Darren Criss On That Racy Nude Selfie: I Wanted To Take The Power Back

Darren Criss raised eyebrows in May when he shared a behind-the-scenes shot of him naked on set of The Assassination of Gianni Versace with a red speedo in hand. Months later, the multi-talent has opened up about the racy photo that sent social media into a frenzy.

During his interview with The Ladygang podcast, Criss admitted that the whole point of the shoot was to take back the power from the paparazzi, who had caught him in the speedo beforehand. "I was wearing this ridiculous red speedo thing and thank god it was for the show because pictures had come out, the paparazzi had caught us," Darren explained. "We're shooting a scene on the beach and it’s Miami. It’s fair game, we’re out in the open so there are photos of me in a scene with Max Greenfield and I’m in this red speedo and I look kind of ridiculous. We're all kind of giggling about this on set, like, 'Oh my god, this is getting picked up.' And I kind of wanted to take it back for myself."

Still, Criss revealed that the bigger point of the photo was to showcase just how sunburned he was and how much his complexion matched his speedo. "At the end of that day, I was completely sunburned and was essentially the same color as the speedo and so I'm looking at myself in the mirror thinking this is too funny. So after those photos went out, I was like, 'I have a better photo.' So that was that," he added.

American Crime Story: The Assassination of Gianni Versace premieres January 17, 2018 at 10 PM ET.

Photo: Getty Images


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