Tag: edgar ramirez

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

dailydcrissnews:

johncameronmitchell: @darrencriss #edgarrodriguez & me at the @assassinationofgianniversace premiere. Damn were they great as Cunanan and Versace. The show is intoxicating and touching, it touched me when i was intoxicated. #ryanmurphy killed it!
edgarramirez25: Thank you John! Your words mean the world to me. You are one of the creative minds I admire the most. I ADORE your work & sensitivity. It was such a pleasure to meet you tonight. Thank you so much for coming, for your warmth and generosity. The first of many I am sure! Abrazos!

‘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