This article originally appeared in the Jan. 29 edition of Entertainment Weekly.
For the full issue,buy it here.
Non-spoiler alert: The gloves still dont fit.
Credit: ART STREIBER for EW
Its a September afternoon on the Los Angeles set of FXs new miniseriesThe People v. O.J.
Anyone interested in anything other than conspiracy theories?
he asks the group.
FX
Some real demonstrable evidence?
A little actual lawyering?
Those gloves are too small.
FX
When we say were doing O.J.
Its a unifying event.
Its also a case rife with relevant and provocative themes well suited for a miniseries.
Whether you think O.J.
What interested us was to understand how that verdict was reached and what it meant to the people involved.
It changed the world in a very big way.
MORE ONTHE PEOPLE VS. O.J.
Apparently its been reformulated many times, and I wanted the formulation in the 90s.
Who knows if that eBay person was lying?
I give a shot to wear just a little bit of it because it doesnt smell lovely.
But I actually find the smell kind of moving.
Like their scripts forEd WoodandFlynt,American Crime Storyhas a surprising tone that shifts between light and dark.
It helped that Murphy and the web link were looking for a sister series forAmerican Horror Story.
There was something prescient about them.
The series is particularly resonant when it comes to the portrayal of race relations and the police.
I think all of us felt an obligation to get that stuff right.
The actor who needed the most convincing to sign on?
I was trying to do the unexpected, says Murphy of chasing Travolta.
I gave up points to get him.
I just wanted him.
I think it was a smart decision….
He adds some great sizzle to it.
Still, it took three months for Travolta to agree to play Shapiro.
We did tons of research, says Alexander.
Says Murphy, You just cant believe what happened.
Some of it is so absurd, even I was like, We have to check this again.
I cant believe this happened.'
She had two young children, says Paulson.
She was going through a terrible divorce.She was on the cover of tabloids.
There was a human being behind the person you were watching.
She became a cartoon or a caricature.
You think about a silly haircut.
Were talking about a person with a beating heart and two young boys to take care of.
Eventually a few of the cast members reached out.
Paulson had dinner with Marcia Clark.
Says the actress, It felt like I was meeting Meryl Streep or something somebody I truly admired.
Schwimmer had a lengthy phone call with Kris Jenner, ex-wife of the late Robert Kardashian.
She was so warm and generous with her time, says Schwimmer.
He was a real family man, and he had a lot of strong values and ethics.
Theres a lot about him that I actually can identify with and relate toespecially the loyalty.
Not everyone felt the urge to stroll down memory lane, though.
Brown says that he reached out twice to Darden to no avail.
Im not mad at him.
And there are other days when I go, If thats true, hes innocent.
So I go back and forth.
