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46 DGA QUARTERLY PHOTOS: PAULA LOBO/ABC The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story, based on Maureen Orth's nonfiction book Vulgar Favors, also excelled in true-to-life casting. Actors Darren Criss, Edgar Ramirez and a blonde- wigged Penelope Cruz bear uncanny resemblances to serial killer Andrew Cunanan, Gianni Versace and Donatella Versace. Director/ executive producer Daniel J. Minahan (Deadwood, Game of Thrones), who helmed three episodes, says: "In this day and age, people can Google things and make their own comparisons, so you need to be vigi- lant about making sure people look correct, between wigs and pros- thetics and makeup. Darren looks remarkably like Andrew Cunanan. And people who personally knew Gianni Versace were astounded by the similarity when they saw Edgar in costume, hair and makeup." O R A L L I T S V E R I S I M I L I T U D E in casting, Assassination displeased the Versace family. In a statement, they criticized the series for being an unauthorized "work of fiction" and object- ed to an early episode insinuating that Versace had AIDS. Series executive producer Ryan Murphy defended Assassination, citing Orth's fact-vetted book and additional research as foundation for the show's reenactments. Later installments directed by Minahan fo- cused squarely on the murderer. "Authenticity was paramount," says Minahan, who directed the finale detailing Cunanan's demise. "The houseboat Cunanan hid in after he shot Versace was dismantled and sunk, but it was well documented by police videos and photographs, so we had a great reference," Minahan says. "We built an exact replica and moored it at the origi- nal location, which is where we staged the final siege with the FBI." Assassination dramatizes the designer's slaying minutes into the first episode, eliminating any suspense about who committed the crime. Instead, the mystery has more to do with how Cunanan be- came a cold-blooded serial killer. Minahan says, "People don't real- ize everything that came before in the life of Andrew Cunanan that brought him to the point of wanting to murder Versace for seem- ingly no reason." By moving through time in reverse chronological order, Minahan says, "We're able to look at the making of a socio- Story of the Biggie Smalls & Tupac Shakur Murder Investigations, based on his task force investigations. For additional perspective, Unsolved creators brought on reformed gang members. Hemingway says, "These guys recreated moments in the show by playing them- selves or by sharing things they'd seen happening at the time. It con- tributed in a big way to what we were looking to accomplish." Whenever possible, Hemingway filmed at original locations, in- cluding the intersection in Las Vegas where Shakur was gunned down in his car. To anchor the pre-murder flashback scenes, Hemingway cast Marcc Rose (Straight Outta Compton) to portray Tupac Shakur and hired the late rapper's stepbrother Mopreme as a consultant. "Mopreme shared a lot of beautiful nuance about Tupac, even down to his mannerisms," Hemingway recalls. "That was helpful for Marcc be- cause he really got to know Tupac as a person. Going through post, there are moments and certain angles where Marcc's so perfect as Tupac, it's eerie." Hemingway, Emmy-nominated for his direction of The People v. O.J. Simpson, hired a nonprofessional hip-hop fan named Wavyy Jonez to portray Biggie. "I was very open to finding someone who had never acted before, so I put an announcement about an open casting call on my social- media page, which then got shared," says Hemingway. "Wavvy very closely resembled Biggie physically, and we also tapped into his innocence to show how Biggie as a young man tried to deal with all this pressure in his life. When you're making a show about people who are as well known as Tupac and Biggie, you can't come at the casting any other way than being as accurate as possible." F PHOTOS: (TOP LEFT) ROBERT SULLIVAN/GETTY IMAGES; (BOTTOM LEFT) PARI DUKOVIC/FX; (BOTTOM RIGHT) RAY MICKSHAW/FX