A new true crime drama about John Wayne Gacy, the Killer Clown serial killer who raped and killed more than 30 young men and boys, is debuting tonight on UK TV.
Gacy was an active serial killer for six years, and is the focus of numerous true crime documentaries, due in part to the fact that he was convicted of the most murders by a single person at the time of his sentencing.
Prior to being found to be operating as a rapist and psychotic serial killer, he would perform around Chicago as a clown, earning him his unique nickname.
Now a TV show starring American actor Michael Chernus is finally releasing in the UK on ITV tonight.
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The series, called Devil in Disguise: John Wayne Gacy, has received overwhelmingly positive reviews to earn a near-perfect score of 96 percent on Rotten Tomatoes.
Chernus, who stars as the killer, also previously appeared in Severance and Orange is the New Black, but is utterly chilling as the killer clown.
The actor himself has spoken about how he even had trouble watching back some of the more depraved scenes in the show.
Speaking to Variety when the show released in the US, Chernus said: “I had the unfortunate duty of playing John Wayne Gacy.”
The actor went on to explain that, when the show was pitched to him, the creator of the series Patrick Macmanus had to explain he wouldn’t be in every scene and the show would not be about him.
He added: “I don’t know if he had met with other actors who had turned it down before me because they were upset about that or something, but that was a relief to me!
“With a person as despicable as Gacy, I don’t want to be in every scene and every frame of the show. And he shouldn’t be.”
The former Orange is the New Black star was asked about one particularly horrifying scene in which Gacy lures a 15-year-old back to his house, handcuffs him, threatens to rape him, and then kills him.
Whilst the murder is not shown, the terror that the killer put his victims through is, with the actor saying: “That episode is really hard for me to watch. It’s the most we see John Gacy in the show, period.
“It’s the closest we get to seeing not only the violence that he committed, but the manipulation and grooming and gaslighting that he would inflict on these boys.”
The decision not to show the killing of the 15-year-old boy is part of the show’s concerted effort to be respectful in its portrayal of the horrific murderer, something specifically noted in reviews of the series.
Pat Stacey of the Irish Independent said of the show: “What we have here is a rare thing: a drama about a serial killer that prizes sensitivity over sensationalism and doesn’t leave you feeling in need of a shower.”
Krystie Lee Yandoli of The Wrap said in their review: “We’ll never know the total number of Gacy’s victims, but the story teaches us enough to know the true weight of prejudice and bigotry.”
Devil in Disguise: John Wayne Gacy will air on ITV One tonight at 9pm.
Topics: True Crime, ITV, TV and Film, TV, US News
Michael Slavin