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Are you doing everything you can to live up to your fullest potential? Andrew Cunanan thought he was. Instead of putting in the hours at Rite Aid or staying in school, Cunanan connives and schemes, moving his way up through a ladder of sugar daddies.

Meanwhile, Donatella is afraid. She has the opportunity to be her brother’s successor, but she doesn’t have the confidence to shine. She holds herself back by passing off someone else’s work as her own.

Luckily, realizing Versace’s ailing health, Donatella knows it’s time and steps out on the red carpet wearing a collaboration by her and Gianni, an iconic bondage-inspired black leather dress. The photographers eat it up and Donatella is firmly in the spotlight. But, she clashes again with Versace. She suggests a more wearable version of the dress to sell and Gianni, ill and angry, flips out. But she’s not wrong. He can’t have it both ways – if she is truly the future of the brand, he’s got to let go.

Donatella’s struggle is so relatable – we might not be working on one of the biggest high-fashion brands, but do we always seize every opportunity with gusto? When we try to step up to the next level, especially as women, is it always welcomed? Donatella is going to have to fight for her place, even if both she and Versace know it has to happen.

Then there’s Andrew, who lives in his dreamland, believing his best gifts are his charm and his impeccable taste. He is clearly very smart and can hold his own in a crowd, but he’s got no substance, no work ethic and resents those who have a lot, no matter how hard they have worked. As he moves from rich guy to rich guy, Cunanan becomes a professional leech. He makes good arm candy and all he requires are the finest things in life.

When Cunanan’s rejected by Sugar Daddy #1, Lincoln Aston, he seems genuinely shocked. It’s a pattern that we saw last week with Sugar Daddy #2, Norman Blanchford, friend of Aston’s. All Cunanan did was use Aston’s money to romance another guy in an expensive hotel room. What’s the problem, he wonders? He feels entitled to a hefty allowance he can use however he wishes because he’s so alluring.

Am I being too hard on Cunanan? After all, he’s just using the gifts that come naturally to him. I think I judge because I know he’s clearly capable of so much more. Whereas Donatella might be lacking some of the talent of Versace, she still tries. Cunanan settles for hustling because he’s either too lazy or too vain to do anything but flirt. What a waste of a life, in so many ways.

This doesn’t seem shocking, knowing all the bad things Cunanan is capable of, that he didn’t have anything to do with Aston’s murder, especially knowing he just got dumped by Aston. Drifter Kevin Bond confessed and served time, but it’s veeeeerrrrry suspicious. It seems that no matter where Cunanan goes, blood follows.

Dailybreak.com

mattbomer: Excited to announce my directorial debut next Wednesday, March 14th at 10 PM on @americancrimestoryfx This was a 4 and a half month labor of love that I worked my a#% off on. The cast and creative team of #acsversace are phenomenally talented, and I’m so grateful to @mrrpmurphy and the many incredible mentors who helped to make this a reality for me. I hope you can tune in to see! #acs #fxnetwork #versace #directorialdebut 📸 by the brilliant Shelly Westerman

What it’s like to play a real-life murder victim who almost escaped

Of all the five murders committed by Andrew Cunanan, the most poignant may be that of David Madson because he’s the victim who almost got away.

An architect living in Minneapolis, Madson had everything Cunanan wanted — a promising career, a good dating life, a circle of loyal friends — but didn’t want to work for. When Cunanan forced Madson, who was 33 when he was found dead at a rural lakeside in Minnesota, to flee the scene of the murder of Jeff Trail, his first victim, his doom was sealed.

As the Ryan Murphy reaches its bloody climax in a few weeks, we spoke to Australian actor Cody Fern who plays Madson about what it was like to shoot the series in reverse and to recreate that ghoulish crime scene.

Fern, who is 30, will next be seen in the sixth and final season of “House of Cards” on Netflix.

What was it like filming the storyline backwards?

You start at the most intense sequence and then you get to discover the other end of the pendulum. So it was nice to work backwards. I don’t want to get too airy-fairy, but it was nice to live out the horror of David’s life and then backtrack to something more beautiful.

Did you talk to anyone in David’s family before you started filming?

I didn’t. I’m not sure the opportunity was there.

When we were given the scripts, there was a collective feeling this was difficult to get through, especially for the families. We wanted to stay true to Maureen Orth’s book, the source material, and not stir up anything with the families through unsolicited phone calls. “I’m playing your son or brother though the most horrifying part of his life. Do you want to chat?”

Why didn’t David run?

It’s very easy to look at things objectively and say. “I would do this” or “I would do that.” When you see your best friend [Jeff Trail] murdered, 27 times with a claw hammer, you don’t know how your going to behave. The level of shock. He must have been so afraid.That was the whole linchpin of the character.

From what can be gleaned about David, he was this wonderful, generous human being. When the police were searching his apartment, they found wrapped presents for his nieces and nephews months in advance of Christmas.

You’ve been working in Baltimore on “House of Cards.” What can you tell us about your character?

I can’t say anything. There are so many rumors about my role out there. We’re not allowed to confirm. But everyone is so psyched for Robin [Wright taking over]. I think the show has been about Claire since Season Two. It’s really not a show about one man. Or Kevin Spacey’s indiscretions or his terrible secrets. It’s about Robin and Michael Kelly and Jayne Atkinson.

What it’s like to play a real-life murder victim who almost escaped