text:
'American Crime Story' Season 2 tackles assassination of Gianni Versace
Published by Breakfast Television Toronto (BT)
Oooh. Nice interview by the New York Times (good memories about that interview done by Patrick Healy of the NYT when Darren was on Broadway for How To Succeed). I'll post the whole interview but please visit the site to give it a number of "clicks." We must continue to show to these media sites that there is a lot of interest in articles about Darren. The pics are beautiful too.
The New York Times wrote:
Darren Criss Plays the Happy-Go-Lucky Killer in the Versace TV Drama
Ryan Pfluger for The New York Times (Photo)
MIAMI BEACH — At 6:30 in the morning, Darren Criss was bright-eyed and perky as he bounded out of his South Beach hotel and into a black car. It was the last day of shooting for "The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story," Ryan Murphy's nine-episode follow-up to "The People v. O. J. Simpson."
Mr. Criss plays the assassin and, the night before, he had been up late shooting a manhunt scene that blocked off a stretch of Collins Avenue, to the chagrin of nightclubbers and Uber drivers.
"That was a very cool rock-star moment," Mr. Criss said in the car, wearing a ball cap and jeans. He flashed an easygoing grin, the kind that endeared him to legions of young fans of "Glee," on which he played Blaine Anderson, the preppy, harmonizing love interest of Chris Colfer's Kurt Hummel.
His new role on "American Crime Story" (which has its premiere on FX on Jan. 17) couldn't be less gleeful: Andrew Cunanan, the gay gigolo turned serial killer who shot Mr. Versace in 1997, after killing four other men.
Mr. Criss, 30, leaned over and pointed out the window. "See that?" he said. "That's the houseboat, perfectly recreated." In Indian Creek, the crew had built a replica of Mr. Cunanan's final hide-out, where he met his demise after a frenzied eight-day manhunt. The series makes use of several real locations in Miami Beach, most notably the Versace Mansion, the site of the murder, now a boutique hotel.
As the car turned into a parking lot full of trailers, Mr. Criss was all smiles, doling out greetings of "Hey, man!" and "Happy last day!" Even pre-caffeine, he was relentlessly chipper, which seems antithetical to playing a murderer. Or maybe not. Charm was Mr. Cunanan's calling card, masking a desperate need for acceptance that curdled into pathology. And Mr. Criss's exuberance on set, he said later, was a way of putting the crew at ease.
"This is the first time I've been No. 1 on the call sheet, so you're kind of the quarterback," he said. "You set a tone. I take my work very seriously, but I don't take myself seriously at all."
He plopped down in front of a mirror, where a hair-and-makeup artist fitted him with a wig. Like any decent actor playing a villain, he had looked for Mr. Cunanan's redeeming traits: his talent, his likability. "The bleeding idealist in me always likes to think that there are more things in common between all of us than there aren't," he said. Presumably, he meant "bleeding-heart idealist," but the phrase seemed apt.
It was that chiaroscuro quality that caught the attention of Mr. Murphy, who as a co-creator of "Glee" gave Mr. Criss his breakout role. "Darren was seen by people as being a comedic actor, a Broadway musical star and a sensation: Mr. Charisma," Mr. Murphy said. "I just knew he had the ability to go dark."
Mr. Murphy has a knack for matching actors with career-changing roles, notably Sarah Paulson as Marcia Clark in "The People v. O. J. Simpson." The new series features Edgar Ramirez as Mr. Versace, Ricky Martin as his lover Antonio D'Amico and Penélope Cruz as his sister Donatella. (Last week, the Versace family released two statements calling the series an unauthorized "work of fiction.")
But Mr. Criss was the linchpin. "He was my first and only choice," Mr. Murphy said. "I truly wouldn't have made it without him. I don't know any other actor who would have been correct."
Given Mr. Criss's squeaky-clean image, the casting seems wildly against type. But Mr. Criss and Mr. Cunanan had some unlikely similarities, beginning with an uncanny physical resemblance. Both are half-Filipino California natives, and "we both revel in being different," Mr. Criss said. As a teenager, he wore vintage bell-bottoms to high school, while the young Mr. Cunanan put dimes in his penny loafers for "that extra bit of flair."
But while Mr. Criss channeled his charisma into singing and dancing, Mr. Cunanan faked his way into high society, lashing out when he didn't get his way. Growing up in San Diego, Mr. Cunanan was a social butterfly in the Hillcrest neighborhood, where the gay and military communities overlapped, subsisting on sugar daddies and outrageous lies.
"The evidence is strong that he was a drug dealer and involved in crystal meth, so he would get a lot of money in cash and treat people to elaborate dinners," said the writer Maureen Orth, whose Vanity Fair article about Mr. Cunanan grew into the book "Vulgar Favors," the basis of the FX series. "At the same time, he was extremely aspirational. Even when he was hiding out in South Beach, he had the biography of William Paley. He had Architectural Digest. And then he'd go out at night and hustle."
Shooting Mr. Versace was a crime "very much of anger," Ms. Orth said. "Andrew had been rejected, and things hadn't turned out for him the way he wanted. And he also was desperate to be famous, and he was willing to kill."
From Theater Geek to 'Glee'
By contrast, fame came easily to Mr. Criss. Even before "Glee," he had garnered a following from his role in a satirical "Harry Potter" musical, which he put on with his post-collegiate theater company in Michigan. A YouTube version, with Mr. Criss as the boy wizard, went viral.
By then he was already a seasoned performer. Raised in San Francisco, the son of a prominent banker, he began studying classical violin when he was 5. Not long after, he saw "Aladdin" and decided he wanted to be the genie, or, barring that, an actor. The year of the Versace murder, he made his professional theater debut at age 10, in a local production of the 1954 musical "Fanny." His big number was "Be Kind to Your Parents."
He spent the next eight years studying at the American Conservatory Theater's young conservatory program, while acting with 42nd Street Moon, a San Francisco troupe known for musical revivals. "After school, I was raised by gay 20-somethings," he said of his adolescent years. "These are the people that I loved and looked up to and wanted to be around."
His early introduction to gay culture helped prepare him for a career in which his best-known roles and a good chunk of his fan base are gay, though Mr. Criss himself is straight. (His longtime girlfriend is Mia Swier, a TV director and producer.) He's a rare breed: theater geek filtered through California bro, which made an ideal combination for the pop dorkiness of "Glee."
In the show's early days, he auditioned unsuccessfully for a few bit parts, including a football player, until Mr. Murphy finally took notice of him and cast him as Blaine in Season 2. "I knew he could sing, I knew he could act, and I knew before we shot a frame of it, this kid's going to blow up," Mr. Murphy said.
He was right: Mr. Criss debuted on "Glee" in 2010, not long after getting a theater degree at the University of Michigan, and his cover of Katy Perry's "Teenage Dream" from his first episode shot up the Billboard charts. A vocal fan base kept the Kurt and Blaine romance steaming along, breaking television barriers as it went.
Mr. Criss burnished his overnight fame with stints on Broadway in "How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying" and "Hedwig and the Angry Inch," and recorded music as a solo artist and with Computer Games, an alt-pop band he started with his brother, Chuck Criss. In 2015, he helped found Elsie Fest, an outdoor music festival in New York that has been called "Coachella for Show Tunes."
Mr. Murphy first floated the idea of the Versace project three years ago, when Mr. Criss was in New Orleans while Mr. Murphy was there shooting the pilot for "Scream Queens." Hearing the name Andrew Cunanan, Mr. Criss responded, "Oh, that's right! The half-Filipino guy!" Later that summer, he was backstage at "Hedwig" in full makeup and heels when Mr. Murphy called: "'Do you still want to do the Cunanan thing?'"
Channeling a Killer
In the makeup trailer in Miami, a stylist painted a meth scab on Mr. Criss's leg and everyone got in a van. The morning's agenda: a fictionalized scene in which the increasingly desperate Mr. Cunanan tries to swim his way to safety, but quickly turns back. The van stopped near a jetty at the northern tip of Bal Harbour, with the Ritz-Carlton looming in the background.
"This is going to be rad!" Mr. Criss said, barely containing his enthusiasm. The first assistant director went over the shot: stare at the water; take off shirt, shoes and sunglasses; zip up backpack; jump in.
"Shirt, shoes, sunglasses," the actor repeated. "I like the alliteration of that." Mr. Criss gazed at the beach. "Look at these colors, guys. It looks fake!"
The waves were crashing hard against the concrete. As the crew shot the scene at the end of the jetty, it was decided that the water was too choppy for Mr. Criss to actually get in, lest they lose their star to sea. Still, by the end of the take he was drenched from ocean sprays, stripped down to soaking white boxer shorts.
"That was insane," he shouted while he walked back, as someone swathed him in a white robe. He smiled into the sun and took stock of his luck: "Just a day at the office. Who gets to do this?"
On a break, I mentioned that he seemed to be having fun, and he bridled. "I'm really careful with that word," he said, his smile dissipating. "This is pretty gruesome material."
During the eight-month shoot, he had been approached by several people who knew Mr. Cunanan. At an event in Los Angeles, he recalled, a Hollywood producer came up to him and said, "Oh, yeah, Andrew Cunanan, I used to hook up with him," and added that the F.B.I. had warned him to be careful while Mr. Cunanan was still on the loose.
After a few takes, the crew moved to the beach to shoot Andrew's dejected return to the shore: "my anti-James Bond moment," Mr. Criss joked. He flung himself into the waves and trudged back onto the sand, kneeling and agonizing for the camera.
"Show us your face," the episode's director, Dan Minahan, instructed, and Mr. Criss revealed an anguished expression out of "Guernica." After "Cut!," he instantly reverted to his sunny self, saying, "I haven't been in the water since we got back to Miami, so: check!"
Sitting down for lunch after the shoot, Mr. Criss described the series as a parable about "the ultimate creator and the ultimate destroyer," in which resentment turned Mr. Cunanan from aspirant to assassin. "I approached Andrew from a pretty big place of hurt and pain and sorrow and sadness," he said. "The story doesn't horrify me as much as it breaks my heart."
"And that's why acting is such a fun art form to me, again as a bleeding idealist, a bleeding happy-go-lucky dude," he said, grinning again at his sheer dumb luck. "People casually ask me, 'How's the show going?' And I will say with no ounce of irony or hyperbole, 'I've worked and waited my entire life for this moment, and I couldn't be happier.'"
Moments later, something close to an irony did cross his mind: "It's the life Andrew Cunanan would have dreamed of, frankly."
Please visit the site to give the article a number of "clicks." Source: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/12/fashion/darren-criss-assassination-of-gianni-versace.html?smid=pl-share
Article about a list of shows to watch:
This Week's Must List: 'The Assassination of Gianni Versace,' 'Paddington 2,' and 'Red Clocks'
ILLUSTRATION by LAURA LANNES for EW
The second installment of Ryan Murphy's true-crime anthology series is a visceral, compelling, and disturbing look at the murder of the titular designer — and the man who killed him, Andrew Cunanan, played by a gripping Darren Criss. (FX, Wednesdays, 10 p.m.)
http://ew.com/news/must-list-assassination-of-gianni-versace-paddington-2-red-clocks/the-assassination-of-gianni-versace-american-crime-story/#gallery__slide--5836696
[HQ] Darren Criss Plays the Happy-Go-Lucky Killer in the Versace TV Drama
kmannmakeup: Darren Criss x @nytimes
#styling @ashleypweston
#grooming by Me #kindramannmakeup @tmgla
#darrencriss #newyorktimes #americacrimestoryversace #versace #grooming
ashleypweston: Darren Criss x NEW YORK TIMES x KIMMEL Saying it was a busy week with this guy would be an understatement #AWerk #DarrenCriss #ACSVersace
ryanpfluger: @darrencriss for the @nytimes up online & out this weekend in the style section. Photographed by the Broad in Los Angeles back in November. Another killer shoot (pun intended) thanks to @lyonse x
She is a senior politics reporter at Vox. She also says "Go Blue" on her twitter page, so I'm guessing she went to U of Michigan?
Some nice quotes from gleekto from the NYT interview (via dcriss-archive):
Darren Criss wrote:
People casually ask me, 'How's the show going?' And I will say with no ounce of irony or hyperbole, 'I've worked and waited my entire life for this moment, and I couldn't be happier.'"
(via gleekto)
Darren Criss wrote: This is the first time I've been No. 1 on the call sheet, so you're kind of the quarterback," he said. "You set a tone. I take my work very seriously, but I don't take myself seriously at all.
Darren Criss Plays the Happy-Go-Lucky Killer in the Versace TV Drama (via gleekto)
After school, I was raised by gay 20-somethings," he said of his adolescent years. "These are the people that I loved and looked up to and wanted to be around."
I really like what Ryan Murphy said about Darren in the NYT article. Here are some quotes from Ryan:
Ryan Murphy wrote:
darrencriss: 5 days. #ACSVersace
Quotes from Maureen Orth:
Buffalo News wrote:
Orth brings Versace murder to TV, recalls night Tim Russert might have talked to his killer
She dismissed some criticism here that the series makes Cunanan likable because she feels being erudite, well-read and having good taste made him that way.
"I found that specious," she said. "He was an incredibly charming personality. He wasn't just simply a calculating evil personality, and that's why he was able to gain the confidence of really lovely, sort of salt-of-the-earth, Midwestern guys and the people that he hung out with… So he had quite an interesting personality that was apart from the deep evil that lurked underneath."
She praised Criss' performance.
I think Darren did a beautiful job of being both creepy and charismatic at the same time," said Orth.
Source: http://buffalonews.com/2018/01/12/orth-brings-versace-murder-to-tv-recalls-night-tim-russert-might-have-talked-to-his-killer/
Regarding when Versace will air on BBC Two for UK viewers (hopefully a couple of weeks after January 17)
Express wrote:
American Crime Story season 2 UK date: When does The Assassination of Gianni Versace air?
When will The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story be released?
The Assassination of Gianni Versace is the second instalment of Ryan Murphy's examination of infamous murder cases that rocked the world.
The second season of the anthology series is officially released on FX in the US on Wednesday, January 17.
It will then air shortly after on BBC Two for UK viewers. An exact date has not yet been set for the BBC Two release but it has been confirmed that it will be early 2018. The show will then stream on Netflix after its initial premiere.
The first season, The People v OJ Simpson: American Crime Story, was released on BBC Two on February 15, 2016 after the initial US release of February 2.
So it's likely UK fans won't have to wait too long to enjoy what is set to be one of the biggest shows of 2018.
Source: https://www.express.co.uk/showbiz/tv-radio/903747/american-crime-story-season-2-assassination-gianni-versace-uk-bbc2-netflix-penelope-cruz
This is nice to see Becca and Heather showing their support. Constance Zimmer was on the animinated Transformers Robots in Disguise with Darren and we know who Tyler is.
I believe he is a screenwriter and an actor.
Last edited by Poppy on Tue Jan 23, 2018 10:33 pm; edited 2 times in total
262 Critics' Reviews of The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story on Fri Jan 12, 2018 2:40 pm
From Rotten Tomatoes:
Here's an excerpt from a review.
The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story is best when it leaves Versace behind
The Assassination of Gianni Versace doesn't carry the same built-in awareness [as The People v. O.J. Simpson], even if the title literally contains a brand name. It's also a trickier work, crisscrossing the country and most of the '90s. If O.J. was an epic, this is a short-story collection. Some hit, some miss, all share a heartbreaking theme.
They're all victims of Cunanan, but they're also victims of an uncaring world. At one point, Antonio's interrogated by cops more interested in Gianni's sex life than his brutal death: Another violation, and he hasn't washed his lover's blood off his tennis whites. In this not-distant-enough past, so much of gay identity was secret identity. And Cunanan's rampage occurred because law enforcement agencies didn't care about gay people. (And they knew it.
But there's something flimsy in the foundation. I'm a fan of Criss, who ranks high in our Sacred Council of Darrens (right behind Aronofsky and the First One From Bewitched). But the structure renders Cunanan a bogeyman, and it's only later in the season that he gets to shade him with real depth. And the portrait of the Versace family feels respectful to the point of hagiography. Ramírez is trapped in a conventional great-man biopic, while Penélope Cruz as sister Donatella mouths fashion-industry bromides like "For a woman, a dress is a weapon." I love the show's willingness to explore everyone orbiting Cunanan's murder spree, but the central characters feel held at a worshipful remove. Oddly, Versace is best when it leaves Versace behind.
Source: http://ew.com/tv/2018/01/12/the-assassination-of-gianni-versace-american-crime-story-review/
From acsversace-news (via dcriss-archive):
This is mostly an interview, but also partially a review. This critic is disappointed with the too-little amount of time spent focusing on Versace and his family. The critic's statement about Darren's performance as Cunanan is sorta weird. Contains spoilers.
Star Tribune wrote:
Andrew Cunanan's Minnesota victims aren't forgotten in 'The Assassination of Gianni Versace'
The reverse-chronological approach of the series is bound to throw viewers, . . .
The emphasis on Cunanan over Versace (played by Edgar Ramírez, best known for portraying a terrorist leader in 2010's "Carlos") and his longtime lover Antonio D'Amico (pop star Ricky Martin) puts the pressure on actor Darren Criss, who made his name as a happy-go-lucky teen singer on the 2009-15 Murphy series "Glee." His Broadway credentials are utilized in "Versace" only when Cunanan dances shirtless while torturing sexual partners during S&M sessions or sings along to "Pump Up the Jam" on the car radio while a deathly nervous Madson sweats in the passenger seat.
Source: http://www.startribune.com/andrew-cunanan-s-minnesota-victims-aren-t-forgotten-in-the-assassination-of-gianni-versace/468871903/
Reason wrote:
American Crime Story Takes on Versace's Murder
If Federico Fellini had ever visited South Beach, the result might have been something like The Assassination Of Gianni Versace—a long, horrified gaze at the corrupting effect of celebrity, not just on those who possess it, but on the culture in which they dwell.
This time around, Murphy and his screenwriter Tom Rob Smith (who in 2011 was a literary sensation with his Child 44 trilogy of novels about a homicide detective in Stalinist Russia) have taken square aim at celebrity and the cozenage it almost inevitably breeds.
Murphy, as usual, has accumulated an excellent cast, including . . .
But this show is ultimately the loot in a strong-arm robbery by Darren Criss as the murderous Cunanan. Criss, who played an amiably handsome prep school boy in Murphy's high-school-musical series Glee, brings a terrifying intensity to his role as the preening, dissembling Cunanan.
Whether he's befuddling random club acquaintances with blather about his spectacular (and entirely notional) cutting-edge fashion use of crinoline or hacking them to pieces with sharp objects, Criss forges a compulsively watchable chain that locks the camera to himself. His face beams sincerity; his eyes, something more complicated and more compelling, something that makes an acquaintance who has caught Cunanan lying shrug helplessly at his rejoinder: "So?"
Criss is so good that his performance isn't even undercut by the clumsy decision of Murphy and Smith to embrace the Hollywood's pseudo-artistic fad for jump-cutting across story lines. Not only is The Assassination of Gianni Versace told backward—the first episode starts with Versace's murder, the last ends with the designer and his murder struggling with overweening fathers in their childhoods—but it bounces around with flashbacks and flashforwards within individual sequences.
Even so, The Assassination of Gianni Versace is a formidable piece of work, brilliant in its characterizations and harrowing in its depictions of the amorality of American culture's dark underside. . .
Please visit the site to give the article a number of "clicks." Source: http://reason.com/archives/2018/01/12/american-crime-story-takes-on-versaces-m
A short statement about Darren.
Your Week in Culture: Lana Del Rey, 'Gianni Versace,' the Murder of Malcolm X on Stage
The Venezuelan actor Edgar Ramírez portrays a benevolent Versace; Penélope Cruz sweeps in as his sister and muse, Donatella, showing scant mercy to his grieving partner, played by Ricky Martin. And Darren Criss ("Glee") coolly seethes — until he viciously erupts — as Cunanan. The nine episodes, volleying between the dazzling, sexed-up opulence of Versace's existence and the grimy despair of Cunanan's, are adapted from Maureen Orth's 1999 book, "Vulgar Favors," which examines the role that homophobia may have played in the hunt for the serial killer. KATHRYN SHATTUCK
Please visit the site to give the article a number of "clicks." Source: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/12/arts/lana-del-rey-gianni-versace-malcolm-x-play.html
Last edited by Poppy on Fri Jan 12, 2018 3:16 pm; edited 3 times in total
Spoiler: It's a decent butt, Kev
haha! Hi DaisiesAndLilies!
Your new signature is very appropriate.
(I'm not really looking forward to seeing Darren's butt )
Coming up, there will be things I won't like that were in the book, so that's okay, Poppy.
I love the Dan Flavin fluorescent lighting in the promo photos. I also really like the photos from the New York Times profile. Completely different vibe from the over-saturated neon, but great anyway.
266 Re: The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story on Sat Jan 13, 2018 12:22 am
I'm impressed that you read the book, DaisiesAndLilies.
I agree, I like the fluorescent lighting of the Versace photos. The photos in the NYT profile were very nice!
This is an interesting edit. The iris of Darren's eyes look darker, and have a different quality than the photos used in the NYT article. In this photo, the iris looks almost opaque.
by Ryan Pfluger for The New York Times
americancrimestoryfx: It was the largest failed manhunt in US history. From creator Ryan Murphy, see the dark story behind The Assassination of Gianni Versace, 1/17 on FX. #ACSVersace
@DarrenCriss 4 days. #ACSVersace
@ACSFX Turn on your sound. Hear how it all began. #ACSVersace
He is TV Editor for Paste Magazine.
I like the top photo but wished the photographer had airbrushed out the bags under his eyes (he probably has been filming a lot). But they are very nice pics!
Darren Criss Photoshoot for the New York Times | Source
Dascha Polanco is also in Versace as a detective.
Hi DaisiesAndLilies!
Premiere dates and networks for watching ACS Versace:
You can watch in Latin America on January 18 on Canal FX for Latin America.
We've compiled a list of ACS Versace premiere dates for various parts of the world. (Times/providers may vary, check your local listings.)
No air dates announced for Australia or UK yet, sorry.
We probably missed some, please let us know! We will update again within the next day or two as warranted.
Premiere date and viewing info for ACS Versace in Mexico/Latinoamerica
269 Critics' Reviews of The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story on Sun Jan 14, 2018 12:01 am
These reviews are from acsversace-news (via dcriss-archive). The Newsday review was noted by Rotten Tomatoes. The other three reviews (by Cleveland.com, the Las Vegas Review-Journal, and the Detroit Free Press) are not listed in either Metacritic or Rotten Tomatoes.
This critic compares Versace to season 1. He seems to miss Versace's message about its characters and about the social environment of the 1990s. He did like Darren's performance.
Cleveland.com wrote:
'American Crime Story' hits sophomore slump with 'Versace' (review)
Although the nine-part true-crime drama has much to recommend it, starting with the superb work of Darren Criss as serial killer Andrew Cunanan, . . .
Criss provides the most compelling reason to stick with these episodes, and even this stunning performance might not be enough . . .
Please visit the site to give the article a number of "clicks." Source: http://www.cleveland.com/tv-blog/index.ssf/2018/01/american_crime_story_hits_sophomore_slump_with_versace_review.html
This critic had an issue with the focus on the murderer and the violence, as well as the structure. The critic seemed to miss what other critics noted, that Darren tried to humanize Cunanan (but not justify Cunanan's actions). Season 1 is always going to be a tough act to follow. The critic did compliment the performances of the actors, including Darren's performance. I like the title of the article.
Newsday wrote:
'Assassination of Gianni Versace' review: Darren Criss gives an electrifying performance [3/4 stars]
In an electrifying performance, Criss spins his character's lies so deftly that the violence that invariably follows them is a blow to the solar plexus. When he smiles brightly, the psycho middle-distance stare also follows, and he then pulls out the gun from his waistband.
There are many pleasures here, however, and they are entirely in the craftsmanship. There are some superb performances — Judith Light as the repressed widow of Miglin is stunning — and it's hard to think of one that isn't good. "Versace" gets the little things right. It's the bigger picture that's the problem.
BOTTOM LINE Sorry, not as good as "O.J.," but Criss turns in a dynamic performance in service of a desperately sad story.
Please visit the site to give the article a number of "clicks." Source: https://www.newsday.com/entertainment/tv/assassination-of-gianni-versace-review-1.16157797
A positive review. haha. "Best of all, there isn't a Kardashian in sight." (I liked David Schwimmer's performance in season 1.) The critic is pretty funny. He talks about the scenes that are campy (spoilers) and Ryan Murphy's contributions.
Las Vegas Review-Journal wrote:
Ryan Murphy digs into another crime story with 'Versace'
"The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story" (10 p.m. Wednesday, FX) is inherently more interesting than its acclaimed predecessor, "The People vs. O.J. Simpson."
The real star, though, is "Glee's" Darren Criss, who threatens to turn the spree-killing Cunanan into a camp icon.
Keep in mind, the series may be written by Tom Rob Smith (the miniseries "London Spy"), based on the controversial book "Vulgar Favors" by Maureen Orth, but it's overseen by Ryan Murphy of "American Horror Story," "Glee" and "Nip/Tuck" fame. Ball gags and bondage gear are the only types of restraint he's ever shown.
As charming liars go, Criss' Cunanan falls somewhere between those of "Catch Me If You Can" and "The Talented Mr. Ripley."
I'm waiting for Benj Pasek and Justin Paul to set that to a foot-stomping beat for "Cunanan: The Musical."
Please visit the site to give the article a number of "clicks." Source: https://www.reviewjournal.com/entertainment/entertainment-columns/christopher-lawrence/ryan-murphy-digs-into-another-crime-story-with-versace/
Not a full review, but a brief mention. Also from acsversace-news (via dcriss-archive):
Detroit Free Press wrote:
TV highlights for the week of Jan. 14-20
After a mesmerizing look back at the O.J. Simpson murder case, anthology series "American Crime Story" from prolific producer Ryan Murphy turns its attention to the 1997 murder of fashion icon Gianni Versace (Edgar Ramirez). Darren Criss ("Glee") delivers an astonishing performance as troubled spree-killer Andrew Cunanan, whose path of destruction landed him on the FBI's 10 Most Wanted List even before he shot Versace on the steps outside his Miami Beach mansion. The cast also features Penélope Cruz and Ricky Martin. 10 p.m., FX.
Source: https://www.freep.com/story/entertainment/television/2018/01/13/tv-highlights-week-jan-jan/109372172/
Last edited by Poppy on Mon Jan 15, 2018 1:07 am; edited 1 time in total
270 Re: The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story on Sun Jan 14, 2018 4:36 pm
Nice interview with San Francisco Chronicle. I can see little Darren calling Peter Coyote, a movie star. What a confident kid, who at 7 years old was committed to acting. I also can see Darren pretending to fall to lighten the mood on the Versace set. So nice of him to be supportive of the cast and crew on set.
San Francisco Chronicle wrote:
For 'Versace' actor Darren Criss, SF childhood still shines brightly
Darren Criss is pleasant and dutiful during an interview on a recent Thursday afternoon, answering questions about his role as serial killer Andrew Cunanan in the new FX miniseries "The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story."
But when the subject shifts to his childhood in San Francisco, the actor is downright joyous.
Criss happily remembers stories that have been buried for a while, including the time he called San Francisco actor Peter Coyote, whose son was a classmate of Criss' brother, for advice about getting into acting. Criss was 7 years old.
"The synapses in my brain are suddenly awakening," Criss says, talking faster. "I remember really, really nervously looking at the school roster, getting the number and going into the closet and shaking nervously, and saying, 'Hi, is Mr. Coyote there?' For a child to be talking to an adult on a level other than, 'Can so-and-so come over to play video games?' it was a nerve-racking experience."
Criss says Coyote gave him a vote of confidence, and talked to him about enrolling in the Young Conservatory program at the American Conservatory Theater. Criss flourished there, and appeared in the musicals "Fanny" and "Do I Hear a Waltz" with 42nd Street Moon when he was 10.
The St. Ignatius College Prep graduate went on to University of Michigan, where he co-created "A Very Potter Musical" in 2009. It became a YouTube hit, and he has since glided effortlessly between film and stage, performing as openly gay singer Blaine on television's "Glee" between 2010 and 2015, and in a "Hedwig and the Angry Inch" revival that started at San Francisco's Golden Gate Theatre in 2016.
But his most challenging performance — maybe anyone's most challenging TV performance this year — is as Cunanan, the designer-obsessed serial killer in "The Assassination of Gianni Versace."
Speaking by phone from his Los Angeles home last week, Criss is reserved about his performance. While most reviewers have already seen all eight episodes, Criss had only seen four — and binged those the night before.
"It's hard to watch anything you do objectively," Criss says, when asked for his first impressions. "That sounds so unenthusiastic, but I promise you it's not. I'm thrilled with how a lot of things turned out."
One thing Criss insists is that he didn't follow the dark character — there are scenes of physical and emotional torture by Cunanan, followed by an alarming lack of empathy — into the abyss.
On the worst days, Criss says, he would execute a pratfall down a stairway on set or provide other blooper reel material to lighten the mood. And he insists that while the victims of Cunanan both living and dead weighed on his mind, the most violent scenes were not as harrowing to perform as they look on screen.
"You have to remember that, (A) of course, it's fake, (B) there's not this creepy music looming in the background," Criss says. "And there are 30 or 40 people around you who you can crack jokes with and grab a tea with, and give you the sort of necessary levity."
Levity seems to be Criss' default position, especially after the questions about Cunanan end and the San Francisco conversation begins again.
And that San Francisco childhood will always be with Criss, as long as the synapses are still firing. Asked if he remembers co-starring in "Fanny" when he was 10 years old, he provides a couple of warm stories, then sings a few bars from his 20-year-old performance. ("Be kind to your parents/ Though they don't deserve it …")
"ACT is such a huge part of my life, and I'm so forever grateful for them existing," Criss says. "If I grew up in any other city in any other circumstance, I don't know if I really would have had the support system in place to make this dream a reality."
Please visit the site to give the article a number of "clicks." Source: http://www.sfchronicle.com/performance/article/For-Versace-actor-Darren-Criss-SF-12497046.php
ACS Versace premieres Saturday January 20 in the Philippines.
Link to article: https://t.co/rxrW0hW0DB
For those interested in seeing other cast members on the various talk shows.
Darren Criss Army wrote:
UPDATED: ACS Versace main cast TV appearances
This will probably be our last update for this week's appearances, any others we will just announce separately.
The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story will air in a 90 minute block in the US, and a 70 minute block in Canada on January 17, 2018. FX US Schedule / FX Canada Schedule
Another photo from New York Times.
ryanpfluger: One more of @darrencriss for @nytimes in print today.
The NYT interview.
michaelschulman: My Sunday Styles profile of #darrencriss.
RustyRueff: Great @nytimesarts article on @ACTSanFrancisco alum @DarrenCriss and his new @ACSFX Series starting this week on @FXNetworks.
He is with San Francisco Chronicle.
She is with Glamour.
She is with Page Six
271 Critics' Reviews of The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story on Mon Jan 15, 2018 12:38 am
These two reviews are not noted yet by Metacritic or Rotten Tomatoes.
Madison wrote:
Review: Gianni Versace gets stylish attention in new miniseries
[Darren Criss as Andrew Cunanan] doesn't overdo any of the guises. He's very good kissing up to the powerful; he's able to blend in when he's trying to hide from authorities. And while Murphy and other directors aren't afraid to show his kinkier side, it is strange that moments seem like they're from "American Horror Story," not "American Crime Story."
Because it's so great at reclaiming an era we almost forgot, "The Assassination of Gianni Versace" easily stands as first must-see offering of 2018. It checks all the boxes needed for the perfect winter miniseries and there's not an inch of it that isn't stylish.
Source: http://host.madison.com/entertainment/television/review-gianni-versace-gets-stylish-attention-in-new-miniseries/article_90b2451c-59ff-51ba-8908-a1957bbd9469.html
This critic seems to have only viewed Episode 1 of the series.
Los Angeles Blade wrote:
"Assassination of Gianni Versace" investigates murder and homophobia
With the first installment of "The Assassination of Gianni Versace," Murphy and writer Tom Rob Smith waste no time in addressing that question. After an elegantly orchestrated opening sequence depicting the events of that July morning – in which the activities of both Versace and Cunanan are intercut until they come together for their fatal meeting – the show immediately begins to explore a subtle but pervasive homophobic slant.
Joining Ramirez, Cruz, and Martin to round out the principal cast is Darren Criss as Cunanan. It's a challenging role, for many reasons – not the least of which is the fact that much of what we see of him is necessarily based on speculation. In the first episode, what comes through is a portrait of a deeply, almost painfully insecure young man, hiding behind blatantly fabricated fantasies to create an image of himself to sell to those around him. What does not come through – at least not yet – is his attractiveness and appeal. Criss is a handsome actor, but as Cunanan he seems decidedly ordinary; this is not a bad thing, by any means, but to convince us of this killer's ability to charm his way into the lives of so many men he must also show us some of Cunanan's charisma. Hopefully, as the series progresses, more of this will be revealed.
With the previous season's examination of the O.J. case, Murphy and his creative team were shrewd enough to realize that what made the story important was not the sensational details of the murder and trial, but rather the underlying current of racism which informed every aspect of the way events unfolded. With their handling of the Cunanan story, it is obvious that they have brought that same understanding to the proceedings – and as before, the way their observations about the social biases within their story's setting provides a pointed reflection of those that linger in our own time.
"The Assassination of Gianni Versace" may be a tale of American crime, but it's also a tale of American homophobia.
Source: http://www.losangelesblade.com/2018/01/14/assassination-gianni-versace-investigates-murder-homophobia/
A bunch of more reviews.
So for the first time, I see two reviews that are mildly critical of Darren's performance. When you think about it, it's been amazing that there has been very uniform consensus among screeners' tweets and media reviews until today, about how wonderful is Darren's performance in Versace! Those who are older Darren fans may remember the show called Siskel & Ebert where two respected film critics rarely agreed on whether any given film was to be recommended. There always is room for various opinions.
One thing I would note is that while one of these two critics found Darren's performance inconsistent (he also noted that the reverse chronology structure would make Cunanan as a character harder for Darren to play), the other critic was unhappy that Darren played Cunanan with too much regularity over the course of the episodes. (haha. So too inconsistent, or too consistent? )
I wouldn't say that Ryan "sidelined" the big names in the Versace series, just because they are big stars. It's a matter who was the focus of the narrative. But I do admire Ryan's commitment to giving opportunities to actors who he sees great promise in, but who have not yet been given the chance to really show the degree of their talent. Thank you Ryan Murphy! What's also interesting is that this article talks about how some of the actors in Versace are not eligible for Emmy consideration "because they do not appear in five percent of the total runtime of the season, a prerequisite for the Best Movie/Limited Supporting Acting categories." I never knew this.
Gold Derby wrote: 'The Assassination of Gianni Versace' preview: Ryan Murphy sidelines big names for rising stars
Criss also got his big break acting in television under Murphy, on "Glee," later writing a song for its series finale, earning the musical its sole Emmy nomination for Best Original Music and Lyrics. A compulsive liar, charming manipulator and homicidal psychopath, Cunanan is the role of a lifetime and Criss is perfect casting, down to his half-Filipino background.
Please visit the site to give the article a number of "clicks." Source: http://www.goldderby.com/article/2018/the-assassination-of-gianni-versace-preview-ryan-murphy-darren-criss-news/
The Globe and Mail wrote:
The Assassination of Gianni Versace is a disturbing and constantly shifting true-crime thriller
As such, the drama, which has some stunning visual opulence, has multiple themes and threads. It can be an agonizing, thrilling and disturbing thriller to watch.
As Murphy has done before, he draws great performances from actors who might be considered lightweights. Actor and singer Criss, best known as the dreamboat Blaine Anderson on Glee, is remarkable as Cunanan, the preppie who has a deeply exaggerated self-importance and hides a murderer's heart under his smiling, happy-to-meet-you surface.
Like The People v. O.J. Simpson and Feud: Bette and Joan, this new work from Murphy sets out not to revise history but to bring a fresh perspective to the recent past. . . Here, he's laying bare the agonies of the closeted, hidden life that so many gay men endured as recently as the 1990s.
. . . [Ryan Murphy states,] "We're not glamorizing the Cunanan story, and we never want to do that. We deal with everybody who was affected, not just the people who were killed, but also the relatives, the siblings. What he did was very, very destructive, and the reason why he did it, I think, was the homophobia of the day. It still persists and that is something really topical."
Please visit the site to give the article a number of "clicks." Source: https://www.theglobeandmail.com/arts/television/the-assassination-of-gianni-versace-is-a-disturbing-and-constantly-shifting-true-crime-thriller/article37604886/
Warning: Spoilers!
Boston Edge Media Network wrote:
Homophobia Examined in 'The Assassination of Gianni Versace' Where Darren Criss Shines
Like first season of "ACS," "Versace" has an incredible star-studded cast, including brilliant performances from its main crew: Edgar Ramirez as the titular designer, Penelope Cruz as his sister Donatella, Ricky Martin as his partner Antonio D'Amico and Darren Criss as Cunanan.
. . . the second "ACS" installment is "The Darren Criss Show." But that's not a bad thing! Criss, who is on screen about 70% of the time, is terrifyingly electrifying, totally allowing himself to be consumed by his character.
The season is a compelling portrait of a serial killer and it's success rests mostly on Criss's shoulders, who proves himself here with a marvelous breakout performance as the deranged albeit very charming Cunanan.
. . . the show is also gloriously gay. From its opening moments (there's an ode to "Moonlight" in the first 5 minutes of the first episode), the show's biggest theme is what it was like to be gay in the 90s; an exploration of the dangers of the closet.
Many of Cunanan's experiences in the gay community are depicted, including his struggle with being accepted by other gay men and his troubles with finding true love and meaningful connections. In one daring scene in the latter part of the season, Cunanan is bluntly told that he's not desirable by men because he's Asian. (Like Criss, Cunanan was half Filipino).
Above all else, "Versace" is about fitting in and finding acceptance among friends, family and society. For Cunanan, doing so was difficult even amongst his own community. As Murphy recently explained, his interactions in the gay community played a role in his killings.
Despite some its shortcomings, "Versace" is still a thoroughly entertaining and exciting season of TV that gives Criss an opportunity prove he's come a long way since his "Glee" days. It's hard to tell how the second season of "ACS" will resonate with viewers; the fact that it's so unashamedly gay may turn off some people (but who really cares about that). "Versace" will unlikely capture the same kind of spark "The People v. O.J. Simpson" did two years ago, but the new installment in Murphy's anthology series has his thumbprint on it. With stunning production value and fabulous performances from everyone involved, "Versace" has something to say and it is essential television.
Please visit the site to give the article a number of "clicks." Source: https://boston.edgemedianetwork.com/entertainment/television/254653/homophobia_examined_in_the_assassination_of_gianni_versace_where_darren_criss_shines
Miami New Times wrote:
American Crime Story's Versace Doesn't Actually Have Much Versace — and That's Great
Criss' portrayal of Cunanan, a gay man whose outward confidence and taste for the finer things belies a deep well of insecurity, is the highlight of the show. This is a guy who can make eating a bowl of Fruit Loops look menacing. The gripping performance is enhanced by the show's narrative structure, a risky gambit that pays off: The season moves backward in time, each episode taking place just before the events of the previous week's.
Versace is not camp; it's a respectful and often deeply moving depiction of the struggle for acceptance, both from the wider world and from oneself.
Again, it's Criss who is the main draw. . . he holds the viewer tight in his grip. Cunanan exerts control over his victims calmly, which is so much scarier than bluster, like your mom going really quiet when you know you're in trouble. He's got a Trumpian swag, an unearned confidence in his ability to sell himself to anyone. Yet Criss never lets us forget his desperation and shame, the self-loathing just beneath the surface of the collegiate bravado. You can just make out the panic behind his eyes.
Please visit the site to give the article a number of "clicks." Source: http://www.miaminewtimes.com/film/the-assassination-of-gianni-versace-focuses-on-andrew-cunanan-the-man-behind-the-crime-9988315
273 Re: The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story on Mon Jan 15, 2018 11:26 pm
UPDATED: ACS Versace premiere schedule
NOTE: The schedule for Latinoamerica has been posted separately and has not changed.
We do not have the details for Bulgaria & Portugal yet.
@ACSFX The Emmy-award winning limited series from Ryan Murphy returns. #ACSVersace
@ACSFX Everyone would know what he did. The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story premieres in TWO DAYS on FX. #ACSVersace
Darren will be a guest on "Andy Cohen Live" on SiriusXM Wednesday 17th, 2018 10:00am EST | Source
Darren Criss Chats American Crime Story "Versace" on Good Morning America - Full Interview (January 15th, 2018) | Source
[HQ] Darren Criss on 'Good Morning America,' Monday, January 15, 2017 | Source
[HQ] In Portrait: Darren Criss Is A Triple Threat | Source
Article by Maureen Orth
Vanity Fair wrote:
Darren Criss on Playing Andrew Cunanan In The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story
In 1997, I read a newspaper article about a 27-year-old gay man from a posh private school in La Jolla, California, who was on the lam, wanted for four murders in three states. Vanity Fairassigned me to profile him, and the issue with my story in it was almost at the printer when news broke that Andrew Cunanan, the man I'd been tracking, had gunned down the fashion designer Gianni Versace on the steps of his Miami Beach mansion. Suddenly, Cunanan—and the spectacularly failed manhunt for him, which ended with his suicide eight days after Versace's murder—was a national obsession, and I re-wrote my article, then expanded it into a book, Vulgar Favors: The Assassination of Gianni Versace. Both are now, in turn, the basis of Ryan Murphy's The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story, set to premiere on FX on January 17.
Cunanan, who was driven to his murderous deeds by the desire for fame and revenge, would have relished being portrayed by Darren Criss, who shares his striking good looks, his outgoing charm, and his half-Filipino heritage. But the similarities end there, obviously, and Criss is empathetic enough to understand that, for all its juicy details, the Versace saga is an epic story of real-life suffering. "My heart is really sensitive to the people who experienced something so horrible that I'm trying to breathe life into," says Criss, 30, who grew up in the Bay Area and previously worked with Murphy on Glee and American Horror Story series will be told in reverse, tracing Cunanan's path backward from the Versace murder, through his previous killings, all the way to his childhood growing up as the gifted and spoiled son of an accused-embezzler father and a victimized, mentally ill mother. Versace's lush life contrasts with Cunanan's descent into drugs, and his double life in the gay demimonde and in the closeted upper class.
Cunanan, Criss says, was "someone who had the potential to do so much more. How does that person become synonymous with something so sad, violent, or scary?" He adds, "It's a story about the have and have-not—the ultimate creator and the ultimate destroyer."
Please visit the site to give the article a number of "clicks." Source: https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2018/01/darren-criss-gianni-versace-fear-box
He is with TheRinger.com
274 Re: The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story on Tue Jan 16, 2018 5:04 pm
Tomorrow is the big day!
Updates on when the show premieres in different countries:
ACS Versace premieres by country
Much of this is what we have already posted, but some is new and some is correcting what we had. We'll post a final version tonight.
Some articles about Darren and Versace:
The Mercury News wrote:
Darren Criss makes radical transformation in 'Assassination of Gianni Versace'
Brace yourself, "Glee" fans: You're about to see a radically different side of Darren Criss.
In "The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story," the actor who gained fame as the cute, preppy singer Blaine Anderson, transforms himself into a cold-blooded serial leader.
"The Assassination of Gianni Versace" (10 p.m. Wednesday, FX) is producer Ryan Murphy's nine-episode follow-up to "The People v. O.J. Simpson" and Criss' unnerving performance is at the center of it. If "Versace" manages to draw anything close to the amount of attention "O.J." generated, expect to hear the actor's name being bandied about during awards season.
Playing Cunanan might seem like a bold, image-busting kind of move, but Criss doesn't see it that way.
"I think people have a fascination with the dichotomy between something like 'Glee' and this (series), but people sometimes forget that actors are actors. We are acting," he says. "I'm always looking for interesting material. I'm looking for things with clay that I can get my hands on and really do something different and big."
Murphy, who also produced "Glee," says he always knew Criss had the ability to go dark. That — along with the actor's physical resemblance to Cunanan — made Criss his "first and only choice" to play the pivotal role in "Versace," . . .
While doing his research for the role, Criss said he was surprised to learn that Cunanan was not "your typical spree killer."
"This is not somebody who had a history of killing small animals and burying them in his backyard," he says. "He defied all those textbook analogies. He was a charming, affable person, despite everything we know about him now. For the most part, people loved Andrew. He was always the life of the party. There were so many positive things about him.
"I'm less disturbed and creeped out than I am just utterly heartbroken by the loss of such potential and the wrong avenues he took in life."
Please visit the site to give the article a number of "clicks." Source: https://www.mercurynews.com/2018/01/16/darren-criss-makes-radical-transformation-in-assassination-of-gianni-versace/Darren Criss makes radical transformation in 'Assassination of Gianni Versace'
This article is a nice little summary of Darren's background & career, could be good to share with your uninitiated friends & family. It even includes Elsie Fest!
IB Times wrote: Darren Criss Fun Facts: Meet The Actor Playing Versace's Killer
http://www.ibtimes.com/darren-criss-fun-facts-meet-actor-playing-versaces-killer-2641979
** ***
The Build interview with Edgar and Darren was really interesting. I enjoyed listening to both Edgar and Darren and they both did well. I thought Darren was very articulate and as I said below, at times, so eloquent that his words almost made me cry. The only part where I would quibble over his choice of words is at the point (32:35) where Darren states that every person is the hero of his own story, and you see the host actually lean backward and frown from that statement. I still would hesitate using the word "hero" to suggest that Andrew Cunanan, if he was at all aware of and in control of his actions, considered himself to be a hero in Cunanan's life.
Edgar Ramirez & Darren Criss On "The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story" (January 16th, 2018) | Source
That part of the interview where Darren eloquently talks about what he would like to tell Gianni Versace, if Mr. Versace was alive, was very touching. My eyes started forming tears, when Darren sincerely said he would hope that Mr. Versace would understand that what the show was trying to do was to cause an important discussion to occur about the larger social issues [such as homophobia], and that Darren would hope that Mr. Versace would understand that they were trying to create some kind of light out of an overwhelming amount of darkness.
This is a nice quote that Jennedesq highlighted, from the Build interview. Thank you Jennedesq. Darren's word about how everybody has value were beautiful and touched me. Not only did Darren's parents teach him wonderful values, but in addition his grandfather also instilled wonderful teachings about being a good human being.
Darren Criss wrote: My grandfather was actually a Cadillac salesman, which sounds skeezy, but think of the charming side of that. And he used to say, everyone's a customer. Everyone's a customer. And while that sounds like a cheesy car salesman's line, you can apply much bigger ethos to that. Which is, you know, at any time, anybody is somebody that has value. Everybody has value, you know?
Darren Criss [x]
(via jenndesq)
Actors Edgar Ramirez and Darren Criss attend the Build Series to discuss 'The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story' at Build Studio on January 16, 2018 in New York City.
They are so funny together.
DarrenCriss: Stopped by @BUILDseriesNYC with @edgarramirez25 to talk about #ACSVersace. Watch the stream here: darrencriss.me/BUILD
Actor Darren Criss attends the Build Series to discuss 'The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story' at Build Studio on January 16, 2018 in New York City.
Edgar is pretty cute.
nelliextine: Don't worry, you're great at this @edgarramirez25 @DarrenCriss @BUILDseriesNYC Awesome interview!
Via Edgar Ramirez' Instagram Story (January 16th, 2018)
I wonder what Edgar was saying. I see what Darren is doing, but . . . haha. I think this is sorta awkward. At the end, Edgar's awkward, "Yeah. Eso." (I love quirky Darren, but maybe Darren should be careful about when he uses his tongue-in-cheek/dry humor. )
BUILDseriesNYC: Head to BUILDseries.com now for our live interview with @edgarramirez25 & @DarrenCriss!
Interesting article. Ryan talks about Darren and clarifies why they decided to do the reverse structure. I hope Ryan is right, and that Darren's performance in Versace opens doors for Darren. And again, hats off to Ryan for his commitment to hiring women for half of the directing assignments on his show.
Ryan Murphy on 'Versace,' Darren Criss' Star Turn and the #MeToo Movement
How did you come up with the idea of having the story unfold in a backward-chronological fashion?
The idea of telling the story backwards was [FX CEO John] Landgraf's. We had written the first two (episodes) and then you go in and talk to John and say, "OK, here's the story." We just started talking about the "onion peel" of shame — because really it's all about shame — and we just started talking narratively about that. The more we talked about it in the room, the more we liked it. We knew that we were following 'The People V. O.J. Simpson" which is a really difficult thing to do so we have to do everything we can to make it special.
What did that require of you on the production end?
It's a very hard thing to construct because you have to be uber-prepared. The actors have to be very informed. I liked to work by giving (actors) concentrated information but not giving them much more than that. It was hardest on (writer) Tom Rob Smith and the actors. But it was the question of how do we keep being ambitious, how do we keep challenging ourselves? When you go backward in someone's trajectory it's more surprising for the audience and I think the experience is deeper. We tried to make it so that if you watched the show backwards it would be an interesting and oddly symbiotic thing. It's a narrative device that takes a lot of extra planning, but when it works it's great.
Darren Criss has drawn mostly rave reviews for his performance, which is very against type for the former "Glee" trouper. What was it that gave you confidence he could handle this role?
It was important to me that we were true to Cunanan's ethnicity (Filipino and Italian). I had only directed him once (on "Glee") but we stayed friends. I remember thinking he was a really good dramatic actor. He did something weird once in a "Glee" scene. I told him please don't lose that excitement, and he never did. He always checked in and checked in with me. I called him when we were ready to greenlight ("Versace"). I wanted Cunanan like Darren to be a discovery for the audience. The interesting thing about Cunanan is you don't know what he's capable of and to have the actor in it be on the same powerful journey and I think it is.
Did he have any pause about taking on the role of a spree murderer?
(Darren) really went for it. He studied it, he pushed himself hard. His performance got quieter and more concentrated and studious and I like that. It was powerful to watch. I was not interested in just doing a serial killer story but to track the idea of how does someone become a monster?
How do you think the audience will react?
Darren is reminding me a lot of Sarah Paulson's trajectory. It was powerful to watch somebody step into adulthood in a way. It's very rewarding.
With "Versace" you are continuing your commitment to hiring women for at least half of the directing assignments on your show. Your Half Foundation has also been proactive in opening doors for female directors. These initiatives could not be more timely as the #MeToo and Time's Up movements take root.
Everybody's talking about it. it's important. I changed the dynamic of my company. The most important thing is that the culture has changed to be more about ideas and the exchange of ideas than ego. It's interesting when women direct. The work is better. They ask more people to participate. I've been doing this a year and a half. It's been a really good change in my life. That foundation may be the most important thing I've ever done in my career. I'm delighted to just keep going.
Please visit the site to give the article a number of "clicks." Source: http://variety.com/2018/tv/news/ryan-murphy-gianni-versace-darren-criss-fx-1202665587/
Article about Darren's thoughts about Andrew Cunanan and portraying Cunanan in Versace.
Miami Herald wrote:
'Glee' was a departure for 'Assassination' star Darren Criss
Criss explains part of his job is to have empathy even for the worst of people and for the worst things you've done. The trick for Criss finding empathy with Cunanan was despite the role being based on a real person, the actor didn't look at playing the part any differently than taking on a fictional character. There never was going to be a way he could relate to someone who murdered multiple people, but by reducing Cunanan down to what he calls "primary colors," Criss could find some relatable aspects. Those elements include both he and Cunanan going to Catholic school, knowing what it feels like to want something that you don't have and the desire to stand out. Criss fully understands Cunanan's desire to not be ordinary.
Criss could also relate to Cunanan on an acting level.
"We are both performers," Criss says. "I do it professionally and he did it personally. I was always curious why I never saw him involved in drama at school. My two-penny analysis is that he wasn't a hard worker.
"Part of his sociopathic pathology was that he wanted greater things than he had but didn't want to work for that. He wanted fame and fortune and recognition but wasn't willing to put in the actual labor. He was a successful actor in his everyday life convincing everyone he was different people."
Playing the serial killer would seem to be a big change for Criss, especially to those who watched him on "Glee" or for his work in the comic book TV series "Supergirl" and "The Flash." He's also part of the indie pop band Computer Games with his brother Chuck Criss.
He's [Ryan Murphy is] now also responsible for giving Criss the opportunity to show his wide range of acting skills, as Murphy is an executive producer on "The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story."
[Darren Criss says,] "And 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.'
"So I really hit the jackpot. I wish I could say it was calculated. This was something that I was clamoring for, but I definitely lucked out. I think a lot of actors have to wait a lifetime for something like this, and it came a lot quicker than I had
Please visit the site to give the article a number of "clicks." Source: http://www.miamiherald.com/entertainment/tv/article194832499.html
georgeevanphoto: @darrencriss on @goodmorningamerica
275 Critics' Reviews of The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story on Wed Jan 17, 2018 12:11 am
Many reviews were added to Metacritic.
This article does not discuss the actors' performances.
Slant Magazine wrote:
The Assassination of Gianni Versace investigates the potential consequences of relegating populations to the shadows. . .
. . . the series offers a trenchant critique of marginalization: In almost every case, if his victims were afforded conventional freedom and mainstream acceptance, Cunanan would have been less able to maneuver his way into their lives.
. . . The series consistently and thoughtfully returns to the thread that connects Cunanan to his victims: the notion of identity.
Source: https://www.slantmagazine.com/tv/review/the-assassination-of-gianni-versace-american-crime-story
"Darren Criss, who has decidedly left his wholesome Glee character in the dust."
USA Today wrote:
Review: FX's 'The Assassination of Gianni Versace' will unnerve you (3.5 stars out of 4)
The series spins backward in time, peeling back the layers of one of America's most enigmatic killers, brought to life with disturbing energy and commitment by Darren Criss, who has decidedly left his wholesome Glee character in the dust.
The series is grounded by sublime performances from its cast, led by Criss (and we're guessing the Emmys will notice); . . .
Versace will inevitably be compared to People v. O.J., so it's better that it stands apart from the earlier Emmy-winning chapter. What it does well, it does extremely well, and its mix of beauty and horror will stick with you long after its episodes conclude.
https://www.usatoday.com/story/life/tv/2018/01/16/review-fx-assasination-gianni-versace-american-crime-story-darren-criss/1028702001/
Vulture (New York Magazine ) wrote:
The Assassination of Gianni Versace Isn't What You Expect
Throughout, however, more time is devoted to Cunanan than either of the Versaces, and despite Criss's memorably creepy-enthusiastic performance as Cunanan, the killer never seems like more than an unnerving bundle of insecurity, grandiosity, deceptiveness, and petulance, . . . He's a character who's tailor-made for viewer projection and thinkpiece generation, but who never registers as a human being as powerfully as the major supporting characters, the Versaces in particular. (The dialogue doesn't always do him or anyone else favors. . . )
And even when the story spends more time marinating in a subplot or scene than its dramatic content might justify, you can be confident that if you just stick with it for another five or ten minutes, there'll be a scene unlike any you've ever encountered, like the flashback to a victim's childhood that shows him going on a hunting trip with his father, running away in horror after the old man shoots a duck, then being consoled rather than chastised afterwards, and sincerely assured that hunting is "not for everyone." The Assassination of Gianni Versace isn't for everyone, either, but it's sincere and committed as it follows its own path. When you get to the end, the reversed storytelling could seem sad, because you're thinking about the inevitable tragedies to come, or restorative, because the dead have been systematically resurrected and have at least a bit more living to do.
Please visit the site to give the article a number of "clicks." Source: http://www.vulture.com/2018/01/the-assassination-of-gianni-versace-fx-review.html
UPROXX wrote:
'American Crime Story: Versace' Offers A Fractured Look At A Shocking Crime
. . . Cunanan himself, who remains — despite an excellent, career-redefining performance by Glee alum Criss — a maddening cipher: a sociopath and pathological liar who becomes whatever he thinks the occasion calls for, even in front of people who think they know who he really is.
Source: http://uproxx.com/sepinwall/the-assassination-of-gianni-versace-american-crime-story-review-ryan-murphy-people-v-oj-simpson/2/
The Assassination of Gianni Versace Makes a Killer the Star
As played by Criss, who previously appeared in Murphy's Glee, Cunanan is creepily mesmerizing, a manic, chilling pathological liar. He's charming, smart, spoiled, volatile, and has a gaping void where a self should be. Criss' performance is so good that it upends The Assassination of Gianni Versace: Where Cuba Gooding Jr.'s lackluster performance pushed O.J. to the margins of his own story, Criss, aided by scripts, pushes everyone else aside.
Criss, is brilliant, fully self-pitying, the loneliest, saddest psycho in America. In this moment, Cunanan is not a stranger to recognizable human feelings: He wants to be loved, he wants a do-over, he wants not to have ruined his life—which is not the same as feeling remorse. The moment is an icky proffer, much like the show itself: It's provocative, uncomfortable, morally complex. It's good, but it doesn't feel good.
Source: https://slate.com/culture/2018/01/the-assassination-of-gianni-versace-reviewed.html
Salon wrote:
A trick of fashion: The bait and switch of "The Assassination of Gianni Versace"
And while Ramirez turns in a robust performance that captures the quiet sensitivity of the designer, "The Assassination of Gianni Versace" places Darren Criss front and center.
Don't get me wrong, the confident mélange of outrageous embellishment, quivering insecurity and frigid creepiness Criss exerts to create Cunanan is mesmerizing. His portrayal is such a coup that the viewer may soon overlook that they tuned in to this series expecting one man's story and instead spending much more time with the man who killed him.
Memorable fashion is often a triumph of artifice if not an unmitigated success. In that respect, "The Assassination of Gianni Versace" hangs together imperfectly, and its lines don't quite flow with the level of unified elegance of its predecessor. Calling to mind the designer's signature medallion, it is its own Medusa, beauty and horror in one long, complicated gaze. It doesn't match its predecessor's power to transfix the audience, but it is definitely worth seeing.
Please visit the site to give the article a number of "clicks." Source: https://www.salon.com/2018/01/15/a-trick-of-fashion-the-bait-and-switch-of-the-assassination-of-gianni-versace/
The Washington Post wrote:
FX's 'Assassination of Gianni Versace' reaches for beauty but can't find meaning
Glee" star Darren Criss is plenty creepy and believable as Cunanan, a 27-year-old charlatan and chronic fibber who mooches off the kindness of strangers. Criss capably holds the series together . . . , particularly in how he portrays the smarmy banality of Cunanan's evil. Sometimes he's a charming creep. Sometimes he's a violent creep.
Source: https://www.washingtonpost.com/entertainment/tv/fxs-assassination-of-gianni-versace-reaches-for-beauty-but-cant-find-meaning/2018/01/16/dcd300a8-f829-11e7-a9e3-ab18ce41436a_story.html?utm_term=.55f902ce5cd1
Vox wrote:
American Crime Story's Versace season is far more about the murderer than the murdered
Assassination may not be as enjoyable to watch as O.J., but it's striking to see how thoughtfully all involved approach a very different story in a way that gives it its own tone, its own themes, and its own grandeur. This is a more difficult but more ambitious work, and it stands as a worthy companion.
Some of this allows the miniseries to play around with the idea of just how much things have changed in terms of LGBTQ rights since the 1990s. "Don't ask, don't tell" no longer exists as policy, for instance, and the idea of two men having a long-lasting relationship with each other is no longer seen as a curiosity in the public eye. But the series is also about how the inability to live your life and sexuality openly becomes a kind of buried trauma for an individual, for their family, for their nation.
The series is never as simplistic as "Society is the real monster!" It's very clear-eyed about the idea that Cunanan might very well have been a sociopath. (We still know strikingly little about him.) But the existence of a killer like Cunanan requires a society that's all too comfortable with burying secrets as deeply as it possibly can. Thus, the backward-tracking structure becomes central to the series' larger themes: Here, secrets are thrust out into the open, with blood and fury, and then Smith's scripts push them back down beneath the surface
But the deeper I got into Assassination, the more I became convinced it's somewhat brilliant in how its structure mirrors the story it's telling. And as with any given Murphy production, the show's cast is electrifying.
But it's Darren Criss as Cunanan who leaves the biggest impression. Criss is best known as a dreamy song-and-dance man from Glee, and his take on Cunanan is the very best kind of take on a dark character. He doesn't want to create empathy for Cunanan so much as a kind of understanding. You are invited to think about him less as a person and more as an aberration, like some dark part of America's worst self-made flesh. This is going to redefine Criss's career, and it deserves to.
The characters in Assassination of Gianni Versace come so close to glimpsing a better life for themselves, only to find it was a mirage all along. Things have changed since the 1990s, sure, but not as much as we might hope they have. The closet is less visible, but its shadow remains
Please visit the site to give the article a number of "clicks." Source: https://www.vox.com/culture/2018/1/16/16885734/american-crime-story-versace-season-2
AV Club wrote:
The new American Crime Story is a worthy successor to O.J. anchored by a star-making performance
Criss has his own impressive résumé (albeit one he can actually back up), a charmed career that includes stints as a boy wizard, a show-choir heartthrob, a genderqueer glam rocker, and a song-and-dance supervillain. But he's never been as impressive as he is in the role whose name he calls out after "Manhunt" cuts to black, one in which the actor reveals previously unseen layers of poise, magnetism, vulnerability, and menace: "I'm Andrew Cunanan."
In the annals of American serial killers, Cunanan's name isn't quite as infamous as your Jeffrey Dahmers, John Wayne Gacys, or Aileen Wuornoses. That's bound to change following the nine episodes of American Crime Story's second season, a worthy successor to The People V. O.J. Simpson anchored by Criss' career-making portrayal of the murderer whose multi-state, three-month spree culminated in the 1997 shooting death of fashion designer Gianni Versace. With a chilling intensity owing its hair-trigger tics (and taste for Phil Collins) to Christian Bale's turn in American Psycho, Criss does a shocking, winning about-face from his image as the apple-cheeked dream boyfriend of his Glee days.
Please visit the site to give the article a number of "clicks." Source: https://www.avclub.com/the-new-american-crime-story-is-a-worthy-successor-to-o-1822094324
New York Times wrote:
Review: 'The Assassination of Gianni Versace' Is Fashionable, but Flat
Mr. Criss is impressive and haunting as the mediocre con man and murderer, but "Assassination" is never quite sure what to make of its central figure, his narcissism or, perhaps, his sociopathy.
Source: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/16/arts/television/the-assassination-of-gianni-versace-review.html
It's gonna be nice to see him again on our TV every week
Poppy, as promised, I will send you an MP as soon as I've watched the episode.
Yes, so exciting that Darren's on our screens again!
Thanks again Jeremy! I appreciate so much. Do you mind if I share the info here in this thread for anyone else who's interested, about the points where there is violence in the episode?
278 Critics' Reviews of The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story on Wed Jan 17, 2018 12:50 pm
The numbers of reviews are sorta overwhelming. I didn't get to post all the reviews yesterday. Just so folks who are not members know, I cannot reblog things from Tumblr to here on this forum. I have to repost, so it does take a while to repost articles, pics, videos, etc. I can safely say I'm not gonna be able to repost everything since Darren is going through a media blitz today and since the reviews are coming in so quickly in significant numbers. I'll try my best. I hope the new members feel comfortable enough to post their thoughts. We are a friendly bunch.
Some reviews I didn't get to yesterday/last night.
NPR-John Powers wrote:
'Assassination Of Gianni Versace' Offers A Juicy Take On Serious Issues
. . . This new series is still well worth watching. Murphy's at his best when he takes tabloid material and, without draining away its juiciness, reframes it to grapple with serious issues.
And so it is with "Versace," which expands from its namesake's murder to become a moving portrait of gayness and homophobia in '90s America. In his killing spree across America, Cunanan encounters closeted businessmen in straight marriages, wives trapped in such circumstances, devoted gay naval officers chased out of the military by don't ask, don't tell. Even as Cunanan leaves a clear trail, the cops and FBI keep botching the investigation because they find gay life so alien and perverse that they wallow in anti-gay stereotypes rather than looking at the evidence.
Criss is terrific as the creepy Cunanan, a highly intelligent fantasist with tense good looks who's also a psychopathic narcissist who's terrified of being ordinary. Seeing no difference between fame and infamy, the villain of this "American Crime Story" is a textbook product of our celebrity culture. He's a hollow man who'll do anything to be in the spotlight.
Please visit the site to give the article a number of "clicks." Source: https://www.npr.org/2018/01/16/578324740/assassination-of-gianni-versace-offers-a-juicy-take-on-serious-issues?utm_medium=RSS&utm_campaign=television
CNN wrote:
'Assassination of Gianni Versace' ably wears 'Crime Story' mantle
While Darren Criss (who previously teamed with producer Ryan Murphy on "Glee") delivers a strong, compelling performance, the underlying efforts to humanize Cunanan and, indeed, explain him drifts down some troubling and questionable corridors. . .
Understanding what drove Cunanan is at the heart of the project, but "The Assassination of Gianni Versace" is frankly more notable for some of its smaller roles, and for what it says about the toll exacted by homophobia and being closeted during the 1990s, which contributed to the authorities' slow response.
And if it doesn't rise to the same level as its predecessor in terms of racing through an airport to catch the next episode, "Versace" ultimately aces the watch-ability test with flying colors.
Please visit the site to give the article a number of "clicks." Source: http://www.cnn.com/2018/01/16/entertainment/american-crime-story-versace-review/index.html
But How Gay is 'The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story'?
Who's in it?
Darren Criss, of Glee fame, plays Andrew Cunanan. But don't let the lightness of his previous work fool you — this is one of the greatest TV performances of the decade.
He plays Cunanan like an Instagay of the '90s: opportunistic, narcissistic, and a pathological liar. Every brazenly false declaration is played with just the right amount of overconfident flourish. His charisma is toxic, but it's hypnotizing. It's the kind of bravura performance you know will be showered with every award under the sun. Luckily, he'll deserve them all.
If my effusive praise for the performances alone hasn't been enough hint, let me make it plain: The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story is masterful, perhaps Ryan Murphy's best work ever.
But how gay is it?
It breaks the goddamn Kinsey scale.
[. .. ]
Part of the reason why I wanted to do a But How Gay Is It? for this show in particular, when it's only been a column format for movie reviews before, was because it is incredibly gay. Murphy, the creator, is gay. The story is about gay men; more than that, it explores homophobia and gay shame in remarkably subtle, fascinating ways.
But watching the screeners for Versace (critics received eight of the nine episodes ahead of airing) right after seeing the last of 2017's films drew such a sharp contrast for me. Said in the broadest strokes, TV right now is progressive, boundary-pushing, and risky. Movies, of which there are fewer, and are far more beholden to studios and franchises, just cannot keep up.
It sounds like a good show, though.
It really is!
Please visit the site to give the article a number of "clicks." Source: https://intomore.com/culture/But-How-Gay-is-The-Assassination-of-Gianni-Versace-American-Crime-Story/7c9f3f49571a4da3
Tampa Bay Times wrote:
Review: Truth and lies are the focus of 'The Assassination of Gianni Versace'
Penelope Cruz, who plays Versace's sister and muse, Donatella, and Ricky Martin as his partner, Antonio D'Amico, both give award-worthy performances. And Edgar Ramírez brings a warm, poetic soul to Versace. It's really a shame that they're all sidelined by Darren Criss's phenomenal character development as Cunanan.
Criss is fully committed to this role and proves he's graduated from his Glee years, showing off Cunanan's strutting confidence and loathsome eyes. He's a con-man swiftly moving from calm to manic. Slowly, Cunanan's carefully cultivated persona is exposed.
Please visit the site to give the article a number of "clicks." Source: http://www.tampabay.com/features/media/Review-Truth-and-lies-are-the-focus-of-The-Assassination-of-Gianni-Versace-_164421682
This review is unique, in that the writer shares his own personal journey. It's very touching, very powerful. (Note: I'm sorry, but with so many reviews coming in at once, I've lost track how I found any one review. But I think I found this review either from dcriss-archive or Gleekto.)
Paste Magazine wrote:
Faggots, or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love Versace
I still wince when I hear it: "faggot." . . . It's the most fraught word in my vocabulary, the twisted viscera of shame and pride made into a term that possesses no one meaning: It's a slur, a seduction, a laugh line, a life raft; an acknowledgement, a dismissal, a provocation, a shield.
It's also the central linguistic motif of the astonishing new season of American Crime Story, The Assassination of Gianni Versace. . .
On the morning of his 1997 murder, the Italian fashion designer (Edgar Ramirez) strolls through his Miami Beach palace in a flowing, fluorescent robe, the camera retreating skyward as he breakfasts by the pool; the corresponding image of his killer, Andrew Cunanan (the magnetic, frightening Darren Criss), . . . The "crime" in this season of American Crime Story is the assassination of Gianni Versace, certainly, but it's also, doubtless, homophobia itself, socialized and self-inflicted, individual and internecine: At the heart of the anthology's magnificent second act is a potent, political, possibly even dangerous reconsideration of what it means to be called a faggot, and then what it means to become one.
. . . As it happens, Versace also underscores the crimes we don't see, the lives lost, or led less than fully, because part of the violence of being called a faggot is that it keeps us—scratch that, kept me—from becoming one.
I must confess that I remain hesitant to use it, that it's easier to write than to speak aloud, but in learning to love American Crime Story's second season, I remembered that I've spent the better part of the last decade learning to love that part of myself—that I continue to come out, day after day, as I prepare to enter my 31st year, and that much of this work is embracing the appreciation for cultural signifiers I'd been taught to tamp down, ignore, denigrate, resist. Versace isn't the perfect rendering of this subject, but it doesn't need to be. It is, rather, a bold, ambitious, riveting wrestling match between cultural shame and communal pride, in which glittering wedding gowns and glossy magazines, club hits and tank tops, are emblems for which we choose the meaning, just as we might choose to adopt as our own that unutterable word, that unforgivable commonplace, that useful descriptor—that reclamation. As the designer says of the "Versace bride," preparing for a fashion show, "She won't be dainty. She won't be timid. She will be proud and strong." I realize now, upon finishing what may be Murphy's riskiest and most radiant gambit to date, that as I grow older, and more comfortable in my own skin, I'm not only able to hear the sentiment, but also to identify with it. I am not dainty, nor timid, but proud and strong: I am a faggot, through and through.
Please visit the site to give the article a number of "clicks." Source: https://www.pastemagazine.com/articles/2018/01/american-crime-story-assassination-of-gianni-versa.html
Some more reviews released today:
Los Angeles Times wrote:
Review 'The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story' is a painful and pointed look back
The series attempts to recast Versace's "assassination" at age 50 from a fading headline to a human tragedy, and for the most part succeeds.
. . . .and Darren Criss is chillingly convincing as the psychopathic Cunanan.
Homophobia, in essence, allowed Cunanan to kill his way from San Diego to the East Coast with relative ease. Police who'd been persecuting the gay community weren't ready to protect it, and Cunanan's surviving victims were reticent to speak up for fear of being ostracized or worse.
The second installment of the "American Crime Story" anthology lends these victims the respect they deserve. It's up to viewers to decide whether they're willing to explore the pain and injustice just beneath the tabloid headlines.
Please visit the site to give the article a number of "clicks." Source: http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/tv/la-et-st-assassination-of-gianni-versace-review-20180117-story.html
The Versace 'American Crime Story' is a chilling thriller
It's another big-canvas, pop-culture epic overseen by producer-director-writer Ryan Murphy, and features an exceptional performance by one of the performers Murphy made into a star on Glee: Darren Criss, as a chilling Cunanan.
Along the way, Murphy and company tell a cultural and political history of gay strife, from the AIDS epidemic to the fight for gay marriage to the military's "don't ask, don't tell" policy. The fractured narrative timeline — the story is told in reverse chronological order, jumping back and forth, here and there, across the trail of Cunanan's various crimes — can sometimes seem gratuitously confusing, but once you get used to its rhythm, this American Crime Story has an irresistible pull.
With the Simpson miniseries and now Versace, it may be that Murphy has found his true métier: The true-crime genre anchors his sometimes wild flights of fancy to enough solid facts to give his lyricism weight — dramatic gravitas.
Please visit the site to give the article a number of "clicks." Source: https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/versace-american-crime-story-review-150820083.html
Uncle Barky wrote:
Darren Criss's killer performance -- and the stories of lesser-known victims -- are the main events of FX's The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story 01/17/18 09:13 AM
Former Glee star Darren Criss inhabits Cunanan with more flash and impact than any model who ever wore one of Versace's creations. He's alternately chilling, pathetic, conniving and deluded without ever being visibly remorseful. It's a fully committed, crazily energetic performance that carries this nine-part miniseries through its peaks, valleys and at times disjointed timeline. . .
Ryan Murphy, lately the busiest man in Hollywood, again shows that he's generally on firmer ground when dramatizing real-life events rather than fictionally concocting them in series . . .
Cress's [Criss's] performance is a force throughout, but not to the point of "humanizing" Cunanan at the expense of those whose lives he took with varying degrees of glee. The deaths of Jeff Trail and David Madson in particular hurt deeply.
Please visit the site to give the article a number of "clicks." Source: http://www.unclebarky.com/reviews.html
Refinery wrote:
American Crime Story: Versace Complicates The Serial Killer Tale
The trick of Crime Story season 2 is in trying to convince you murderer and victim aren't very different at all. Criss' version of Cunanan, like all true-to-life reports of the infamous serial killer, reveals a shockingly likable, charismatic man, in a similar style to Versace's genuine, beloved presence. The only difference is, Cunanan's charming persona masks a violent, disturbing pit of cruelty.
But, Cunanan isn't all flash and likability. He's also an obsessive killer who ended the lives of at least five men. That is why most people I've talked to about the show immediately yell, "Darren Criss is so scary!" and admit to having nightmares about the guy best known for being Blaine from Glee. Darren Criss is so scary in Versace, putting on and removing Andrew Cunanan's many masks — affable, gay up-and-comer, heterosexual fashionisto, stone cold killer – on a second-by-second basis solely rooted in whatever suits him best in a precise moment. At times, you watch him copy emotions obvious to others around him as a simple way to go sight unseen. It's chilling.
So, yes, American Crime story might be yet another show about serial killers, but it's also one about family, loss, and the many masks we use to get by. And, that's why you should watch Versace.
Please visit the site to give the article a number of "clicks." Source: http://www.refinery29.com/2018/01/188039/assassination-of-gianni-versace-review-fx-darren-criss
This article does not really go into the performances of the actors, but it's a positive review.
The News & Observer wrote:
What to Watch on Wednesday: 'The Assassination of Gianni Versace' is a riveting look at a shocking crime
The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story (10 p.m., FX) – A riveting new miniseries from the creative team behind "The People v. OJ Simpson: American Crime Story" that looks at the 1997 murder of fashion icon Gianni Versace – but it goes way deeper than just that senseless, shocking act
But even with the abundance of true crime cat nip here, it would be impossible to ignore this as a commentary on the treatment of gay victims of crime. Four of the men murdered by Cunanan were gay (the fifth was killed so that Cunanan could steal his truck). From the very first murder of Jeff Trail in Minneapolis, police made assumptions based on the fact that Trail was gay, and seemed less than energetic in pursuing his murderer.
Not surprisingly, the cast is very strong. Darren Criss ("Glee") plays Andrew Cunanan; Edgar Ramirez is Gianni Versace; Ricky Martin is Versace's longtime partner, Antonio D'Amico; and Penelope Cruz is Donatella Versace. Judith Light, Mike Farrell, Max Greenfield, Cody Fern and Jon Jon Briones are also fantastic.
Please visit the site to give the article a number of "clicks." Source: http://www.newsobserver.com/entertainment/tv/warm-tv-blog/article194881449.html
TV Insider wrote:
Roush Review: 'American Crime Story' Profiles Versace's Murderer
Opening in an operatic flourish with the shocking execution of Versace (an affecting Edgar Ramirez), the nine-part series goes backward in time, episode by episode, to reveal in meticulous and lurid detail what led the handsomely lethal Cunanan (Glee's Darren Criss in an electrifying and layered breakthrough performance) to this terrible act. The details are less familiar than the O.J. Simpson trial, the subject of Crime Story's acclaimed first season, which makes the reverse chronology of the parallel narratives even more compelling and disturbing.
Please visit the site to give the article a number of "clicks." Source: https://www.tvinsider.com/658491/roush-review-american-crime-story-versace-series-premiere-amc/
Cinema Blend wrote:
The Assassination Of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story Review: FX's True Crime Drama Is Addictive And Unsettling
Luckily, the new chapter of the anthology is a worthy successor to The People v. O.J. Simpson, and it's as addictive as it is unsettling as it chronicles the events leading up to the assassination of Gianni Versace.
On the Andrew Cunanan side of the story, The Assassination of Gianni Versace delves into his descent from liar and con artist into the killer who would go on a killing spree culminating with the murder of Versace. From his encounter with the Miami-based addict Ronnie (Max Greenfield of New Girl fame) to his final meetings with victims, he loses control in ways that are both compelling and chilling.
The new season of American Crime Story may be named for Versace, but the show makes it clear from almost the very beginning that The Assassination of Gianni Versace is really a gripping story about the rise and fall of Andrew Cunanan as he seeks to stand out from the crowd by spinning any story he thinks could be believable. Given how much of the focus is on Cunanan, The Assassination of Gianni Versace would have failed if not for a stellar performance from the actor who landed the part.
Darren Criss is spellbinding and utterly chilling as Andrew Cunanan. The actor previously best known for playing a bow tie-wearing high school warbler on Glee pulled out all the stops as Andrew Cunanan, and he was scarily effective, especially when contrasted with Edgar Ramirez as Gianni Versace. Ramirez is utterly likable in the role of Versace, and it's easy to see why he was so beloved and inspired such loyalty from his sister and partner.
The Assassination of Gianni Versace isn't exactly the most lighthearted series ever to hit the airwaves, and there's a certain heaviness to it that probably wouldn't be ideal for binge-watching. That said, the series is definitely worth the watch. It's not The People v. O.J. Simpson 2.0 and it's not something that has been done before on broadcast television. In a TV season filled with an abundance of scripted shows, The Assassination of Gianni Versace is a unique and standout series worth tuning into each work.
Please visit the site to give the article a number of "clicks." Source: https://www.cinemablend.com/television/2284431/the-assassination-of-gianni-versace-american-crime-story-review-fxs-true-crime-drama-is-addictive-and-unsettling
This is not a full review, recommends shows to watch on Wednesday.
Roger Catlin wrote:
Wednesday TV: 'Assassination of Versace'
Although a lesser known crime, with a less direct social point to make, the new "The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story" (FX, 10 p.m.) also has a stellar and sometimes surprising cast, matched with exacting sets and production.
Following the shooting of the design icon, played in an understated way by Edgar Ramirez ("Carlos"), the story reels back to the four murders that led up to it by the maniacal Andrew Cunanan, chillingly played by Darren Criss ("Glee").
Source: http://rogercatlin.com/2018/01/17/wednesday-tv-lavish-assassination-of-versace/
'The Assassination Of Gianni Versace' Is Disturbing, Excellent, And Absolutely Necessary
Almost all of Versace's gripping yet unsettling elements can be attributed to Darren Criss' revolutionary performance as Andrew Cunanan. Criss brings an over-eager and rambling energy to the killer that initially starts as charming but then falls into the depths of being unhinged the more he lies. And FX's version of Andrew lies a lot. From the series' first episode, Andrew breathlessly drawls on about how vulgar he finds Versace's designs before later obsessively tearing through every Versace ad and story he can get his hands on. As a viewer, it's impossible to know what Andrew is thinking or motivated by at any given time, a choice that reflects the winding narrative of the book the Versace season is based on, Maureen Orth's Vulgar Favors: Andrew Cunanan, Gianni Versace, and the Largest Failed Manhunt in U. S. History. That unhinged uncertainty also makes for one of the most disturbing television has seen in recent years.
However, Versace does a few great things for this crime that have been sorely missing for a while. It gives names and faces to all of Cunanan's victims, fully confronts the LGBT discrimination that was baked into this case, and it serves as a study of one of modern day history's most chilling serial killers. The circumstances around Gianni Versace's murder may have been categorized by silence, but American Crime Story's take on Cunanan's killing sprees is one of the loudest and boldest sagas on television.
Please visit the site to give the article a number of "clicks." Source: https://decider.com/2018/01/17/the-assassination-of-gianni-versace-review-fx/
Rolling Stone wrote:
'Assassination of Gianni Versace': Sex, Lies, Fashion and Homophobia
Darren Criss, leaving Glee far behind, is oily and terrifying as Cunanan, with desperate need in his eyes.
... Assassination depicts how oppressive the closet still was in 1997.
Part of the emotional power of Assassination is that the designer, in his own way, was helping the world make the transition into a different place – a transition he tragically didn't live long enough to see.
Please visit the site to give the article a number of "clicks." Source: https://www.rollingstone.com/tv/news/rob-sheffield-on-assassination-of-gianni-versace-sex-lies-and-homophobia-w515398
Hi springbay!
That Build interview is golden. I think I watched it three times yesterday.
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Let's face it: Laval still suffers from a lack of good restaurants, even though so many Montrealers migrate to the suburbs. Unless you live near an immigrant neighbourhood where the locals surround themselves with their own mom-and-pop restaurants, it remains hard to find a good Szechuan, Peruvian, even French bistro establishment. (Brossard, on the South Shore, may be the only exception, with a thriving multi-country Asian community providing some of the best Asian cuisine around.) Even the good spots tend to homogenize their menu, with less spice, more sugar. In other words, Montreal's 450 has a long way to go, I'm sad to admit.
The original Talay Thai in Montreal is well-liked by local foodies, it seems. Remembering a good review (in French) from La Presse's fine dining critic Marie-Claude Lortie, published a little over a year ago, I dragged my family to the Laval outlet. The kitschy décor provided a good first impression, warm, welcoming and smile-inducing. However, for a Saturday night and a long weekend to boot, most tables were surprisingly empty. Hum, suburban curse or faulty cuisine?
The second surprise of the evening came when every dish served was missing that spicy Thai touch. While everything was good or better, with vegetables both fresh and tender-crisp, there was no need to rush the sticky rice in a vain attempt to quench the fire from bird's eye peppers. No ring of fire here. So much so that I asked the waiter at the end of the meal if a spicy version of dishes even existed. Turns out you have to ask for it, which kind of boggles the mind in a Thai restaurant of all places.
The best dish of the night, the cold grilled beef salad was recommended by our waiter. The fish sauce managed to make itself felt without overwhelming the whole, a tricky feat.
With an 8-year-old at the table, this lack of spice allowed him to taste everything, a plus for parents like me. However, that balancing act between salt, sugar and spice accounts for much of the charm of Asian cuisine. Without the bite of bird's eye pepper, sugar becomes too sweet with no respite needed. Salt has nothing to exacerbate. The freshness of vegetables seduces but won't comfort. In other words, there was a lack of pain to it all.
After trying multiple "ethnic" restaurants outside Montreal, my brain for its part burns with endless questions: why is it that foreign cuisine restaurants lose so much of their soul the moment you step away from the metropolis? Do they need to play it safe given that a spot on Laurentides Boulevard hardly makes for a trendy destination? Is the suburban clientele so wishy-washy to start with? And the killer question: When a Thaï chef sends out plates with no bird's eye pepper to decorate the whole, does he go to bed weeping on his pillow?
Do you know any good foreign cuisine restaurants outside Montreal?
The classic pad thai was good but not mindblowing. Forget the tasteless shrimp poached in water and ask for chicken instead.
The eggplant, meltingly delicious, came also recommended by the waiter (but then I always order egglant in thai restaurants).
Peanut chicken with fried spinach. Big hurrah again for the peanut sauce, much needed to soften and complement the spinach.