Fil-Am actor Darren Criss wins historic Emmy for ‘Assassination of Gianni Versace’

Darren Criss, who portrayed the Filipino-American serial killer Andrew Cunanan in the Ryan Murphy-helmed “The Assassination of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story,” won his first Emmy for Outstanding Lead Actor in a Limited Series or Movie in the recently concluded 70th Primetime Emmy Awards held at the Microsoft Theater in downtown Los Angeles.

PHOTO: STHANLEE B. MIRADOR

Director Ryan Murphy also won for Outstanding Directing for a Limited Series or Movie for his follow-up to the Emmy-winning “The People vs. O.J. Simpson” and the FX series itself also won the Emmy’s Outstanding Limited Series Award.

Darren, who was nominated once before for songwriting on “Glee”, became the first Filipino-American to win an Emmy in the Primetime Lead Actor category.

The 31-year-old actor-singer-songwriter, who was born in San Francisco, brought his family to the Emmys. Present at the cereomony were his father Charles William Criss, his Filipina mother from Cebu, Cerina Bru, his older brother Charles “Chuck” Criss, and Darren's fiancée Mia Swier.

We were able to catch Darren, who was looking sharp in his black and gray Armani suit, at the Fox after-party in Vibiana and he talked about his win.

Darren with the author. Photo courtesy of Janet Susan R. Nepales/HFPA

“I am just so glad that most of my castmates are here with me or else this win would be empty. I am also lucky to have my family here supporting me. As I said in my speech, I am very fortunate to be raised by an extraordinary family, which is so different from the way Andrew Cunanan was raised which makes a big difference. I thank my parents for the way they raised me and brought me up,” he said. 

As for his next projects, Darren talked about his tour with “Glee” colleague Lea Michele on October 7 in New York and November 5 in Los Angeles.

“I also have a lot of music I am working on with my brother who is also in a band and I also have other things that I am working on. I will also be shooting a film with director Roland Emmerich.”

The movie, entitled “Midway,” is the story of the famous World War II “Battle of Midway”, which pitted American fighter bombers against three ostensibly indestructible Japanese warships off Midway Island.

The movie will also star Woody Harrelson as Admiral Chester Nimitz, Mandy Moore as Anne, Luke Evans as Commander Wade McClusky, Patrick Wilson as Edwin Layton, Aaron Eckhart, Dennis Quaid, and Nick Jonas.

It will be filmed in Hawaii and then will be moving to Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It is expected to be released on November 8, 2019.

Darren ended our interview by greeting his fans in the Philippines and thanking them for their support. — AT, GMA News