Penélope Cruz is joining the Ryan Murphy fan club. She has been tapped to star as Donatella Versace, the sister of murdered fashion designer Gianni Versace, in Versace: American Crime Story, the third installment in the Emmy-winning anthology series from Ryan Murphy, Nina Jacobson and Brad Simpson.
Cruz will star opposite Edgar Ramirez and Darren Criss in the 10-episode limited series, which examines the shocking July 1997 assassination of Gianni Versace (Ramirez) on the steps of his Miami Beach mansion by sociopath and serial killer Andrew Cunanan (Criss).
Versace, from Fox 21 and FX Prods. , is based on the book “Vulgar Favors” by Vanity Fair writer Maureen Orth. Tom Rob Smith is writing the first two and multiple subsequent episodes and Murphy, who received an Emmy nomination for directing the opening episode of People v. O.J. Simpson, will direct the first hour. Versace will begin production in April in Los Angeles and Miami for a 2018 premiere. It will shoot before Season 2, Katrina: American Crime Story, which will air first.
