Tag: ricky martin

Ricky Martin on Fatherhood, Activism, and His Star Turn on ‘American Crime Story’

It’s one of the most anticipated TV shows of the season. The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story, about fashion designer Versace’s life and death in Miami Beach, recalls a time that was one of our town’s most vibrant, storied and infamous. Ricky Martin plays Versace’s longtime love, Antonio D’Amico, with scenes filmed at the iconic Casa Casuarina (aka the Versace Mansion). It was here that Versace was shot and killed by Andrew Cunanan in July 1997. At that time, Martin was years removed from the boy band Menudo and only just becoming a household name in America. That would all change less than two years later, as “Livin’ La Vida Loca” would catapult the then Miami resident to global stardom.

But the night we speak, it’s the eve of Hurricane Irma touching down in South Florida—just minutes into it swiping Martin’s childhood home of Puerto Rico. “How’s Miami?” he asks about the other place he called home for almost 15 years. I’m about to evacuate; this would be my last call before hitting the road. “It’s happening now in Puerto Rico, so I’m just waiting for news from my family,” he says. “Things are heavy. I’m glad people are moving.” The concern in his voice is obvious. This from a man who has faced his fair share of adversity throughout his lifetime. But now, amidst a new life in Los Angeles with his 9-year-old twin boys Valentino and Matteo and fiancé Jwan Yosef, fresh off his Vegas summer residency, Martin readies himself for a second phase of stardom in what will ultimately be one of the most talked-about roles and shows of the year.

You look amazing! What’s your secret?
I don’t know—I guess good conscience. I’ve been behaving. I’m at a really good moment in my life. Professionally, last year I had a Grammy and multiple hits that came out after. Vente Ca’ Pa got more than 1.2 billion hits on YouTube, which is amazing. My kids are happy, my fiancé is amazing, and I’m working with [executive producer] Ryan Murphy on the Gianni Versace story. The sun is shinning on this side of the fence for me.

So many of Hollywood’s stars try to stop the aging with plastic surgery and fillers…
I love getting older. I’m 46 years old; I don’t want to look 36. I want to look 46. And I want to look healthy at my age. I think the issue comes when people just want to look younger. People get a little bit desperate. I just want to look good. I’m someone that represents my age.

Versace is a big entrée into Hollywood. You’ve been acting your whole life, but this is a big deal. What made you want to take on this role?
A lot of people say, ‘Oh, Ricky, you can act?’ But you know, when I left Menudo I was totally focused on my acting. I spent many years preparing for acting roles. I went to Mexico and started doing theater, then TV series in Mexico and Argentina. So for me acting has always been very important. Here I was in L.A. and I received a phone call from the one and only Ryan Murphy—I’ve had the opportunity to work with him in the past as a guest on Glee—and he said, ‘Rick, I’m working on this. Are you interested?’ And I joked, ‘Let me think about it.’ Of course I was being sarcastic. I was honored. So I started doing the research and learning everything about Gianni’s story and his legacy. To be able to work with Edgar Ramirez, Penelope Cruz and Darren Criss, I mean, are you kidding me? We’re treating this story with a lot of respect and really serious about it. I’m so happy with the results. It’s very dramatic and powerful, but you will also see a lot of love. The love between Antonio and Gianni was a very beautiful one.

You spoke with Antonio recently?
I had the opportunity to speak to Antonio a few months ago, and I said, ‘Antonio, listen, maybe you’ve seen a couple of paparazzi shots of the actual scenes that we’re shooting, but please don’t judge the quality of it just by one picture because it could easily be taken out of context. You have to see what we’re doing, and you’re going to be so pleased with everything.’

What was it like coming back to film in Miami?
It’s amazing. I lived in Miami for almost 15 years. For some reason I had never gone inside the Versace Mansion. But now that we were there, I understood why. Because I guess the purity of me walking in for the first time, working on this character, was of impact. The house is beautiful. They keep it as a boutique hotel, but they work very hard to maintain it as Gianni had lived there, and to be honest, I felt Gianni’s presence everywhere. I’m not trying to be spooky here, but his art and his taste is everywhere in the house. It helped us a lot.

Ricky Martin on Fatherhood, Activism, and His Star Turn on ‘American Crime Story’

“The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story” Will Detail American Homophobia In The ’90s

dcriss-archive:

Yesterday, television critics got a first glimpse of the opening scene from The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story as part of the TCA Press Tour. Premiering January, the FX mini-series recounts the fashion designer’s murder in reverse—beginning with the day he was shot outside of his Miami Beach home and then unraveling the events leading up to that day across 10 episodes.

Creator Ryan Murphy was joined by screenwriter/executive producer Tom Rob Smith, EP Brad Simpson, and series stars Darren Criss, Edgar Ramirez and Ricky Martin for a panel about the series, which is still in production. Ramirez stars as Versace, who was at the height of his success when he was gunned down by Andrew Cunanan (Criss) in 1997. Martin plays his lover, Antonio D’amico, who recently expressed his distaste for the show.

“The picture of Ricky Martin holding the body in his arms is ridiculous,” D’Amico said. “Maybe it’s the director’s poetic license, but that is not how I reacted.” But during the panel, Martin revealed he’d since spoken with D’Amico.

“The first thing that came out of my mouth when he picked up the phone [was], ’I’m so happy we’re talking. And I just want you to know that this is treated with utmost respect,‘” Martin said at the panel. “But more than anything, there is a level of injustice with this story.”

“I told him that ’I will make sure that people fall in love with your relationship with Gianni,” the out singer added. “That is what I’m here for. I really want them to see the beauty and the connection that you guys had.’ And he was extremely happy about it.”

Like all Murphy productions, painstaking detail was put into The Assassination of Gianni Versace, with scenes shot in Versace’s home, Casa Casuarina, now a hotel.

“I was very emotional shooting it, as we all were,” Murphy said. “I mean, Darren and I were, and Ricky. The assassination was important and tough to shoot, and the crew was crying, and we were very emotional doing it. We shot exactly on the exact step where he died.”

Production designer Judy Becker (Carol) was also able to recreate the home and Versace’s design studio/office on the Fox studio lot.

“It is tiny things I love,” said Murphy, who placed Versace’s favorite orchid on a table as a tribute. “There was an ashtray that was actually made that year that he designed that Edgar snatches the keys out of. I really loved hunting those things down and finding them as a tribute to that character.”

Murphy has long been a fan of Versace, whom he called a fearless designer and an inspiration for being out when even fashion designers seldom did.

“I was always very moved by him. He was a very important and cultural figure, and he lived outrageously and daringly, and he was a disrupter,” he said. “And I think his life was opera… I remember being so proud and excited when he did that interview in theAdvocate, because, at the time, there wasn’t really a lot of people who were brave enough to live their life in the open. I was very emotional shooting it, as we all were.”

Murphy’s inspiration for the series was two-fold: Besides his love of Versace, he also wanted to explore the cultural context in which his murder took place. As EP Brad Simpson mentioned, Versace was killed just three months after Ellen DeGeneres came out.

“Nobody was out. There were no out celebrities,” Simpson said. “There was Elton John. There were no out fashion designers. You know, Versace had given an interview with his lover, and chosen to live openly as a gay man, and that was part of the reason why he was targeted and killed. Andrew Cunanan was a serial killer who killed other gay men.”

The exploration of Cunanan’s motives are a huge part of The Assassination of Gianni Versace, something Murphy believes hasn’t been touched on yet. Cunanan was a 27-year-old hustler who had relationships with wealthy older men. Those who knew him describe his desire for status symbols—lavish houses, fine clothes, vacations. But his access to the men who could provide these luxuries was limited and eventually, he began a killing spree, murdering five gay men across the U.S.

“We pay tribute to all of the victims that are in many ways forgotten and not talked about,” Murphy said. “And I think having episodes that center on their lives and how they were taken too soon is important.”

Cunanan’s other victims include his ex-lover David Madson, Chicago real estate developer Lee Miglin, friend Jeffrey Trail, and cemetery caretaker William Reese. The murders of Trail and Miglin were particularly violent—Trail was beaten to death with a claw hammer, and 72-year-old Miglin was stabbed more than 20 times with a screwdriver, his throat sawed open with a hacksaw.

“Nobody’s really, sort of, traced the Andrew Cunanan of it all that I think Darren does so brilliantly,” Murphy said. “The pain that he brings to that, and why and answer why did he do it. Was he a madman or was he a victim of the times? And I think the answer is, sort of, both. And both things we examine in the show.”

Criss met with dozens of people who knew Cunanan at different points in his life, all of whom describe him very differently.

“There’s a lot left a lot of blanks to fill in, which has been a very interesting ride,” he explained. “Andrew was so many different personalities to so many different people,” he added. “That makes things a bit easier because we’re not just following what we would assume to be a murderous, horrible person all the time. We see him at his best; we see him at his worst; we see him at his most charming; we see him at his most hurt.”

Screenwriter Tom Rob Smith penned all 10 episodes, largely based on Maureen Orth’s 2000 true crime book Vulgar Favors. He said he wanted to connect any similarities Cunanan and Versace had, like their interest in living large. But of course, Versace’s career provided for him in a way that was out of Cunanan’s grasp.

“It’s much closer to a story of radicalization than a typical serial killer,” Smith said. “I mean, he killed five people… Technically, he went on a spree. But if you go back a year from most serial killers, they’re committing crimes of one description or another, like assault or arson. There are these signals. With Andrew Cunanan, you go back a year and he’s in a million-dollar condo in La Jolla talking about politics or art, and charming people. How do you get from that person in that condo to someone who can attack someone with a hammer and brutally kill them?”

Smith said it was important for him to present Cunanan “not just someone who is intrinsically monstrous, but who, has similarities to Versace from the outset” and explore “why his footsteps go in one direction and Versace’s go in a completely different direction.”

But don’t expect the series to be a pity party for Versace’s killer.

“It’s about the choices you make,” said Smith. “We’re tracking those choices and seeing how society impacted them, and how he chose various things and the people around him. You’re taking a murder that we all know… and you’re taking it apart and going back to the very nuts and bolts [of it.]”

For Murphy and the other producers, The Assassination of Gianni Versace is a larger story than just a celebrity murder. It’s about being out of the closet in 1990s America.

“I think it’s more than why [Versace] was killed. It was sort of why it was allowed to happen,” Murphy said. “I think the thing about American Crime Story is that we’re not just doing a crime. We’re trying to sort of talk about a crime within a social idea. Versace, who was the last victim, really did not have to die. Part of the thing that we talk about in the show is one of the reasons Andrew Cunanan was able to make his way across the country and pick off these victims, many of whom were gay, was because of the homophobia at the time.”

He recalled how police in Miami refused to put up wanted posters for Cunanan even though they knew Cunanan was a major suspect and likely headed toward the city. “I thought that that was a really interesting thing to examine,” Murphy added, “particularly with the president we have now and the world that we live in.”

“The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story” Will Detail American Homophobia In The ’90s

“The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story” Will Detail American Homophobia In The ’90s

dcriss-archive:

Yesterday, television critics got a first glimpse of the opening scene from The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story as part of the TCA Press Tour. Premiering January, the FX mini-series recounts the fashion designer’s murder in reverse—beginning with the day he was shot outside of his Miami Beach home and then unraveling the events leading up to that day across 10 episodes.

Creator Ryan Murphy was joined by screenwriter/executive producer Tom Rob Smith, EP Brad Simpson, and series stars Darren Criss, Edgar Ramirez and Ricky Martin for a panel about the series, which is still in production. Ramirez stars as Versace, who was at the height of his success when he was gunned down by Andrew Cunanan (Criss) in 1997. Martin plays his lover, Antonio D’amico, who recently expressed his distaste for the show.

“The picture of Ricky Martin holding the body in his arms is ridiculous,” D’Amico said. “Maybe it’s the director’s poetic license, but that is not how I reacted.” But during the panel, Martin revealed he’d since spoken with D’Amico.

“The first thing that came out of my mouth when he picked up the phone [was], ’I’m so happy we’re talking. And I just want you to know that this is treated with utmost respect,‘” Martin said at the panel. “But more than anything, there is a level of injustice with this story.”

“I told him that ’I will make sure that people fall in love with your relationship with Gianni,” the out singer added. “That is what I’m here for. I really want them to see the beauty and the connection that you guys had.’ And he was extremely happy about it.”

Like all Murphy productions, painstaking detail was put into The Assassination of Gianni Versace, with scenes shot in Versace’s home, Casa Casuarina, now a hotel.

“I was very emotional shooting it, as we all were,” Murphy said. “I mean, Darren and I were, and Ricky. The assassination was important and tough to shoot, and the crew was crying, and we were very emotional doing it. We shot exactly on the exact step where he died.”

Production designer Judy Becker (Carol) was also able to recreate the home and Versace’s design studio/office on the Fox studio lot.

“It is tiny things I love,” said Murphy, who placed Versace’s favorite orchid on a table as a tribute. “There was an ashtray that was actually made that year that he designed that Edgar snatches the keys out of. I really loved hunting those things down and finding them as a tribute to that character.”

Murphy has long been a fan of Versace, whom he called a fearless designer and an inspiration for being out when even fashion designers seldom did.

“I was always very moved by him. He was a very important and cultural figure, and he lived outrageously and daringly, and he was a disrupter,” he said. “And I think his life was opera… I remember being so proud and excited when he did that interview in theAdvocate, because, at the time, there wasn’t really a lot of people who were brave enough to live their life in the open. I was very emotional shooting it, as we all were.”

Murphy’s inspiration for the series was two-fold: Besides his love of Versace, he also wanted to explore the cultural context in which his murder took place. As EP Brad Simpson mentioned, Versace was killed just three months after Ellen DeGeneres came out.

“Nobody was out. There were no out celebrities,” Simpson said. “There was Elton John. There were no out fashion designers. You know, Versace had given an interview with his lover, and chosen to live openly as a gay man, and that was part of the reason why he was targeted and killed. Andrew Cunanan was a serial killer who killed other gay men.”

The exploration of Cunanan’s motives are a huge part of The Assassination of Gianni Versace, something Murphy believes hasn’t been touched on yet. Cunanan was a 27-year-old hustler who had relationships with wealthy older men. Those who knew him describe his desire for status symbols—lavish houses, fine clothes, vacations. But his access to the men who could provide these luxuries was limited and eventually, he began a killing spree, murdering five gay men across the U.S.

“We pay tribute to all of the victims that are in many ways forgotten and not talked about,” Murphy said. “And I think having episodes that center on their lives and how they were taken too soon is important.”

Cunanan’s other victims include his ex-lover David Madson, Chicago real estate developer Lee Miglin, friend Jeffrey Trail, and cemetery caretaker William Reese. The murders of Trail and Miglin were particularly violent—Trail was beaten to death with a claw hammer, and 72-year-old Miglin was stabbed more than 20 times with a screwdriver, his throat sawed open with a hacksaw.

“Nobody’s really, sort of, traced the Andrew Cunanan of it all that I think Darren does so brilliantly,” Murphy said. “The pain that he brings to that, and why and answer why did he do it. Was he a madman or was he a victim of the times? And I think the answer is, sort of, both. And both things we examine in the show.”

Criss met with dozens of people who knew Cunanan at different points in his life, all of whom describe him very differently.

“There’s a lot left a lot of blanks to fill in, which has been a very interesting ride,” he explained. “Andrew was so many different personalities to so many different people,” he added. “That makes things a bit easier because we’re not just following what we would assume to be a murderous, horrible person all the time. We see him at his best; we see him at his worst; we see him at his most charming; we see him at his most hurt.”

Screenwriter Tom Rob Smith penned all 10 episodes, largely based on Maureen Orth’s 2000 true crime book Vulgar Favors. He said he wanted to connect any similarities Cunanan and Versace had, like their interest in living large. But of course, Versace’s career provided for him in a way that was out of Cunanan’s grasp.

“It’s much closer to a story of radicalization than a typical serial killer,” Smith said. “I mean, he killed five people… Technically, he went on a spree. But if you go back a year from most serial killers, they’re committing crimes of one description or another, like assault or arson. There are these signals. With Andrew Cunanan, you go back a year and he’s in a million-dollar condo in La Jolla talking about politics or art, and charming people. How do you get from that person in that condo to someone who can attack someone with a hammer and brutally kill them?”

Smith said it was important for him to present Cunanan “not just someone who is intrinsically monstrous, but who, has similarities to Versace from the outset” and explore “why his footsteps go in one direction and Versace’s go in a completely different direction.”

But don’t expect the series to be a pity party for Versace’s killer.

“It’s about the choices you make,” said Smith. “We’re tracking those choices and seeing how society impacted them, and how he chose various things and the people around him. You’re taking a murder that we all know… and you’re taking it apart and going back to the very nuts and bolts [of it.]”

For Murphy and the other producers, The Assassination of Gianni Versace is a larger story than just a celebrity murder. It’s about being out of the closet in 1990s America.

“I think it’s more than why [Versace] was killed. It was sort of why it was allowed to happen,” Murphy said. “I think the thing about American Crime Story is that we’re not just doing a crime. We’re trying to sort of talk about a crime within a social idea. Versace, who was the last victim, really did not have to die. Part of the thing that we talk about in the show is one of the reasons Andrew Cunanan was able to make his way across the country and pick off these victims, many of whom were gay, was because of the homophobia at the time.”

He recalled how police in Miami refused to put up wanted posters for Cunanan even though they knew Cunanan was a major suspect and likely headed toward the city. “I thought that that was a really interesting thing to examine,” Murphy added, “particularly with the president we have now and the world that we live in.”

“The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story” Will Detail American Homophobia In The ’90s

FX Reveals ‘American Crime Story: Versace’ Opening Scene, Ryan Murphy Dishes on Show’s ‘Political Overtones’

dcriss-archive:

*SPOILER WARNING! – Article has description of the first 9 mins of the first scene of ACS Versace.*

Ryan Murphy is bring the harrowing 1997 murder of fashion icon Gianni Versace to the screen in the upcoming season of American Crime Story, and FX revealed the opening minutes of the premiere episode at the Television Critics Association press tour on Wednesday.

SPOILERS
The first episode starts off with a title card that reads July 15, 1997, the morning of Versace’s murder. The legendary fashion designer (played by Edgar Ramirez) wakes up in bed and walks out onto the balcony of his home in Miami Beach, Florida.

Meanwhile, serial killer Andrew Cunanan (played by Darren Criss) sits on the beach with a book featuring Versace on the cover, as he pulls a gun out of his backpack. Struggling with some internal conflict, Cunanan walks into the surf and screams at the sky.

In his home, Versace takes some morning medication, changes into a black shirt and some light pants, and heads out into the city, walking to a newsstand to buy copies of Vogue and Vanity Fair (which features Princess Diana, who had not yet been killed, on the cover). As he goes about his day, Cunanan is throwing up in a bathroom.

The tension mounts as Versace returns home and walks up his steps – shot on location where the real Versace was actually killed. As he opens the gate to his opulent estate, Cunanan runs at him, gun drawn, and fires off a round. The first shot misses, but the second doesn’t, and as the murder occurs, the episode cuts to the show’s official title card – The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story.
END OF SPOILERS

Speaking with reporters at TCA on Wednesday, Murphy opened up about why the show chose to use the word “assassination” in the title, as opposed to murder or homicide, and the producer explained that they chose it for its “political overtones.”

“It denotes somebody who’s taking the life of somebody else to make a point. That’s exactly what Andrew Cunanan did and what he was trying to do and that’s explored in the show,” Murphy shared. “The interesting thing that we’re doing with this show is we’re telling the story backwards. The first episode deals with the literal murder or assassination itself and then we tell the story in reverse, so we get into how he had that motive and why he wanted to do what he wanted to do.”

For Murphy, delving into the nuances of Versace’s death and Cunanan’s motivations and murder spree was vitally important to elevate the series above just retelling the details surrounding the event. The show’s true intent is to examine the pervasive political climate of the 1990s that allowed the crime to happen.

“More than why [Versace] was killed, it’s [about] why it was allowed to happen,” Murphy said. “The thing about American Crime Story is that we’re not just doing a crime, we’re trying to talk about a crime within a social idea… Versace, who was the last victim, really did not have to die.”

Cunanan was responsible for at least five other murders in the months leading up to shooting Versace. He committed suicide a week later.

“Part of the thing that we talk about in the show is one of the reasons Andrew Cunanan was able to make his way across the country and pick off these victims, many of whom were gay, was because a homophobia at the time,” he continued. “So we thought that that was a really interesting thing to examine, to look at again, particularly with the president we have and the world that we live in.”

Murphy explained that one episode of the upcoming season is dedicated to the military’s “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy, which was enacted under President Bill Clinton and generated a lot of controversy at the time.

“I just thought it was topical and really social and about something, which I think is this show at its best,” Murphy added.

Before the first episode of the show even aired, it was already facing push-back from some of the real-life people involved – chiefly Antonio D’Amico, Versace’s lover, who denounced the mini-series when photos of the cast were first leaked online.

However, Murphy explained that he’s subsequently reached out to D’Amico, as has Ricky Martin, who plays him in the series.

“Ricky spoke to him today and he was very great and excited to talk to Ricky,” Murphy said, adding that it’s “very hard to judge anything that you’re watching based on a paparazzi photograph, which is apparently what his judgment was about.”

“When you’re doing a show like this or a show like [The People v. O.J. Simpson], you’re not really doing a documentary, you’re doing a docu-drama. So there are always certain things that you’ll take liberties with,” Murphy explained. “You have to be respectful but you also have to make it your own.”

“Our version of the show is based on a book that Maureen Orth wrote,” Murphy said, referring to the extensively researched true crime tome Vulgar Favors: Andrew Cunanan, Gianni Versace, and the Largest Failed Manhunt in U.S. History, first published in 1999. “She has a definite point of view in that book. We’re true to that point of view.”

Executive Producer Brad Simpson reiterated Murphy’s point, explaining that the series is “really about the victims.”

“We examine the victims [on this show],” Simpson said. “In many ways we’re trying to bring to life and celebrate the lives of these people that Andrew Cunanan snuffed out.”

Murphy later opened up about the show’s stellar cast – which also includes Penelope Cruz as Donatella Versace, Max Greenfield as Santo Versace, and Finn Wittrock and Jeffrey Trail, one of Cunanan’s earlier victims – and marveled, “The thing that’s amazing about this cast is they were all of our first choices.”

Reflecting on casting Ramirez as Versace, Murphy said he was “the only one” he ever considered.

“I had many meetings with Edgar. I was literally like, ‘I’m not going to let you say no. I just know that you are that character,’” he shared. “I’ve seen a lot of his work and I think his previous work is incredibly soulful and Edgar has a great soul and a great mystery. You cannot deny the physical appearance and the resemblance, which is startling.”

Ramirez, who joined the cast and crew at the TCA panel, had nothing but praise for Murphy and for what the show has managed to accomplish.

“For the first time he combined sexiness and glamour and opulence like no one had done before,” the Gold star explained. “It’s very interesting how the story captures an amazing story but also captures the spirit of the time.”

The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story will premiere in January 2018 on FX.

FX Reveals ‘American Crime Story: Versace’ Opening Scene, Ryan Murphy Dishes on Show’s ‘Political Overtones’