Devil in Disguise is a new Peacock drama about serial killer John Wayne Gacy, and the show is aiming to do something very different to Netflix series Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story.
John Wayne Gacy was arrested in Illinois in 1978, and following a lengthy investigation, convicted of murdering at least 33 young men and boys.
The man who became known as the ‘Killer Clown’ due to involvement with a local ‘Jolly Joker’ club was sentenced to death in 1980, and executed via lethal injection in 1994.
Now Peacock is telling that story in an eight-episode True Crime drama called Devil in Disguise, which stars Severance actor Michael Chernus as Gacy.
How Devil in Disguise will differ to Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story
Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story is one of the most successful shows in the history of Netflix, but the series was also criticized for focussing on the killer, rather than his victims.
Devil in Disguise writer and producer Patrick Macmanus was aware of that backlash, and told Vanity Fair: “I honestly didn’t want this to be Dahmer. And truth be told, at the time, I didn’t really know how to make it anything but that.”
He ultimately solved the problem by having the murders happen off-screen.
“We really, truly were trying to figure out a way to focus on the victims – what their lives were like and who they truly were, with no connective tissue to John Wayne Gacy at all,” Macmanus explains.
“The ultimate goal was to ensure that when people left our show, they saw more than a name. They saw more than a number. They saw more than a life associated with this horrendous tragedy, with this absolutely evil man.”
Macmanus also contacted victims’ survivors where possible, explaining that: “I was looking for their concerns so that I could try my best to be able to alleviate them.” And it worked, with VF reporting that “he received blessings from each family with whom he connected.”
Michael Chernus on the pain of playing John Wayne Gacy
Michael Chernus said he avoided the Method approach of staying in character during Devil in Disguise, as he “didn’t want anyone having to deal with John Gacy more than they had to.”
Doing that was rough on the acto,r however, with Chernus saying that: “I chose the mental health of the group over maybe my own individual experience… I’d get back to my trailer at the end of the day and take off my costume, and then it would kind of all come crashing down on me.”
Chernus adds that working on the show changed how he now views similar fare. “Going through this experience, I don’t know that I will be consuming much true crime ever again,” he says.
“When they’re not done with the utmost care, I have a deeper understanding now of what that might mean to the families of the victims – or how it helps shape our collective thirst for that content in a way that is not taking in the totality of what was lost.”
Tile Store Offended By Sponsored Little League Team Celebrating Win At Pizza Place Instead