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’