Pasadena, CA (The Hollywood Times) 1/7/18 – THE ASSASSINATION OF GIANNI VERSACE: AMERICAN CRIME STORY, one of the new TV season’s must-sees, was discussed at length by a distinguished panel of executives and talents at the 2018 FX TCA Winter Press Tour taking place on Saturday, January 6th, 2018 at the Langham Hotel in Pasadena. The nine-episode limited series is set to premiere on Wednesday, January 17th.
Present on the panel were award-winning executive producers Ryan Murphy, Nina Jacobson, and Brad Simpson along with executive producer Tom Rob Smith, who wrote the series episodes. Talent included Edgar Ramirez, who plays the starring role of Gianni Versace; Ricky Martin, who plays his long-time lover Antonio D’Amico; and Darren Criss, who plays his killer Andrew Cunanan. Maureen Orth, author of the book VULGAR FAVORS upon which the series was based, rounded out the panel.
We questioned the term “assassination” since the crime against Versace did not appear to be political in nature or committed for profit, suggesting that “Even though he’s prominent, he’s just one of the people who was unfortunate enough to cross paths with a psychopath.”
Nina Jacobson responded that the rationale for the term had been to contrast killer Andrew Cunanan and victim Gianni Versace as destroyer and creator. In this analysis, Versace had the talent and work ethic to create from the inside out while Cunanan was an outside in person who wanted fame and fortune without having to work for it. Versace was authentic and honest whereas Cunanan wasn’t aware of even his own truth and became different people depending upon whom he was with.
Versace’s status as a gay man makes his murder more political. The way the police handled the crime is testament to this.
Ryan Murphy agreed with Jacobson’s assessment, saying of Cunanan, “This was someone who targeted people specifically to shame them and to out them and to have a form of payback for a life that he felt he could not live.” Tom Rob Smith added, “Once he [Cunanan] crossed a line and became a killer, he then started to kill to pursue ideas.”
What would we learn about Gianni Versace from the series that they didn’t we didn’t already know? Edgar Ramirez said that Versace’s intimate family orientation might surprise people who knew of him only from his high-style House of Versace image. By all accounts, Versace was a rather shy individual who went to bed and woke up rather early! His demeanor was much more that of a craftsman than a larger-than-life celebrity.
Edgar Ramirez knew series co-stars Ricky Martin and Penelope Cruz, who plays Versace’s flamboyant sister Donatella, before the show was cast. Martin and Ramirez actually met at an Armani dinner!
All three actors were Ryan Murphy’s first choices and he did not even know they were already friends. So the Versace “family” was already in place even before the series was filmed!
Why did it seem as if more time was devoted to Cunanan than Versace in the series? Brad Simpson said that this was because Cunanan was actually a spree killer with a total body count of five. He killed the people closest to him and then targeted Versace, the most famous fashion designer in America. The series creators wanted the whole story to be told and Cunanan and his crimes were obviously the common link.
Brad Simpson pointed out that the previous AMERICAN CRIME STORY series about the O.J. Simpson trial had also been an ensemble with O.J. as a supporting actor. FX decided NOT to use Cunanan’s name in the title of the Versace series so as not to elevate him to a place they didn’t want to put him.
The goals of the Gianni Versace show were very different than the ones for the O.J. Simpson show. The Versace series focuses much more upon the victims and what was taken from the world when all of them were killed.
Ryan Murphy appreciated that each of the ACS shows would have a different tonality (courtroom potboiler, manhunt thriller, etc.) He loved that the Versace show did not glamorize the subject matter, but instead revealed the ugliness of the homophobia underlying the murder the way the O.J. series had revealed the ugliness of sexism and racism.
What was the extent of the interaction between Cunanan and Versace prior to the murder? Maureen Orth said they had met around the time when Versace was designing some costumes for the San Francisco Opera. Andrew was seen riding around in a white convertible with Gianni and Antonio at least once. The extent of the relationship, at this point, was not precisely known.
Tom Rob Smith insightfully pointed out that Versace was not just a person, but “looms over the series as a symbol of success.” Both he and Cunanan were gay and dealt with this in very different ways.
Versace tried to protect himself with his huge fashion empire and all its wealth and power. He also had the genuinely loving long-term relationship with D’Amico, a much younger mega-handsome model. All these signs of success unfortunately made him a target for envious and unstable people like Cunanan.
And what about fact vs. fiction in the Versace series? Of course many of the events had to be reconstructed both in the book VULGAR FAVORS and the television script based upon it.
Darren Criss talked about what it had been like to play a man like Andrew Cunanan. Criss replied, “Well, it either makes me a good actor or a shitty one! I can’t decide.” Criss, best known for his 180-degree different role as Blaine Anderson in FOX’S GLEE, was tapped by Ryan Murphy to play Cunanan after seeing Criss perform on Broadway in HEDWIG AND THE ANGRY INCH.
Like Cunanan, Criss tried to disassociate himself from certain things while still empathizing to some extent with his subject. Criss feels sorrow for Versace’s family and friends now that the tragic events of 20 years ago are being brought up again in a “pop cultural affair.”
Maureen Orth added that Andrew Cunanan was often able to charm even people who knew he was an inveterate liar. He was quite erudite and could capture the interest of older and more sophisticated gay men he wanted as patrons because of it.
Even a killer like Andrew Cunanan, he could not help but become humanized because the viewers spent so much time with him, unlike O.J. Simpson in the previous ACS series. Brad Simpson said that this was emblematic of a bigger rift in American culture and its fascination with true crime stories.
Tom Rob Smith emphasized that Cunanan had been handsome, brilliant, and very witty and could have had the world at his feet like Versace. He thought Andrew’s pathology was closer to that of a terrorist than a serial killer. Not able to create or accept anonymity in society, he chose to rip something down. In such cases we as a society really need to ask ourselves, “What has gone wrong?”
Maureen Orth and Tom Rob Smith talked about whether anything had come to light since the publication of Maureen’s book about the Andrew Cunanan murders to change their perceptions of this rather enigmatic killer. Maureen said that her perception basically stayed the same. Tom said that Andrew “refused to be invisible” by going after an extremely visible person like Versace–and this is still of interest.
Many on the TCA panel were glad that Versace had finally gotten his due as a cultural pioneer. Better late than never! Though this is the largest failed manhunt of all time, it remains difficult to find material about it.
There is a sad irony in the fact that Versace had already beaten death once right before he was gunned down. He built his own brand into a billion-dollar enterprise with style and flair before the age of 50. To know him is to love him, and viewers will have their chance to do just that for nine weeks after the series launches on January 17th!
Tag: winter tca18
TCA’s Winter Press Tour – Day 2: FX Network
The FX creator with the most shows is undoubtedly Ryan Murphy, who presided on back-to-back panels Friday — one for a project about the 80s New York trans ballroom culture, Pose, but also his lavish second installment in the “American Crime Story” franchise, this one titled The Assassination of Gianni Versace that begins Jan. 17.
While many may recall the shocking shooting death of the acclaimed designer in front of his Miami Beach mansion, less well-known is the story of his murderer, who had been wanted by the FBI for a series of brutal killings.
Like Murphy’s initial installment of American Crime Story, The People vs. O.J. Simpson, this one has a dream cast that includes Venezuelan actor Edgar Ramirez of Carlos as the designer; Penelope Cruz as his sister Donatella, Ricky Martin as his lover, and Darren Criss of Glee as the murderer Andrew Cunanan.
“This certainly is a once in a lifetime opportunity that happened to be within the hands of the person that I had been creating other things with and who had been such a champion for me on Glee,” Criss said. “I definitely lucked out. I think a lot of actors have to wait a lifetime for something like this.”
While the O.J. saga never showed the murder, this one begins with it. But that’s the plan for American Crime Story, Murphy said.
“One of the joys about this show for me is that every season of this show will have a different tonality. The first season was very much a courtroom potboiler. The second season is a manhunt thriller,” he said.
Its third season, covering Hurricane Katrina, will be set in New Orleans’ Memorial Hospital, looking at issues of health care and global warming.
“So every different season of the show, unlike other things that we’ve done, is so different.”
maureen_orth: Coolest cast and A plus producers #acsversace premieres tomorrow LA, on FX 1/17. My book #vulgarfavors the basis! @darrencriss @edgarramirez25 @ricky_martin @penelopecruz1
@devobrown: When mano @ricky_martin says ‘let me take selfies’ – you take selfies. Catch our full interview VERY SOON! Ricky is fantastic in #AmericanCrimeStory – y’all need to watch, it’s sooo well done 👏🏽👏🏽 #versace #antoniodamico #rickymartin #andrewcunanan #gianniversace
Why the True Focus of Versace Just May Surprise You
His name may be in the one in the title, but when The Assassination of Gianni Versace premieres on FX next week, the famed fashion designer, gunned down in his prime, will share the spotlight.
In fact, much like The People v O.J. Simpson before it, the second installment of American Crime Story will use the crime involving the bold-named individual in the title to explore greater themes, as well as tell the stories of the lesser-known victims of serial killer Andrew Cunanan. And as executive producer Brad Simpson told E! News ahead of the show’s panel at the 2018 TCA Winter Press Tour, that’s exactly how the creative team wanted it.
“Andrew Cunanan was a spree killer and he murdered five people, the most famous being Gianni Versace. Versace was his obsession. He was everything he wanted and couldn’t have. The series tracks through those victims,” Simpson explained. “We thought it was important to spend the same amount of time with the less-known victims as it was with the most famous victims. Versace weaves his way in and out of this story, I think, in a great way, but the journey itself is the journey of this killer across the country as he murders people.”
In other words, just because Edgar Ramirez and Penélope Cruz dominate the show’s key art as Gianni and his legendary sister Donatella Versace, don’t expect this to be a Versace family biography. While Gianni’s name may be in the title, it’s the word “Assassination” that’s the real focus here.
“His obsession with Gianni Versace and the dance of creator and destroyer is the spine…that holds this together,” Simpson elaborated upon duing the show’s panel. “But ultimately, we felt it was really important for us, along this journey, to not only tell the story of Versace, but use that as fabric to tell the story of David Madson and Jeff Trail and the other victims.”
“This was a person who targeted people specifically to shame them and to out them and to have some payback for the life that he didn’t get to live,” Ryan Murphy added. “I just feel like anytime that you methodically plot to kill someone with pain and murder in your heart, to expose them for something, that is an assassination. It felt like the title was important for us, politically, to say.”
For executive producer Tom Rob Smith, who penned all nine episodes of the season, this installment of American Crime Story was an opportunity to explore issues that transcend one man’s crimes. “I think this is a story people don’t know. They know there was a murder in Miami. I kind of think of it as an iceberg. People just know the tip, and we’re taking them on the journey all the way down,” he told E! News. “And it’s an incredible story across the whole of America…It touches on this enormous issue of the American dream. How do you grow up and try and be successful? One of the elements that crushes him is homophobia. So we’re touching on the prejudices and preoccupations of society. It’s a crime that really has soaked up a lot of America.”
And for star Darren Criss, who turns in a career-making performance as Cunanan, it was the opportunity to explore the tragic undercurrent of the murderer’s actions that drove him to the role.
“That’s what made this such a joy for me, trying to find this common denominators between Andrew and the person watching, so much so that when he does something horrible, you’re really almost heartbroken that they’re doing this,” he told E! News. “That it is not only sad because of the actions, but sad because of the things that made those things happen.”
American Crime Story: The Assassination of Gianni Versace premieres Wednesday, Jan. 17 at 10 p.m. on FX.
[LQ] Maureen Orth, Tom Rob Smith, Edgar Ramirez, Brad Simpson, Darren Criss, Nina Jacobson and Ricky Martin from FX’s ‘The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story’ pose for a portrait during the 2018 Winter TCA Tour at Langham Hotel at Langham Hotel on January 5, 2018 in Pasadena, California
Ricky Martin ‘Peed A Little’ About Penelope Cruz’s Casting in FX’s Versace
Just like you, when Ricky Martin heard that Ryan Murphy was making the second installment of American Crime Story about the murder of Gianni Versace, his first question was: “Who’s going to play Donatella?” “He told me, ‘No one knows, but it’s Penelope [Cruz],” Martin said at the TCA panel for FX on Friday. “And I peed a little bit.”
Love was in the air too when Murphy cast Ricky Martin to play Antonio D’Amico, Versace’s partner of 15 years, in part because Édgar Ramírez, who plays the titular late designer, is close friends with Martin. “You were probably the first person I told that I was doing Gianni,” Ramírez said to Martin. The pair made plans to have dinner together to celebrate the role when Martin got the call from Murphy. “I received a phone call from Ryan that said, we need to meet. I’m like Okay, when and where? I’ll be there. Édgar is who I’m having dinner with tonight, so clearly something is in the air.” At dinner Ramírez astutely guessed: “You’re going to be Antonio, I’m sure.”
“They were all my first choices,” Ryan Murphy said. “I did not know they were friends. Darren [Criss] was the first person we cast. And then we cast Édgar and then we cast Penelope and I’ve worked with Ricky before and love him. I took him out to the Tower Bar and Grill. I really think he was texting with Edgar under the table.”
“I know Edgar. My brother, I love him,” Martin said to Murphy at dinner, to which he says the showrunner replied, “That’s what I needed to hear. You’ve got the part.”
Ricky Martin ‘Peed A Little’ About Penelope Cruz’s Casting in FX’s Versace
Why ‘The Assassination of Gianni Versace’ Plays Out in Reverse Order
“American Crime Story” fans can’t wait for “The Assassination of Gianni Versace” to start — though they’ll have to wait until it ends for the actual beginning of the story. We’ll explain.
The new season of anthology series “ACS” plays out in reverse chronological order, a decision that the producers were asked about Friday at the Television Critics Association press tour.
“This case is famous because of the murder of Versace,” executive producer and writer Tom Rob Smith explained. “The story-telling has to relate to the story itself.”
And that particular high-profile murder took place at the very end of Andrew Cunanan’s (Darren Criss) three-month streak of bloodshed back in 1997. Cunanan had killed at least four others before taking Versace’s life, and then ultimately his own.
As “fascinating” as Andrew’s own background might be, Smith continued, the audience “wouldn’t understand the context” had the show started there. After all, the average TV viewers probably wouldn’t know any of the earlier victims.
“We had to go backwards starting with what people know and then move into what they didn’t know,” he said.
Makes sense. Smith then pulled out a parallel between his back-to-front device and the real-life horror Cunanan created.
“[Andrew] understood that if he hadn’t have killed Versace … no attention would have came to this at all, it would have disappeared,” Smith said of the serial killer.
Why ‘The Assassination of Gianni Versace’ Plays Out in Reverse Order
maureen_orth: With wonderful @darrencriss@darrenarmy. Great #acsversace writer Tom RobSmith. A ha ha ha Hollywood kind of day! Pretty fun for new year. ##vulgarfavors book. Who whudda thunk??!
ACS news 