Finn Wittrock gives one of his most powerful performances to date as real life Andrew Cunanan victim Jeff Trail on “The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story,” someone Wittrock admits he didn’t know too much about when he signed onto the show.
The 33-year-old actor became a breakout star of the Ryan Murphy TV universe after his debut as murderous Dandy Mott on “American Horror Story: Freak Show” in 2014. He followed that up with two roles on “Hotel” and a barely-recognizable turn as a hillbilly cannibal on “Roanoke.” For his most recent pairing with Murphy, however, Wittrock tapped into a completely different kind of mindset to play a military veteran and Cunanan’s first victim.
Based on Maureen Orth’s book, “Vulgar Favors: Andrew Cunanan, Gianni Versace, and the Largest Failed Manhunt in U.S. History,” and written by Tom Rob Smith, the new season of “American Crime Story” explores the serial killer’s past and the lives of those he killed, while highlighting the homophobia and gay panic rampant in the ‘90s. The Feb. 14 episode revolved almost entirely around Finn’s character, showing how Trail spoke out about “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” in a “48 Hours” interview and delving into his complicated relationship with Cunanan (Darren Criss) before his eventual murder.
With Wittrock returning Wednesday night – reminder: each new episode takes place before the last – TooFab caught up with the actor to talk about the research he did for the role, what it was like witnessing Criss’ transformation on set and how his storyline is still relevant today.
How familiar were you with the case beforehand?
I kind of knew as much as most people that I talked to I think. I kind of vaguely knew about the murder but didn’t know much at all about Cunanan, and so it was a big education. I mean the book, Maureen Orth’s book, was a huge piece of research for all of us and sort of created an incredible insight into that whole unfolding of the story. I think it’s funny, I talked to people from Florida though, like anyone who is from Miami or almost anywhere in Florida. And everybody I’ve talked to is like, ‘I know all about that.’ It’s like they know Cunanan, they know the other guys, they know the manhunt. I think for people who were living there at the time, especially around Miami, they got so invested in that story. It was like as big as OJ.
The show works backwards. What was your first day of filming? And did you guys film chronologically at all?
No. If there was a way to be the most opposite of chronologically, that’s the way we shot it. It was literally all over the place. My first day I think was in the airport when we go to pick up Andrew. And then like the next day or the day after I was getting killed and then the day after that I was on the aircraft carrier. I mean it was like all over the place.
I like tore the script apart and I put all the scenes together in chronological order so that I wouldn’t get confused. Like that death scene, is over the course of two episodes, so people were like, ‘It’s scene 96 in episode four, but it’s scene three in episode 5’ or actually vice versa. And it’s like I don’t even know what you’re talking about. Tell me where to fall.
Is this different than it usually is for you? That’s kind of what it seems like.
You know, I think any actor – anyone who works in TV – is used to it. I think because of the nature of the way the story was being told, I think like Tom Rob Smith had such an interesting structure out of working backwards like that. It kind of added a new challenge for everybody to kind of piece together where they were, what happened and you know. It’s like you already shot the future so you have to make the past that gets to to that point.
And now I know some of these scenes, they’re very serious or very dark. And when you are jumping around that much, how do you kind of get into the headspace for the day?
We trust a good script. If the arc of it is clearly defined in your head and you have people that you can really work with, then you can kind of jump anywhere and it doesn’t really matter. It can even sometimes be fun to go towards the end of something before doing the beginning scene. You can kind of figure out how to build up to it. It’s definitely a challenge, but there are perks to the challenge.
There is a lot of talk about Darren because he just loses himself completely into this role. What was it like seeing the light switch on and him becoming Andrew Cunanan?
It’s so cool because he really did, sort of, it was like a mask he threw on and off when he was in it, when he wasn’t. And I think it was maybe in some way the survival mechanism to not stay in it too much, you know. But it was really admirable to kind of watch him be his sort of buoyant energetic self and then sort of drop in at the drop of a dime to this sociopath. But he hates when you say sociopath. Understandably, because he has to play him.
Your character’s storyline, Jeff’s storyline, most of your solo episode was about ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.’ It’s crazy to think we’re still talking about similar bans, like the transgender ban, 20 years later.
It’s so funny, when I first read the script I was like, ‘Ahh, it’s probably a little dated to talk about ‘Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.’ And then like a couple weeks later that whole transgender thing came out.
I know you watched the real “48 Hours” Jeff did to prepare. What was it like the first time you watched it and kind of getting into Jeff’s frame of mind at the time he filmed it?
You don’t see his face. He does allow his voice, but like you don’t see him. But you can see read so much off of him because he’s so composed, he’s such a put together, upright young man you know, who really believes in God and country, like really actually does and has a real patriotic feeling inside of him.
But you can also just tell that he’s bursting out of his skin, like right underneath of that composure. So that, I mean I just watched it over and over probably for the physical elements of replicating his voice a little bit and that, but that’s just also like hearing him and seeing him, you just really could feel by osmosis kind of internal struggle that was going on inside him.
While we only caught a glimpse of Finn Wittrock’s character before he was brutally murdered in the opening minutes of episode 4, here he is brought back to life as the heroic but deeply repressed Jeff Trail. Finn flawlessly captures Jeff’s internal struggle between his sexuality and sense of duty in the military, and the show does not shy away from the graphic details when he is unable to reconcile the two. The few moments that we do see Jeff happy–his first meeting with Andrew, his excitement at becoming an uncle–are shaded with tragedy. This heartbreaking and sensitive portrayal has earned Finn 51.2% of your votes to win the crown for MVP of the week.
Honorable Mention:
Darren Criss earns an honorable mention, trailing Finn by only one(!) vote. Andrew Cunanan begins the episode as charming, socially awkward, and desperate for love, but by the end the look in his eyes have transformed into that of a stone cold killer. Darren’s confident performance proves rewarding to watch, and as the season progresses leaves the viewer anxious to unravel more layers of this enigma.
Joanna Robinson and Richard Lawson discuss “Don’t Ask Don’t Tell,” the fifth episode of The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story, and find time to mention representation at the Winter Olympics. This week’s featured interview is stage actor and frequent Ryan Murphy collaborator Finn Wittrock who talks about playing Jeff Trail and tracking his performance over multiple episodes.
Al Coronel: Hope everyone is watching this season of American Crime Story – The Assassination of Gianni Versace. It is a story of not only Gianni’s senseless murder but also about the other victims of the deranged mind of Andrew Cunanan who’s dark and gripping story is portrayed profoundly by Darren Criss. I feel honored to help tell their story. It was a pleasure to share the screen with Finn Whitrock who plays Jeff Trail, Cunanan’s first victim. Thank you to the crew and to director, Daniel Minahan. (who happened to direct several of my favorite episodes of Game of Thrones!!!) for this amazing experience.
Finn Wittrock is well-known to fans of Ryan Murphy’s work from his performances HBO’s The Normal Heart and three seasons of American Horror Story, most notably his role as Dandy Mott in Freak Show.
But he’s never been as heartbreaking as he is on The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story. Wittrock plays the first victim (and former friend) to Andrew Cunanan (Darren Criss). Trail was also in the Navy during the Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell era and was one of the first people to speak out about life as a closeted gay man in the military.
EW talked to Wittrock about the role and whether he’ll return to the world of AHS anytime soon.
ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY:What made you want to play this part? FINN WITTROCK: Well it was sorta kinda a story that kept opening up for me, I would say. At first I was intrigued by the way Ryan was telling the story and the way Tom Rob Smith structured the narrative. I didn’t know much about Cunanan and his downward spiral.
But then I just really became enamored with Jeff and the kind of guy he was and what kind of upstanding American and true Patriot he was. He loved his country and loved being in the military and just had this secret — he knew who he was and was trying to make himself at peace with that and find some self but also it wasn’t compatible with the life he was living at that time. I was just really, really intrigued by that dichotomy of a guy who’s just really all-American, does everything right but the fact that he was gay he couldn’t ever really overcome that because he was stuck living two lives. And how amazing and sad that it was not that long ago? It’s not like we were talking about the ‘50s — it was like 1996.
The final relevant thing for me was it was right around when Trump did the transgender people in the military ban. When I was reading it at first, I was like, “Well this is a good story but it’s a little dated.” Then, that happened I was like, “F—! This is not dated at all. It’s more relevant than ever.”
Did you reach out to Jeff’s family? Or what kind of research did you do? I didn’t. I felt weird about that. We had some really good Navy help on set in terms of getting the technicalities right. And then there is that real interview he did. It really does exist. His face is in shadow but it’s like a 20-minute interview about him coming out amidst Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell. Often as an actor, you have one thing as your anchor. That was it for me. I kept that video on me at all times. It’s an amazing introspection and a really brave thing for him to do at that time. Then, we had Maureen Orth’s book.
What was it like shooting this because you start with your murder and it goes backwards? It must have been challenging as an actor. Yeah, and the nature of the shoot was already out of sequence because of the schedule. We were shooting different episodes one day to the next so I sometimes lost track of sometimes which episode I was actually in.
What I did when I first got the script was, I just tore them apart and put them in chronological order. I had to kind of do that because the structure is really fascinating to read but as an actor I had to kind of re-adjust my internal compass. The nature of his and Andrew’s relationship erodes over a few years so to really kind of be specific and map that was a challenge and was a kind of on-going conversation, like, Where are we right now? What’s happened?
I spoke to Edgar Ramirez about this, but is it more emotional to shoot a death scene when it’s a real person? It can be haunting. I find you tread more carefully, if that makes sense. It’s more precious. Like when we’re doing Horror Story, it can be really dark and torturous. But it’s also like we’re just letting our imaginations run rampant and just running loose. This you feel a little more obliged to take things carefully and watch your steps and realize the preciousness of the story you’re telling.
Did Jeff actually attempt to cut off his tattoo? It’s a bit of dramatic interpretation. I know everything Rob wrote in that is from real accounts of guys who were gay in the military. It’s not all his necessarily but it’s based on factual stuff. There’s a lot actually we don’t know about Jeff.
What was it that drew Jeff to Andrew in your opinion? Was it that he was so open and charismatic? It is still a mystery. He seemed like such an upstanding guy who really believed in a moral right and standing up for what you believe in and all these admirable values. Then it’s like, How did you become involved with this guy who was so obviously a sociopath? But that’s the thing about them is, they know exactly what to do to make you trust them.
I think there was something in Andrew’s freedom and letting himself loose that really appealed to Jeff at that time. We’ve all maybe had friends who at certain times of your life came in and were just what you needed and you had a great, fun time. Then, you kind of grow out of that and you kind of move on and they don’t but the level of the friendship is so strong that you can’t just disown them so you’re caught with this person sort of hanging on you. I think that was part of the downfall — Andrew did not like getting shaken off.
How was that final fight between Jeff and Andrew to shoot? How was it working with Darren? I remember that being a hefty day. It was a lot of dialogue and a lot of heated stuff. We kind of played with the temperature of how much is it an all-out battle. He’s a very easy partner to dance with. He likes to explore it and try different ways and try one way hotter and one way colder. It was a fun conversation in that way. It’s really interesting to watch him work. He was kind of playful on set and I know from playing some f—ed up people it can be a survival mechanism to kind of stay light when you’re not in it because otherwise it can kind of eat you.
What do you want people to take away from Jeff’s story? It’s sort of a warning about what happens when you don’t share your real self with the people you love. It’s also a warning about our society not letting people be who they are and the dark road that can lead people down.
Is there any chance you can return to American Horror Story? I don’t know. I would love to. I am committed to staying in the Ryan Murphy universe as long as he will have me.
Wednesday night’s episode of American Crime Story: The Assassination of Gianni Versace features two very different coming-out scenes. In one, set in 1995, Gianni Versace openly discusses his sexuality with a reporter from The Advocate, even introducing his longtime boyfriend Antonio D’Amico during the interview. This refreshing, meaningful moment is intercut with a scene during which Jeff Trail—an ensign and a Gulf War veteran who was later murdered by Andrew Cunanan—risks his career to participate in a segment for CBS news magazine 48 Hours called “Gays in the Military.”
Reporter Richard Schlesinger, who interviewed the real Trail in 1993, later recalled that the U.S. Naval Academy graduate “chose to speak to us because he thought it was the right thing to do.”
The segment coincided with “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” and a change in the policy on gay people serving in the military.
“He did the interview in silhouette but he was still taking a tremendous risk with his career,” said Schlesinger. “He had absolutely nothing to gain by doing the interview. Yet he took the risk and spoke out.”
Trail warned Schlesinger, “You’re going to weaken our national defense if you remove gays from the military. And you’ll never be able to do it 100 percent, it’s just whether or not you’ll continue to hunt us and force us to fear.”
Asked whether he felt comfortable speaking from the literal shadows to protect his identity, Trail said, “There is nothing I would like more than to be lit up [here] and tell you who I am and show you who I am. But I am not allowed to do that… It’s [only] comfortable for me because I know I will be able to continue to serve my country and do my job and do it right. That’s what I care about most.”
To prepare to play Trail on American Crime Story, actor Finn Wittrock told Vanity Fair’s Still Watching podcast that he watched footage from the 48 Hoursspecial on repeat: “That was my bible. I would watch that and listen to that every day.”
Wittrock said that when he first read the scripts for the series in the summer of 2017, he thought that “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” was such a “dated” concept.
“‘I don’t know if people are going to be able to relate to that,’’’ Wittrock remembered thinking. “Then a week later there was the transgender military Trump ban…Suddenly I thought, ‘Oh wow. How many steps we take forward and how many we take back.’ So suddenly I was examining the whole story in that way. How relevant is this still? Sadly, so much of it is still relevant.”
Wittrock, who is not gay himself, said that he prepared for the role by speaking to gay men who were “in their 40s or 50s and lived through this period when they weren’t [out].” Ultimately though, Wittrock was struck by how much he had in common with Trail: “Besides my sexuality, I could be Jeff Trail. There’s very little, I found, that separates us in that way.”
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