Darren Criss looks and acts like a stand-up guy with a good head on his shoulders. When he stopped by the New Hollywood Podcast, he was nice, approachable, and is personable — much like Blaine, his character on Glee. But in FX’s The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story, Criss does a 180 from his good guy roles by playing the real-life Andrew Cunanan, the man who murdered at least five people, including titular fashion designer. Obviously, Criss is not a serial killer, but his casting in the role is an advancement for authentic representation in Hollywood. Criss, like Cunanan, is half-Filipino — a detail about the actor that many people are surprised to hear.
A San Francisco Bay Area native, his role in Versace marks another collaboration with TV maestro Ryan Murphy, who created Glee as well as American Horror Story, which Criss also appears in. But Versace is a much more dramatic turn for Criss. It’s also a series which he is the lead — and as an Asian, it’s kind of a big deal. In the episode (with a new theme song courtesy of Pete Blyth), we talked to Criss about tackling the nuanced role of Cunanan, his cultural identity, his love for musical theater, and how his new bar has a clever drink special called “The Moesha.” Listen to the episode below.
lorraine: On tomorrow’s show @GLEEonFOX star @DarrenCriss will be telling us all about his latest role as psychopathic killer Andrew Cunanan in the hit series The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story
Darren Criss joins Deadline’s Dino-Ray Ramos and Amanda N’Duka to discuss his career and work on American Crime Story: Versace. Produced by David Janove. Music by Pete Blyth.
This isn’t the first time “Watch What Happens Live! with Andy Cohen” has shot in Los Angeles, but there was something different Monday night about the Bravo talk show’s broadcast at the historic Wiltern theater. Oh, right. It was the rows of Television Academy Emmy voting members invited to catch the festivities first hand.
[…] As for the night’s episode, Cohen’s guests were two other Emmy contenders, “This Is Us‘” Milo Ventimiglia and “The Assassination of Gianni Versace’s“ Ricky Martin (who Cohen repeatedly reminded us also has a current Las Vegas residency). Word was having the two potential acting nominees on hand wasn’t planned for an audience partially filled with Television Academy voters, but it didn’t hurt FX’s campaigns that Darren Criss, also from “Versace,” stopped by at the end of the half hour to take shots with Cohen and his guests (Oh, drinking is also a big part of the ‘WWHL’ experience). Viewers learned that Ventimiglia is sort of a bad interview (the large audience might have hurt) and Martin is pretty blunt (he chastised himself for not coming out during a notorious Barbara Walters interview in 2010). The sound also was problematic (the audience often had problems hearing what was being said on stage), but a lesson learned when figuring out where to film the next time around. Other guests this week in LA include the entire cast of “The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills,” Anna Faris and Snoop Dogg, among others.
Darren Criss on Elvis Duran and The Morning Show (April 13th, 2018)
@omaze: Winners Bibiana and Gabriela had a blast with @DarrenCriss & @ricky_martin on the @ACSFX set. Plus, they got to take home some signed goodies! Thanks to everyone who supported @ChildrensLA.
The charts below reflect how THR’s awards columnist Scott Feinberg believes the Emmy standings would look if voting ended today. They are formulated using a combination of personal impressions (from sampling many programs), historical considerations (how other shows with similar pedigrees have resonated), precursor awards (some groups have historically correlated with the TV Academy more than others) and consultations with industry insiders (including voters, content creators, awards strategists and fellow members of the press).
ACS news 