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Los Angeles Times wrote:
'Assassination of Gianni Versace' delves into the mind of a killer — and societal prejudice

June 20, 2018

The second season focused on the mysterious backstory of spree killer Andrew Cunanan, a gay gigolo and prolific liar who killed four men before his infamous 1997 murder of groundbreaking Italian fashion designer Gianni Versace — one of the few openly gay celebrities of that time. (Cunanan, 27 at the time of Versace’s murder, would kill himself days later.)

In the midst of unpacking all of that, the drama presented a striking portrait of homophobia in the 1990s by examining the injustice that was steeped in societal prejudice — particularly in regards to how police officials handled the case — and the toll of hate, from outside and within.

“The underlying theme was homophobia,” said Edgar Ramirez, who played Versace. “The show talks about the open and raging political homophobia on one side, and it also talks about the internalized — and even more dangerous — homophobia within. What I love about this whole project is how, almost in the likes of a Greek tragedy, it touches upon subjects that are important and that are culturally and socially relevant today more than ever.”

[. . . ]

Criss, who before “Versace” had largely been known for his bright-eyed turn in Murphy’s musical series, “Glee,” was struck by the psychological mapping the role required.

“There’s a lot of different ways we could have written Andrew, because there’s a lot of different ways anybody can glean who he was or what really made him tick,“ Criss said. “People always ask, ‘What’s it’s like to play a spree killer?’ If you boil it down to just that, that’s not who he was. It’s what we know him for. But if you think of all the worst things that anybody’s ever done in their life, the amount of time they spent doing that horrible thing is in the severe minority of the infinite minutes, hours, seconds, moments of their life. Again, I’m not saying this by any means exonerates him from those horrible minutes of his life, but it does beg the attention of the other moments.”

[. . . ]

While Versace’s name brings heft to the narrative, the drama was just as invested in bringing attention to Cunanan’s lesser-known victims — Gulf War veteran and Cunanan’s good friend Jeffrey Trail; architect and Cunanan’s unrequited love David Madson; real estate mogul Lee Miglin; and cemetery caretaker William Reese — and the people whose lives were affected by those murders.

[. .  . ]

[Judith] Light says she hadn’t known much about Cunanan’s killings prior to joining the series. But she remembers the ethos of the time distinctly.

“I didn’t really know much about Cunanan’s prior victims,” she said. “So I wasn’t too familiar with the Miglin case. I remember the Versace killing, and I remember it was a very powerful, visceral experience. One of the most important factors in watching this is to see that, to whatever degree, we still have that [homophobia] going on in our culture.”

That function as a sociological yearbook is ultimately what binds “Versace” to “The People v. O.J. Simpson.”

“They’re very different stories,” Criss said. “But they’re excellent examinations of a time period that allows a certain thing to happen, which ends up being a crime — but how that crime affects the social landscape is also a crime.”

TV Line wrote:
Emmys 2018: Lead Actor, Limited Series — Dream Nominees

DARREN CRISS, THE ASSASSINATION OF GIANNI VERSACE: AMERICAN CRIME STORY

WHY HE DESERVES A NOD: Gianni Versace may have gotten his name featured in the title of FX’s second American Crime Story, but it was Andrew Cunanan — played to haunting perfection by a not-so-Gleeful Darren Criss — who captivated audiences until the season’s unforgettable conclusion. With each gut-wrenching breakdown and unnerving look, Criss embodied a character capable of skyrocketing him from teen-TV heartthrob to Emmy-nominated powerhouse. And need we remind you about that infamous underwear dance? Playing this role took some serious, well, you know.

 

Track: Darren Criss on Sud Radio (06-20-18)

Darren Criss on Sud Radio (June 20th, 2018) | Source

*Darren’s speaking in English and it is being translated in real time to French.

**Interview recorded on June 17th, 2018

Episode stills for episode 4 of The Assassination of Gianni Versace | 20 June 2018

Jonathan Groff, Angela Bassett, Maggie Gyllenhaal, David Harbour, Mandy Moore and Darren Criss on their latest roles
Jonathan Groff of “Mindhunter,” Angela Bassett of “9-1-1,” Maggie Gyllenhaal of “The Deuce,” David Harbour of “Stranger Things,” Mandy Moore of “This Is Us” and Darren Criss of “The Assassination of Gianni Versace” discuss their roles on the television drama series. | 6 June 2018

MSN wrote:
Jonathan Groff, Angela Bassett, Maggie Gyllenhaal, David Harbour, Mandy Moore and Darren Criss on their latest roles

June 6, 2018

Jonathan Groff of "Mindhunter," Angela Bassett of "9-1-1," Maggie Gyllenhaal of "The Deuce," David Harbour of "Stranger Things," Mandy Moore of "This Is Us" and Darren Criss of "The Assassination of Gianni Versace" discuss their roles on the television drama series.

May 31, 2018 - Issue 19A - Emmys - TV Movies, Limited Series, Docs

Emmys Special - TV Movies, Limited Series, Documentaries

Peak TV’s Race for Maximum Buzz - With hundreds of shows vying for votes, networks and streamers are turning to bigger stunts in hopes of catching voters’ attention.

Gold Derby wrote:
Emmy race for Limited Series is a 3-way race, according to Editors: ‘Versace’ vs. ‘Godless’ vs. ‘The Looming Tower’

June 6, 2018

. . . There doesn’t seem to be as decisive a favorite in the 2018 race — at least, not according to our Editors who cover awards year-round for Gold Derby. There are only three programs they all agree will be nominated: “The Assassination of Gianni Versace,” “Godless” and “The Looming Tower.” But they don’t agree on which will win.

As of this writing “Versace” is the front-runner to win with 9/5 odds based on the combined predictions of more than 2,000 Gold Derby users. That includes support from four out of eight Editors: Joyce Eng, Marcus James Dixon, Tom O’Neil and myself. “Versace” is the second season in FX’s true-crime anthology series “American Crime Story” that began in 2016 with “The People v. O.J. Simpson,” which swept the Emmys that year, including Best Limited Series. So the academy has already shown their fondness for the show. It stands to reason voters would rally around producer Ryan Murphy again, right?

[ . . . ]

So do you agree with our Editors that this is a three-way race?

The Hollywood Reporter wrote:
Feinberg Forecast: T-Minus One Week Until Nomination Voting

6/5/2018

The charts below reflect how THR’s awards columnist Scott Feinberg believes the Emmy standings would look if voting for the 2018 race ended today. (Work released between June 1, 2017 and May 31, 2018 is eligible.) These projections are formulated using a combination of personal impressions (from sampling many programs), historical considerations (how shows with similar pedigrees have resonated), precursor awards (some groups have historically correlated with the TV Academy more than others) and consultations with industry insiders (including voters, content creators, awards strategists and fellow members of the press).

Best Limited Series

FRONTRUNNERS

The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story (FX)
The Looming Tower (Hulu)
Godless (Netflix)
Patrick Melrose (Showtime)
Genius (National Geographic)

Best Actor in a Limited Series or a Television Movie

FRONTRUNNERS

Darren Criss (The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story)
John Legend (Jesus Christ Superstar)
Al Pacino (Paterno)
Benedict Cumberbatch (Patrick Melrose) — podcast
Jeff Daniels (The Looming Tower) — podcast
Antonio Banderas (Genius: Picasso)

Best Supporting Actor in a Limited Series or a Television Movie

FRONTRUNNERS

Jeff Daniels (Godless) — podcast
Brandon Victor Dixon (Jesus Christ Superstar)
Edgar Ramirez (The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story)
Tahar Rahim (The Looming Tower)
Peter Sarsgaard (The Looming Tower)
Bill Camp (The Looming Tower)

MAJOR THREATS

Ricky Martin (The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story)
Sam Waterston (Godless)
Scoot McNairy (Godless)
Bill Pullman (The Sinner)
Alex Rich (Genius: Picasso)
Michael Shannon (Fahrenheit 451) — podcast
Hugo Weaving (Patrick Melrose)

POSSIBILITIES

Cody Fern (The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story)
Beau Bridges (Mosaic)
Alice Cooper (Jesus Christ Superstar)
Dylan Baker (Little Women)
Robert Forster (Twin Peaks)
Jason Ritter (The Tale)

Best Supporting Actress in a Limited Series or a Television Movie

FRONTRUNNERS

Merritt Wever (Godless)
Nicole Kidman (Top of the Lake: China Girl) — podcast
Penelope Cruz (The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story)
Judith Light (The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story)
Angela Lansbury (Little Women)
Ellen Burstyn (The Tale)

Decider wrote:
‘The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story’ Episode 4 Recap: Drive

Feb. 8, 2018

But I’m saving my final praise for Darren Criss as Andrew one more time. Not just for the delicate balance he must strike around David between unpredictable violence and careful reassurance throughout the episode, nor even for his final act of tenderness toward his victim (who’d hallucinated a reunion with his father before dying) — curling up with the corpse for a last embrace before driving away. No, the highlight here is the endless closeup on Criss/Cunanan’s face as he listens to a roadhouse performance of the Cars’ “Drive” by guest star Aimee Mann while his beloved victim sneaks off to the men’s room, debating whether or not to try and flee. He breaks before your eyes, there’s no other way to put it, and he does so over the same sentiment David will eventually express to him, getting himself killed in the process: “You can’t go on thinking nothing’s wrong.”

Birth. Movies. Death wrote:
THE ASSASSINATION OF GIANNI VERSACE Review: “House By The Lake”

Feb. 09, 2018

Criss continues to earn every ounce of praise that’s been heaped upon his performance as Cunanan this season - alternating from chilly, black-eyed stares, to callously dancing in the car to “Pump Up the Jam”, to cuddling with Madson’s body on the shore after he shoots him in the back.

As Andrew takes David’s hand in the middle of that dive, and the two listen to a shitty cover of The Cars’ “Drive”, we see Madson momentarily understand this lonely, desperate psychopath. Through all the abuse, punishment and (ultimately) death Cunanan doles out to this equal, the same struggle with loneliness and rejection can be found in his eyes.

TV Guide wrote:
The Assassination of Gianni Versace Actor Explains Why David Madson Didn't Run

Feb. 7, 2018

As Ryan Muphy did with The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story, Versace makes decades-old events, the outcomes of which are already public knowledge, feel like they’re happening in the exact moment. Darren Criss’ intoxicating performance makes Jeff’s murder and David’s unforced captivity urgent and believable too — so much so that it’s almost impossible to watch the scenes play out and not hope, scream or pray that David runs.

Towleroad wrote:
‘American Crime Story’ Goes On A Gruesome Road Trip Without Gianni [RECAP]

February 8, 2018

It was a tense hour-plus of television, anchored once again by a chilling performance from Darren Criss. (Give this boy an Emmy nom, folks, he’s quite literally killing it.)

The Tracking Board wrote:
AMERICAN CRIME STORY Review: “House By the Lake”

February 8, 2018

Next week I assume we will flash back earlier than Minneapolis, though I also understand if the writers take us back to the present to show us what is going on with the Versaces post-death. But I am really digging this criminal profile of Cunanan and how they are unfolding it. I almost would be okay with the rest of the episodes were just surrounding him (Darren Criss is killing it, in more way than one). But I finally get what they are doing and am completely on board after being hesitant the first few weeks.

Slash Film wrote:
‘American Crime Story’ Review: ‘House By the Lake’ Tells a Tragic Tale

February 8, 2018

As always, Darren Criss’ performance as Andrew remains a highlight, but Andrew has grown more and more despicable and detestable as the season has continued, which ultimately makes spending time with him distasteful. It’s a very tough balancing act, and Criss pulls it off for the most part. But there’s only so much we can take. A shot near the end of Andrew cuddling David’s dead body is particularly blood curdling.

Yahoo News! UK wrote:
'The Assassination of Gianni Versace' Episode 4 recap: Toxic friendship

7 February 2018

For the past two weeks we’ve seen Andrew Cunanan embody every gay fear and insecurity (both society’s and gay peoples’ own) and use his warped mind to destroy upstanding, good men. Good men, the kind he could never be and never would be. A smarter person than me could write an articulate essay about how Cunanan was a product of his time, or a symbol, or whatever. But the more important take-away from these two episodes, I think, was the greatness and dignity of Lee Miglin and David Madson. Though Cunanan ultimately wielded the tools by which they died, The Assassination of Gianni Versace wants to remind us that the world they existed in was at the very least complicit. It’s a dark thought, but a necessary one. And that’s how a show as complicated and frankly stomach-churning as this one is as essential as television gets.

GQ India wrote:
American Crime Story: The Assassination of Gianni Versace is the TV show to follow right now

Feb. 8, 2018

And with the search for Andrew Cunanan, the not-so-charming psychopathic prostitute, comes an inquisition of a homophobic society: The America of the Eighties and Nineties, also the time that the AIDS crisis was at its peak.

[. . . ]

Edward Ramirez’s Gianni is a gentleman, dignified and generous, driven by the pursuit of beauty; Penelope Cruz’s Donatella molded in granite compared to him, enchanting, persistent, business-minded; Ricky Martin slightly over-doing the heartbroken ‘partner’, but it works. And Darren Criss, magnificent as the beautiful and grotesque Cunanan, oozing charm and becoming whatever people wanted him to be, saying whatever they wanted to hear.

Over nine episodes, the show will show us all five murders, and countless other petty crimes of Cunanan’s. And it’s pretty hard stuff: such as the scene just after Cunanan’s finished with Lee Miglin in the third episode, “A Random Killing”, . . . . It’s nausea-inducing stuff, but there’s other, more to make you queasy: Like that scene described at the beginning of this piece; Or when suits at the FBI office discussing the murders confuse Versace with Liberace; or when the cop interrogating Antonio D’Amico refuses to ‘comprehend’ what he means by being Gianni’s ‘partner’. Makes you think the ‘assassination’ in the title isn’t just for dramatic effect, after all.

Of course, there’s a lot of attention to detail in re-creating that Nineties atmosphere – the discotheques and La Bouche thumping through sunny, progressive Miami’s streets and Speedo-dotted-beaches and denim cut-off shorts. But who has time for nostalgia when there’s a murderer on the prowl; and a tabloid-hooked society bent on keeping the closet locked?

Rogues Portal wrote:
TV Review: The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story S02E02 “Manhunt”

February 8, 2018

Andrew Cunanan’s American Psycho-lite presentation is both aesthetically interesting and completely horrifying. The show seems to even quote Michael Mann’s Manhunter when Andrew emerges from the bathroom, face taped up like the man he picked up earlier. It’s important to display those awful elements and keep into perspective that, even though Andrew seems to be the centre of the series, he was a monster. The moments when he isn’t performing are morbidly intriguing. Darren Criss shines in every scene, but there’s something deeper when we see Andrew being Andrew. When he’s doggedly trying to track down Versace. Or, when he says this to a man at the club who just wanted to know what he does:

I’m a serial killer… I said, ‘I’m a banker’. I’m a stockbroker. I’m a shareholder. I’m a paperback writer. I’m a cop. I’m a naval officer. Sometimes I’m a spy. I build movie sets in Mexico and skyscrapers in Chicago. I sell propane in Minneapolis. I import pineapples from the Philippines. You know, I’m the person least likely to be forgotten. I’m Andrew Cunanan.