kmannmakeup: Darren Criss & The Drama Actor Roundtable @hollywoodreporter #photo by @kouryangelo #grooming by me #darrencriss #americancrimestoryversace #bts
There are few things that can make a sextet of generally loquacious actors freeze up faster than an open-ended question about gender pay parity. Unlike their female counterparts, many of whom have not only forced the dialogue but also demanded action via the Time’s Up movement, the men gathered for The Hollywood Reporter’s annual television Drama Actor Roundtable find themselves looking awkwardly around the table, waiting to see who will bite.
On this afternoon in late April, it’s Ozark’s Jason Bateman, 49, who jumps in first; but it doesn’t take long before The Americans’ Matthew Rhys, 43, interjects, diffusing any tension with a joke — which, to everyone’s delight, changes both the tenor and the direction of the discussion. Fortunately, the group — which also includes J.K. Simmons, 63 (Starz’s Counterpart); Jeff Daniels, 63 (Hulu’s The Looming Tower, Netflix’s Godless); Michael B. Jordan, 31 (HBO’s Fahrenheit 451); and Darren Criss, 31 (FX’s American Crime Story: The Assassination of Gianni Versace) — is considerably better suited for an eclectic and often hilarious conversation about the easy yesses (and easier nos), the roles still on their bucket lists and, yes, the on-set politics of prosthetic penises.
Darren, you signed on to play Andrew Cunanan, who is not only a real person but also a serial killer. What were your concerns going in?
CRISS I’ve been lucky, I kind of fell ass backwards into the Ryan Murphy camp, which has been the gift that keeps on giving. The only thing that gave me pause was playing a real person, and this particular person had very lasting effects on people who are still alive and the echoes of the tragedy and the destruction that he wrought. I couldn’t help but think about the sons and daughters and husbands and wives who were affected by this guy, and now they’re like, “Oh God, we have to revisit this and make it pop culture fodder.” That weighs on me.
JORDAN Did you ever think about reaching out to them at all?
CRISS I thought about it. Out of almost respect to them, I didn’t want to bug them about it. Again, this is a horrible thing to have to think about, so I let it go.
Darren Criss opened up to The Hollywood Reporter on the reality of playing a real-life character, spree killer Andrew Cunanan, in FX’s ‘Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story. Criss said he couldn’t help but think about, “the sons and daughters and cousins and husbands and wives of people that were affected” by Cunanan.
“That weighs on me a little bit,” he told THR during the Drama Actor Roundtable. Criss said he was able to identify with Cunanan, who died at age 27 by suicide, because, “that’s our job. We’re in the business of empathy. It doesn’t matter what my personal moral spectrum is.”
Criss went on to discuss the #MeToo and Time’s Up movements in Hollywood, being one of the two youngest members of the roundtable at age 31, along with Michael B. Jordan (Fahrenheit 451).
“What’s interesting is the way that it’s shaping the narratives that we’re interested in,” Criss said, comparing the current hot-button issue to the world wars of the early 20th century, and how those stories were reflected on-screen. “We’re seeing this wonderful rise of female voices in film and television. That’s cool. That’s the flip side of all this.”
The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story starring Criss aired in January on FX. The full Emmy Roundtables air every Sunday on SundanceTV beginning June 24 and on THR.com the following Monday. The full Drama Actor Roundtable, also starring Matthew Rhys, J.K. Simmons, Jeff Daniels and Jason Bateman airs Sunday, July 8 on Sundance TV. Tune in to THR.com/roundtables for more roundtables featuring talent from the year’s top shows.
The full Drama Actor Roundtable, starring Michael B. Jordan, Matthew Rhys, J.K. Simmons, Darren Criss, Jeff Daniels and Jason Bateman, airs Sunday, July 8 on Sundance TV. | Source
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