Back in June, it was announced that Michael Chernus (Severance) had been cast to play serial killer John Wayne Gacy in the Peacock limited series Devil in Disguise, which is inspired by the 2021 Peacock docuseries John Wayne Gacy: Devil in Disguise, produced by NBC News Studios. Now Variety has revealed the names of five more cast members. They are: Gabriel Luna (The Last of Us), James Badge Dale (1923), Michael Angarano (Red State), Chris Sullivan (Mercy), and Marin Ireland (Hell or High Water).
Gacy murdered 33 young men between 1972 and 1978. According to Variety, this limited series will peel back the twisted layers of Gacy’s life while weaving in heartrending stories of his mostly gay victims; exploring the grief, guilt, and trauma of their families and friends; and exposing the systemic failures, missed opportunities and societal prejudices that fueled his reign of terror.
As mentioned, Gacy is set to be played by Chernus. Luna will play Detective Rafael Tovar, Dale will play Chief of Detectives Joe Kozenczak, Angarano’s character is lawyer Sam Amirante, Sullivan will play Lead Prosecutor Bill Kunkle, and Ireland is taking on the role of Elizabeth Piest, whose 15-year-old son Robert was one of Gacy’s victims.
Patrick Macmanus is writer and showrunner on Devil in Disguise and serves as an executive producer under his Littleton Road Productions banner. Kelly Funke of Littleton Road is also executive producing, alongside Noah Oppenheim and Liz Cole of NBC News Studios, plus Ashley Michel Hoban and Ahmadu Garba. UCP is producing.
When Chernus was cast, he provided the following statement: “I’m both excited and humbled by this opportunity. The direction that the writers are taking with this project is important, focusing on the victims and their families as well as those who finally brought John Wayne Gacy to justice. While Gacy was the perpetrator of these horrific crimes, I’m relieved that he won’t be the main focus of the series. It’s heartbreaking for me to think of what his victims (all young men and boys) could have done with their lives had the system not failed them so tragically. I believe in the power of storytelling and hope that by telling this story, in a thoughtful way, we can play some part in preventing this from ever happening again.“
Are you interested in Devil in Disguise? What do you think of the cast that’s being assembled for the show? Let us know by leaving a comment below.