3. ‘The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story’ (FX)
The latest “American Crime Story” adaptation is a misnomer, as it follows (mostly in reverse chronological order) the life of Versace’s murderer, Andrew Cunanan. But as played in a tour de force and award-worthy performance by Darren Criss, Cunanan’s and Versace’s (Edgar Ramirez) interwoven stories are riveting and revealing, a study of the lives and struggles of gay men in the 1990s. At times difficult to watch, the portrait of the spree killer is gilded and fascinating, gorgeous and off-putting from beginning to end.
Anthology series. 9 episodes. The second iteration of Ryan Murphy’s true crime anthology is not nearly as mesmerizing as The People v. O.J. Simpson, maybe because it doesn’t have David Schwimmer saying “Juice” repeatedly. Still, this one, which focuses on what led the serial killer Andrew Cunanan (played by Darren Criss) to slay the fashion designer (Édgar Ramírez, with Penélope Cruz, pictured, as his sister, Donatella) in 1997, is a fascinating study of a total psycho who loved cheesy dance music and should appeal to fans of, well, American Psycho.
Judith Light, who most recently starred in Transparent and The Assassination of Gianni Versace, has been acting for decades. But there was a moment, as she was just starting out, when she almost left the business for good. “Early on in my career — because I wasn’t getting what I wanted and I saw other people getting what I wanted and I wasn’t getting it — I went into a depression,” she tells designer Zac Posen (a board member of Yahoo Lifestyle’s parent company, Oath, which is a division of Verizon) in the third episode (above) of Yahoo Lifestyle’s new “Loud and Clear” video series. “I thought to myself, ‘I have to get out of the business.’ I looked up and I said, ‘Look, whatever it is that you want me to do, I’m here to be of service.’ And it was in that moment that everything changed.”
Light got her big break on the soap opera One Life to Live. “Maybe I won’t leave the business now,” she remembers thinking when she was cast. But it was when she landed the role of Angela Bower on Who’s the Boss that her life really changed. “It was a cultural shift,” she tells Posen of the show. “It was the woman in the workplace and the man at home. And I have young women come up to me to this day to say, ‘I went into the fashion business [or] advertising — I knew I could do it because that was my role model.’”
In addition to her life as an artist, Light’s role as an activist is equally important to her. She has spent decades fighting for LGBT rights. “We are one family, we are one humanity, we are of one mind, and to me the whole issue of prejudice and bigotry is something that has propelled me through life,” she says.
“Dan came out,” Light says, recalling the struggle of actor Danny Pintauro, who played her son on Who’s the Boss, and how that affected her. “And there were other people I saw that were trying to live their best and truest life.”
Her work on screen is a mirror of that activism. In the Gianni Versace miniseries, Light played Marilyn Miglin, a woman in denial about her husband’s sexuality. Discussing the series’ executive producer, Ryan Murphy, Light says: “He sees the stories that need to be put into the culture to have discussions about the shift in the culture. The Assassination of Gianni Versace is really about how the gay community was viewed at this particular time, and if the culture were different some of the things that happened may have not had to happen.”
In her life and work, Light has made sure to do what she so admires in Murphy — start important conversations. “Nothing to me is more important than being of service and kindness and gratitude,“ she says. "Who is it that you want to be? … If you live in that question, you can have a very extraordinary life. The unexamined life, to me, is not worth living.”
‘American Crime Story: The Assassination of Gianni Versace’
FX Ryan Murphy’s Versace elegy got more moving as it went along, with a truly empathetic eye for the ugly details of grief. Edgar Ramirez is intense as the martyred designer, but did anyone predict that one of the year’s most poignant TV performances would come from Ricky Martin, as Versace’s boyfriend? Or that Judith Light could turn a brief role into such a heartbreaker? (The widow’s question – “Am I a real wife now?” – speaks for both her character and Martin’s.) And the music – wow. All year long, you’re going to hear tipsy strangers in the karaoke bar mangle Ultravox’s New Wave torch ballad “Vienna,” and this is why.
9. American Crime Story: The Assassination of Gianni Versace
Ok, so American Crime Story technically started before 2018, but since it’s an anthology it’s probably OK to put this one down as a “new” show. Versace had the hard task of following the lauded People vs. OJ Simpson season and moved with that momentum, with standout performances from Darren Criss as murderer Andrew Cunanan and Penelope Cruz as the iconic Donatella Versace. While the crime itself is literally given in the title, the show’s peek behind Cunanan’s psyche and the drama that followed the murder make for some peak Ryan Murphy excellence.
American Crime Story: The Assassination of Gianni Versace
No series this year has a closer relationship between its form and its function than The Assassination of Gianni Versace, the second volume of Ryan Murphy’s FX anthology drama, American Crime Story. Written entirely by Tom Rob Smith, the nine-episode season tracks the murders of the world-famous designer and four other victims by Andrew Cunanan (Darren Criss), a gay man who envied Versace’s lifestyle but lacked any of the positive qualities that earned it. Assassination disarms the audience by starting where many assumed it would end, with Cunanan shooting Versace on the steps of his South Beach mansion. Smith then moves backward in time and broader in focus than the celebrity who serves as its Trojan horse, giving the three other gay men who died at Cunanan’s hands their own extended eulogies. Assassination is one of the more damning portrayals of cultural and internalized homophobia ever dramatized; by withholding an origin story for Andrew until the very end, the show throws the spotlight not just on his victims, but on the society that created him. No wonder it didn’t become a smash hit. — Herman
Darren Criss was at the Monte-Carlo Television Festival 58th edition to defend his role of Andrew Cunana, serial killer and main protagonist of American Crime Story’s second season.
Darren Criss might be absolutely against the idea of a Glee revival, he is on the other hand more than thrilled to have played Andrew Cunanan. The serial killer has killed 4 people all through the United States before assasinating the famous stylist Gianni Versace during the 90′s. Ryan Murphy, creator of Glee and American Horror Story, brought to life this story in the second season of American Crime Story, adequately titled The Assassinatioin of Gianni Versace. Darren Criss plays the killer in an impeccable and chilling way, definitively walking away from his role of Blaine Anderson. Attending the Monte-Carlo Television Festival 2018 edition, he talked to melty about the difficulties to play such a complex role in an exclusive interview.
Melty: First of all, congratulations ! Your interpretation of Cunanan is incredible. But how did you do to have empathy for him ?
Darren Criss: You try to find common points, which isn’t that hard actually. We all know what it’s like to hurt, to be frustrated by what life gave us, to want to be love no matter what. And once you found those links, it comes easily. To me, everyone has a dark side they’re hiding and different sides in our personality. And for Andrew, I think he was just as much nice, well mannered and cultured as he was angry and hurting.
M: What was the hardest : to bare yourself in front of the camera or to “kill” people ?
Darren Criss: Actually it was a very entertaining experience. I know it might seem weird considering how dark the show is, but I took it like a good workout. Was that the hardest thing I had to do ? No. There were hard moments, clearly, but I took them as obstacles to surpass.
M: After trying drama with the role of Andrew, do you want to continue in this path ?
Darren Criss: For me, even a comedy is a drama ! I’m an actor and the only thing I want is to keep acting.
M: Glee is a show that left a big impact, what was your best memory on the set ?
Darren Criss: There is so many ! The show was 5 years of my life. What I loved about this show is that for exemple if you are in another show and there is a musical episode, it’s the episode everyone remembers. Meanwhile, for me, it was my everyday life. The great songs, the ridiculous costumes, the numerous laughs, those are my best memories.
Darren Criss may have been best known for “Glee” before 2018, but his role as serial killer Andrew Cunanan in “The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story” may come to be known as his most defining role. Already an Emmy nominee for writing an original song for “Glee,” Criss is hoping to receive his first acting nomination this year for his daring performance.
Criss recently spoke with Gold Derby senior editor Joyce Eng about playing a “creepy” character, the mental issues that plagued Andrew, and his working relationship with Ryan Murphy. Watch the exclusive video chat above and read the complete interview transcript below.
There’s a misperception out there that TV critics are some sort of monolith. That there’s some sort of critical consensus.
To prove that wrong, you need look no further than the nominees for this year’s Television Critics Association Awards — which include a few shows I don’t much care for, one that troubles me greatly and one I absolutely loathe.
Don’t get me wrong. The TCA Awards are more legit than, say, the Emmys, because they’re given by people who actually watch almost everything on TV. (Nobody can watch everything anymore.)
And I’ll happily endorse the overwhelming majority of the TCA Awards nominees.
But I’m not a big fan of “Bill” or “GLOW.” And this might get me in trouble, but I’m kind of over “The Handmaid’s Tale” after Season 2.
I’ve also been stewing over “The Assassination of Gianni Versace” for months. The more I think about it, the more I’m troubled by the fact that so much of the supposed docudrama was complete fiction.
ACS news 