In Peacock’s limited series Devil in Disguise: John Wayne Gacy, the path from the public perception of a well-regarded and liked John Wayne Gacy (Michael Chernus) to the discovery of his long history of vicious violence is unveiled through the stories of his victims’ lives and the ultimate course of justice for this perpetrator hidden in plain sight.
Awards Buzz spoke with Chernus and showrunner Patrick Macmanus about a deliberate effort to frame this series not as a showcase of Gacy himself but instead a celebration of the lives ended too soon by him. Chernus shared:
“I was hesitant to get involved, and my agent knows Patrick and said, take this meeting, he’s a good guy. My Spidey-sense is that he’s going to be telling this story in a different way. I didn’t want to do anything that was sensationalizing Gacy or glorifying Gacy in any way. Right away, I was put at ease because we were on the same page. Patrick told me there wouldn’t be any gratuitous violence or murder shown on screen, that that was a really hard line for him.”
Marin Ireland, who plays Elizabeth Piest, mother of one of Gacy’s victims, echoed that sentiment:
“I think part of why I really said yes to this, honestly, was Michael Chernus, who’s a dear friend. We talked at length and he was like, the ethos of this project is about the victims, it’s not about sensationalizing Gacy himself. That made me feel definitely reassured.”
Gabriel Luna expressed how what drew him to the project was playing a character who was very much human and imperfect:
“A large part of the appeal was the fact that Detective Rafael Tovar was a man who existed, who exists. I related a lot to him. He’s from Crystal City, Texas. I’m of course from Austin. He’s just a man who’s imperfect and is doing his best and that is something that I was really excited about it. I’ve played a lot of characters who are invulnerable, and he is very vulnerable and has a lot of his own personal humanity.”
All eight episodes of Devil in Disguise: John Wayne Gacy are now streaming on Peacock.
