I don’t have cable anymore, so I’m still waiting to watch the premiere of American Crime Story: The Assassination of Gianni Versace. The highly anticipated series from Ryan Murphy has received positive reviews.
USA Today says that the series is “grounded by sublime performances from its cast” and concludes, “What it does well, it does extremely well, and its mix of beauty and horror will stick with you long after its episodes conclude.” The show’s message was not overlooked, with PEOPLE pointing out that “Assassination operates like an enormous tuning fork that vibrates in response to the waves of tension that undermined gay existence across America in the 1990s.”
The Los Angeles Times, comparing Versace to the last season of ACS, The People v. O. J. Simpson, noted that “Versace’s demise didn’t hit the same personal or political nerve with the American public or the media, largely because Cunanan was a male escort and the majority of his victims were gay.” The review pointed out that while the murder case was fodder for the tabloids, “even as a victim Versace didn’t elicit the same kind of love as accused murderer Simpson. And here that disparity is painfully present across all nine episodes.”
This disparity has been a priority for show creator Ryan Murphy, who told Entertainment Weekly back in June that ”The more I had read about it the more I was startled by the fact that [Versace killer Andrew Cunanan] really was only allowed to get away with it because of homophobia.” He echoed the sentiment of the latest reviews by adding “There was this great apathy about it and nobody cared and I think part of that was because it seemed like gay people were disposable in our culture.”
Edgar Ramirez, who plays the late designer, shared Ryan’s sentiments on Wednesday night’s episode of The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon. He said that American Crime Story: The Assassination of Gianni Versace (which he joked was the “longest title on television”) takes on homophobia the same way the previous season of ACS took on issues of race. He noted that “Ryan has an amazing talent to identify stories that are both dramatically gripping and at the same time they’re socially and culturally relevant. It’s that combination that makes the anthology of American Crime Story so interesting.”
He went on to say that, “The underlying theme of our show is homophobia,” explaining that, “We tend to think that in the ’90s the world was just like the world today and actually it was very different.” He notes that the investigation into the murder incorporated the “don’t ask, don’t tell” initiative, stating “This kind of invisibility and this denial of sexuality, denial of existence of a gay world out there.”
As for killer Andrew Cunanan, Edgar said that despite the fact that his face was on national news as well as the FBI’s most wanted list, he proved difficult to apprehend, because “Basically, he was killing gay men and didn’t represent a public threat to the authorities at the time.” The case is still significant, as he reminds us, “To think that it was only 20 years ago is shocking and frightening because history tends to repeat itself. It’s important to revisit. ” He added that “we couldn’t be more proud to revisit history in this way.”
During the interview, Jimmy made note of the uncanny resemblance between Edgar and Versace. Edgar admitted, “Now I realize that my dad looks exactly like him and I look exactly like my dad. It’s eerie.”
He also talked about filming in the Versace mansion in Miami, which he described as “very emotional.” He imagined that Versace could hear the “chaos and pain” going on around him around him as he lay dying on the steps of the home, and admitted, “That haunted me for a while,” adding, “but at the same time it was beautiful to be at the house, a house that represents his legacy.”
Besides Jimmy fawning over Edgar (but I guess you can’t blame him, I would probably do the same thing in his situation), the interview is worth a peek. If you love a great Spanish accent like I do, you’ll really enjoy it. I could listen to this man read the phone book. Sigh.
Photos: Getty Images, Instagram, WENN.com
Saw it last night and really enjoyed it! All the actors are perfectly cast as their characters (even Penelope as DV, which was a nice surprise). It was quite weird to see Dascha Polanco playing a cop, though. Looking forward to the rest of it!!
But why couldn’t they cast Italian actors for some roles? I mean, he’s such an Italian icon.
Penelope looks the part but her accent wasn’t ideal.
That’s good to hear. I was all excited to watch it then heard a review on NPR that it wasn’t great so I skipped it. I think I’ll go back and give it a try.
I am gonna watch it cos i love the cast and i think Gianni Versace was important figure in the 90s. And part of his appeal was that he was gay man who loved beautiful women. Like really beautiful ladies, fierce and strong.
Possibly off topic, but Ricky still looks so sad to me. Look at his eyes, in every photo. Maybe he just doesn’t like photos and pr though.
Will watch this, it looks beautiful
OMG you`re right.
I looked at the photos after reading your comment, and I see sad eyes too.
I mean in his interviews he keeps saying how happy he is and how good life is, so I hope it`s tired eyes on his part.
Also, he is soo good on the show, and it is tough content (homophobia) that hits home for him. Maybe that is it?
Those are three very handsome leading men, wow! I remember the events so vividly. It started in Chicago right near my office and then got stranger and more and more tragic. We had so much less information back then, the newspaper was my main source.
I lived in Chicago at the time, too. I don’t remember any apathy, but maybe I’m just remembering the aftermath of Lee Miglin’s murder.
It looks interesting, it’s a shame the family is so upset and hurt by it. That’s their right of course and it makes me a bit uncomfortable.
I’m surprised Edgar is only 40 (almost 41). He reads older to me. That’s not a diss, it just reminds me how bad I am at reading ages.
The family is upset by it because the book it’s based on is very inaccurate.
Donato de Santis, a tv personality in Argentina, was Gianni’s chef at the time. According to him, he was the one who had to handle everything (hospital, morgue, lawyers, press, etc.) as the family didn’t trust in outsiders.
It’s great. Not as great as People vs Oj but still an amazing show. Darren Criss is really blowing me away with his performance. He should earn some noms
I really hope he does. He oozes talent and has come a really long way from his YouTube days.
This is totally true.
I’m a local news anchor and with the show and 20th anniversary this year I started reading up more on the case. I couldn’t believe one of the victims grew up in our area. I’ve started reaching out to the family but they’ve turned us down before years ago, angry we even tried to talk to them. I’m hoping they see our desire to honor the other victims who get put on the back burner bc of Versace is genuine. We’ll see, but I hope they decide maybe now is the time to talk about the loved one they lost, and what’s changed/what hasn’t in our culture. These situations are always so difficult – you don’t want to upset the family, but around the 20th anniversary it’s our job to remind our community we lost one of our own, so the family should have the opportunity to participate in that.
Edgar does look so much like Versace on the show. I was amazed.
Question for those who have seen the first episode- did the scene after the opera, with Cunanan and Versace drinking champagne alone on stage, really happen or was it just a fantasy of Cunanan’s? I think it must have been a fantasy, but I’m not sure.
I think it was filming ambiguous on purpose, to let the public guessing, It could be one of the lies of AC. The cast is amazing, Edgar is a chameleon (go and watch “Carlos”, the metamorphosis is great). Penelope as DV is a nice surprise. Criss is showing a wide range. I like the serie and i think still nowadays there is homophobia in the world and in part is the difference between the first and second season of ACS reception and reviews.
He doesn’t have a Spanish accent because he is not from Spain. He’s Venezuelan and it’s offensive to lump all native Spanish speakers together.
Love Edgar Ramirez! He’s also one of the very, very few (only?) men who spoke a lot about sexual harassment and gender bias on the Globes red carpet.
Adding to what @Applecore said, he actually talks about the different Spanish accents in his interview with Colbert 🙂