During the Television Critics Association summer press tour in Los Angeles last week, Ricky Martin aimed to mend fences with Gianni Versace's long-time partner, Antonio D'Amico, to defend " American Crime Story: The Assassination of Gianni Versace."
D'Amico publicly criticized the FX network's series because he felt that there were historical inaccuracies contained within it. However, Martin, who plays D'Amico on screen, stated that he was able to have a conversation with his real-life counterpart and that he aims to make the characters relatable for audiences to have a genuine emotional investment in them.
The show's executive producer, Ryan Murphy, speculated that the D'Amico's criticisms could have been based on a photo taken by the paparazzi from their production shoot, which took place in the Miami estate where Versace was killed. With no concrete content, D'Amico must have taken offense due to the photo's lack of context.
Murphy further explained the nature of the project, clarifying that the show is a drama and not a documentary. This means that there will be sensationalized and dramatized aspects of the story, but this is necessary to pique the interest of audiences — whereas a documentary relies solely on actual historical accounts.
"The Assassination of Gianni Versace" is one of the narratives in Murphy's series collection "American Crime Story," which is an anthology of dramatized retelling of particular U.S. tragedies involving crime and the country's famous personalities. One of the more notable works is Murphy's Emmy Award-winning "The People vs O.J. Simpson" with 10 episodes.
The titular role of Versace is set to be played by Edgar Ramirez, an actor from Venezuela. His shooter, Andrew Cunanan, will be played by Darren Criss, with Penelope Cruz as Versace's sister and now head of design, Donatella.
The series is currently in production and will be released sometime in midseason 2018.
