How Peacock’s “Devil in Disguise: John Wayne Gacy” Reclaims the True Crime Narrative for Victims

When Patrick Macmanus signed on to wear multiple hats for Devil in Disguise John Wayne Gacy that of showrunner writer and director he had one clear mission to tell the story differently After previously working on Dr Death and The Girl from Plainville he initially turned down the project twice amp8220I just am not interested in doing another piece of true crime and I also feel like we have enough serial killer showsamp8221 Macmanus recalledIt wasnamp8217t until he watched the original Devil in Disguise documentary that his perspective shifted amp8220If youamp8217re going to want me to do this Iamp8217m going to want to do this my own wayamp8221 he said amp8220The way weamp8217re going to do this is really hyperfocus it on the victimsamp8217 families on the police on the lawyers And I want to tell the victimsamp8217 storiesamp8221Each episode of the Peacock limited series includes what Macmanus and his writers call amp8220short storiesamp8221 Each serves as a standalone episode focusing on individual victims and their lives before they ever encountered Gacy amp8220We donamp8217t even show a single death on screenamp8221 he emphasized amp8220Itamp8217s a swing and Peacock let me swing I think we do have something special to talk aboutamp8221Michael Chernus Finds Humanity Without ForgivenessPlaying the notorious serial killer John Wayne Gacy Michael Chernus faced the daunting task of embodying one of historyamp8217s most infamous figures without sensationalizing him Like Macmanus Chernus initially turned down the project amp8220There are so many different ways you could tell this storyamp8230 I didnamp8217t want to be involved with something that was going to feel salacious or glorify John Gacy in any wayamp8221 he saidAfter an hourandahalf conversation with Macmanus he changed his mind amp8220He put all my fears to rest When he told me we werenamp8217t going to show any murder on screen and that we were really telling the story of the victims that was really exciting to meamp8221Despite his extensive stage and screen career Devil in Disguise marks Chernusamp8217s first time leading a major television series amp8220It meant the world to meamp8221 he shared amp8220I cared about doing it in a way that if the surviving family members of the victims saw this they wouldnamp8217t feel like we were just retreading the same groundamp8221To prepare Chernus dove deep into research reading countless books and watching hours of archival footage amp8220Eventually Patrick had to say amp8216Are you still reading books about John Wayne Gacy Put them down you have eight scripts to learnamp8217amp8221 The actor also credited his family for keeping him grounded amp8220When I walked in the door I couldnamp8217t be John Gacy I had to be Dad That was the best thing in the world It was like a soul showeramp8221Gabriel Luna on Justice Humanity and Haunting RealismPortraying Detective Rafael Tovar Gabriel Luna brings emotional gravity to the other side of the story the investigators who uncovered Gacyamp8217s crimes and lived with the trauma that followed amp8220Itamp8217s a fictional telling of the story but there is a lot of truth embeddedamp8221 Luna explained amp8220He represents Tovar Dr Stein Kozenczak and some of their experiences Heamp8217s a driving force for justice and for restoring humanity to these peopleamp8221Luna spoke highly of his costars particularly Chernus and James Badge Dale who portrays lead investigator Joe Kozenczak amp8220We were going to go to some really terrible places but that didnamp8217t mean we couldnamp8217t support each other and be tethers for each other to realityamp8221 he said amp8220It was important to show the toll this case took on these men and womenamp8221During the press conference Luna responded to a question submitted by journalist Juan Ayala who asked amp8220What was your biggest challenge or key takeaway from the experience of filming this seriesamp8221amp8220The challengeamp8221 Luna said amp8220was to kind of trick myself into that waking hallucination of being there in what amounts to essentially a tombamp8230 uncovering the remains of 27 peopleamp8221 He described the visceral experience of filming within a meticulously built multilevel set that recreated Gacyamp8217s crawlspace amp8220Iamp8217m not claustrophobic by any means but I think maybe I developed a bit of claustrophobiaamp8221He recalled one particularly emotional scene filmed on a frigid Toronto night with actor Christian who played the father of one of Gacyamp8217s victims amp8220It was 23 below zero He delivered this beautiful touching performance and being confronted with the face of grief that night shifted a lot of things for me personally and performativelyamp8221Depicting Horror Without ExploitationFor Macmanus steering away from sensationalism wasnamp8217t just an artistic choice it was a responsibility amp8220We went out of our way not to linger on anything salaciousamp8221 he said amp8220We donamp8217t show a single death That choice wasnamp8217t driven by what society says itamp8217s just how I choose to tell storiesamp8221When asked about the potential for increasing Gacyamp8217s notoriety by revisiting his crimes Macmanus didnamp8217t shy away from the ethical implications amp8220There is no way to tell this story fully without exploring Gacyamp8221 he acknowledged amp8220But thereamp8217s absolutely no excuse other than pure evil for why Gacy was what he was You can make all the excuses you want abuse repression trauma but there are countless people who suffer and donamp8217t murder anyoneamp8221Restoring Names Faces and HumanityThroughout the conversation all three artists circled back to one central idea that the true purpose of Devil in Disguise is to restore identity to Gacyamp8217s victims amp8220These were real peopleamp8221 Chernus said amp8220Their names were taken from them They were just a group of kids who died and itamp8217s our job to shine a light on who they were before they met Johnamp8221Luna echoed that sentiment reflecting on his characteramp8217s determination to identify victims and bring closure to their families amp8220There wasnamp8217t a amp8216who done itamp8217 It was amp8216who were theyamp8217amp8221 he said amp8220Thatamp8217s what makes this story differentamp8221You can binge the entire season of Devil In Disguise John Wayne Gacy on October 16 on PeacockPosted at MediaVillage through the Thought Leadership selfpublishing platformClick the social buttons to share this story with colleagues and friendsThe opinions expressed here are the author39s views and do not necessarily represent the views of MediaVillageorgMyersBizNet

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How Peacock’s “Devil in Disguise: John Wayne Gacy” Reclaims the True Crime Narrative for Victims

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