all going to have a different answer of who he was because he had different names. He had different looks. He had different attitudes that weren’t parallel to each other. So for me, my job is to serve the script. And whoever the persons that we’ve painted in this particular version, which I’m sure people who knew Andrew will be like, he wasn’t like that. However for our story and for the way that we’re characterizing him, I have to honor what’s on the page.

“So to me, what’s on the page and what’s in the script is my leader in this, and in Ryan and in people who are creating this. I’m serving their image of this story as much as I want to stay true to who he really was. We don’t know what kind of person he was so we just have to humanize him as much as possible and hope for the best.”

Darren was just 10 years old when Versace died. So at what point in his life before this project, did he learn about Andrew, we asked.

“I knew about the Versace murder just from general world facts,” Darren revealed. “I knew Versace was killed in front of his home. I’d been here before, the first time I went to Miami. I stopped by here. And I remember looking it up going, God, seeing the steps and I can’t believe they’re still here. This is so eerie. I vaguely remembered that he was half Filipino.

“I think growing up half Filipino if there’s any half Filipino in the media you tend to pay attention to it. That was about it. I had, through the fabulous world of ‘Glee’ I had met Donatella. I had been to Versace’s home in Milan. And I had seen things about his history. But that was about as far of a connection that I had.

“I don’t know if Ryan told you the story of how this came up. He brought this up to me about two, almost three years ago. I was having lunch with him in New Orleans. And I was joking with him about ‘Horror Story’ because he just announced Lady Gaga was going to be in it. So I jokingly said, hey let me know if you need a wily bellhop to show up on that show, I’ll do it. And he was, no, but there’s this other thing that I’m thinking about doing – Andrew. I looked it up and I was kind of spooked because he looks like me and my brother.

“That was it. I didn’t think he would actually make the show. I ended up diving in pretty hard on researching the guy. I had to wipe my hands clean of it because I was, I don’t want to have to know all this stuff if I don’t need to know about it. It’s a very dark place to be in. So, cut to now, here we are and he kept up with his word.

“While it is a very gruesome and dark project, it is an exciting project to be with him and with this prestigious group of people. So that was about all I knew. I definitely sense being involved I have this profound new connection to Versace and to the story. Like I said, being in this house for the past week has been extraordinarily moving. This isn’t to be romantic or spiritual, but he’s just in the house. Everything that he’s made that we all know the iconography of Gianni Versace, it is present in every turn. So seeing that has really given me a new profound appreciation of his work and appreciation of a great creator, someone who just wanted to relentlessly wreak beauty upon the world.”

Darren Criss portrays Andrew Cunanan in ‘Versace’ movie

Darren Criss talks about his most challenging role to date—playing Andrew Cunanan (Part 2)

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(Conclusion)

I feel so strange,” admitted Darren Criss about being inside the Gianni Versace mansion in Miami one morning in May.

He plays Andrew Cunanan, who shot the designer twice in the head just outside this palatial house in July 1997, in FX’s “The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story.”

“I was telling someone about how weird it was to be in this room,” the Fil-Am singer-actor shared about filming the assassination scene a few days earlier. “I was dressed as Andrew Cunanan, in the outfit that he murdered Versace in, and I was inside. I was walking around and I was taking pictures. I took a picture of the pool, and I saw myself. I was like, oh my God, I’ve got to delete this photo. It’s horrible, how irreverent, because Andrew never made it inside.”

In this part two of our column on Darren, we continue our talk about his biggest and most challenging role to date.

Excerpts:

What did you learn about Cunanan that informed your performance? The thing that we want to show in this is that we have two brilliant minds—we have Versace, the creator, and the destroyer (Cunanan). A lot of people who knew Andrew in his younger life described him as a promising, brilliant and charming young man. You go, what happened? It doesn’t follow the same blueprint of that of many serial killers, the Dahmers and the Mansons of the world. They’re off the rails from the get-go.

Whereas Andrew, it was heartbreaking for a lot of people who knew him because we show some of his friends in the series. Andrew was the godfather of the children of a friend from high school who was mortified to hear that this had happened. Because he was this caring friend and godfather.

So, he was not just an abomination. Yeah. That isn’t only on my shoulders, but in the order that we tell the story, without giving away too much. The structure of the show goes in such a way that we get to see Andrew at his worst and his absolute best. Then, it’s up to you to juxtapose those against each other.

How do you tell a story where the moral compass is clearly fixed? We can all agree this is a horrible thing. Versace was murdered on the steps of his house. We’re in this house. The first day I came in here, I got emotional thinking about it. Versace is here, the man is still alive in this house, everywhere. Coming in, seeing this and being a part of it, you go, wow, this man had everything that the man who killed him couldn’t have and wanted so badly.

I get very sad when I think of somebody like Andrew. We’ve all had these dreams of doing something great. That’s something we can relate to. It’s that sense of wanting something so bad and just being misdirected on how to get it.

Following up on that, Asian immigrant families, including Filipinos, are known to be model immigrants. What do you think about him or his family that contributed to his downfall? I don’t have any credentials in psychology and child development but, to me, after diving into what his background is, it seems a pretty textbook case, as far as what happened later in his life.

As a young man, Cunanan came from a very poor family and in one of the poorest neighborhoods in San Diego. His mother was mentally unstable, was very difficult to deal with. I don’t know what she had, but she self-medicated—a very tough situation.

His father, on the other hand, was a crook. He was embezzling people out of thousands of dollars. It was a loveless marriage, but they adored and spoiled this little boy. They gave him their master bedroom as he grew up. He was raised with this sense of entitlement from a very early age. That’s very dangerous as you get out in the world.

Narcissism involves people who think they’re pretty, but it’s more than that. It’s a psychological belief that if you believe something about yourself, it is true.

In that sense, Andrew believed that if he could say something about himself, then that’s true. And if he deserves something, he didn’t have to work for it. So, the decisions he made before the murders were unintentionally implanted by his parents. His father was caught. He sold the house and had to eventually flee to the Philippines.

This was where Andrew switched gears. He went to see his father [in the Philippines]. At this point in his life, Andrew has told a lot of lies about himself. He sometimes would totally discount his Filipino heritage. He would say he was Jewish, or that his father’s an Israeli pilot.

He went to the Philippines believing in this façade that his father was this rich pineapple plantation owner. He saw this man living in relative squalor. I think when he saw his father being everything he wasn’t, and against everything that he ever wanted, that was a point where most of us would learn from that and go, OK, you know what? I can change from this. I don’t want to be like this. I want to work hard for things.

Instead, he came back to the United States. For the rest of his life, he would make up stories. He’d blow up his own image of himself that would lead him to these grandiose acts of murder. Thinking that he’s above the law and above [the laws of] morality, because he doesn’t have to deal with the things that are real in his life.

What insights did you learn about Cunanan’s homophobia? What’s fascinating to me? This is a wonderful extension of where we all are. Not once in my entire time that I’ve been involved with this has anybody ever brought up the fact that he was gay.

I think mainly because it was eclipsed by the fact that he was a serial killer. That seems to be at the forefront of facts that people stick to. But, he was gay. I don’t think there was a homophobic bent to his series of murders. I think his homosexuality did lend him to certain scenes that he got to be a part of.

The people he dealt with and ultimately ended up murdering were people he had met through different underworlds of the gay scene in San Diego and Minneapolis. He had self-hatred. I think there were other feelings of ineptitude and being not good enough that really drove him. I don’t know how much of that had to do with him being gay. But that is a big part of our story.

It was the largest failed manhunt in FBI history. That seems like a big f***ing deal. A lot of people didn’t know about it. You have to scratch your head and you go, “Wait, so this guy killed how many people before Versace? How was he not caught?” He was on America’s most wanted list. Then, you start realizing, there’s a lot of fear and anxiety in law enforcement. And this is right after the worst part of the AIDS crisis in the mid-’90s.

You have a lot of this other stuff that’s happening that does lend itself to how this guy got away with it. That is important to mention. One thing I’ll say about “American Crime Story” that I’m truly proud to be a part of is the fact that, to me, “OJ,” the series, wasn’t just about OJ.

So, for our story yes, it’s about the horrible murder of an icon. And it’s about the journey and the downfall of the person who did it. But it’s also about everything that’s happening around—and how that echoes what we fear and deal with now

Darren Criss talks about his most challenging role to date—playing Andrew Cunanan (Part 2)