As if an FX drama surrounding a mysterious, lascivious serial killer and one of the best known designers on the planet — set in the South Beach party scene, we might add — wasn’t enough to pique our curiosity, Lady Gaga has officially signed on for the third season of American Crime Story. The 10-episode storyline will center on the 1997 murder of Gianni Versace.
In perhaps the best casting decision ever, Gaga will play her long-term friend Donatella, who was 42 when her older brother was tragically murdered outside of his Miami Beach mansion.
The plot will take inspiration from the true crime novel Vulgar Favors by Maureen Orth. “I was always very moved and freaked out by the Versace assassination, and I thought it was a really great story to do because it’s a manhunt season,” creator Ryan Murphy told Entertainment Weekly. “[Serial killer Andrew Cunanan] killed four people and then Versace, and was on the loose. We’re exploring the reasons of how he got away with being undetected.”
While moderating an EW PopFest panel back in October, Tim Stack put it to Murphy that Gaga would be the perfect choice to play Donatella, to which the TV exec replied, with a cheeky smile, “Ya think?” It’s a universally agreed upon fact that Gaga and Donatella are practically twins (give or take a few years), from their bleach-blonde tresses to their high Italian cheekbones to their taste for over-the-top fashions.
Gaga, who earned a Golden Globe for her performance in Murphy’s American Horror Story, will also be flexing her acting chops in this season’s (also Murphy-produced) American Horror Story: Roanoke and, in a slight change of genre, Bradley Cooper’s remake of A Star is Born.
Lady Gaga for Versace Spring 2014; Image: Mert Alas and Marcus Piggott for
The dive bar crawler and staunch Hillary supporter has already written a song in honor of Donatella and starred in more than one Versace campaign. Physically embodying her BFF is the next natural step.
[ via Vogue ]
