When True Crime Gets It Right: Patrick McManus & Michael Chernus On Telling The Gacy Story

Update: 2025-10-10

Description

Imagine being told you resemble one of America’s most infamous serial killers—and then being asked to play him. That’s the exact crossroads actor Michael Chernus found himself at when he was cast in Devil in Disguise: John Wayne Gacy, Peacock’s powerful reimagining of a case we thought we knew.

In this episode, Chernus opens up about the weight of portraying Gacy—not the tabloid version, but the eerily “normal” man who blended into his suburban community while carrying out unimaginable crimes. He listened to Gacy’s real voice on tapes passed down from attorney Bob Motta Sr., relayed through Bob Motta Jr., our guest and legal expert on the case.

We talk about the toll this kind of character work takes, how the series avoids gratuitous violence, and why refusing to show murder on screen actually makes the series more disturbing—and more respectful.

If you think you’ve seen every Gacy documentary, think again. This is the one that focuses not on the myth, but on the victims, the failures, and the masks we all miss.

#MichaelChernus #JohnWayneGacy #GacyTapes #DevilInDisguise #PeacockSeries #DefenseDiaries #TrueCrimeActing #PortrayingEvil #VictimFocusedTrueCrime #HiddenKillersPodcast

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