‘Devil In Disguise’ Creator And Star Break Down The New Peacock Series

Patrick Macmanus and Michael Chernus at the “Devil in Disguise: John Wayne Gacy” premiere at The Lobster Club in New York City, New York on October 9, 2025.

Ralph Bavaro/Peacock

During an era of episodic storytelling between broadcast television, cable networks and video streaming, when true crime shows often resort to “shock and awe” with intensely gory scenes around these (mostly) very real stories, Devil in Disguise: John Wayne Gacy offers something a little different and a whole lot refreshing for modern audiences.

Now streaming on Peacock, it follows the story of the 1970s serial killer, who murdered 33 boys and young men around Chicago, Illinois. This scripted series has all of the intrigue that what you would hope for in a true crime drama series, but intentionally leaves out the violent details of these grisly killings on-screen, which in turn, actually makes this story that much more chilling, being left to our vivid imaginations.

Created by showrunner Patrick Macmanus, he is best known for previously bringing other true crime shows to our screens, including the Dr. Death seasons and The Girl from Plainville, with his Littleton Road Productions company and Universal Content Productions (UCP). When it came to bringing this Devil in Disguise story of Gacy to television, it was a narrative that he initially was reluctant to even do – until he could find a creative road less traveled, by not so much glorifying the killer – but instead, shining a light on his many victims.

Macmanus told me during our new interview, “It wasn’t until we figured out as writers in the writers’ room that we could tell these short stories of the victims, in which we get to see what their lives were like or imagine what their lives were like from time-to-time, without any connective tissue to John Wayne Gacy or their murders. With that being one piece of the puzzle, the other piece of the puzzle was – Do you or do you not show the violence? Do you not show the abductions, the rapes, the murders? That was a hard, bright red line for us from the very beginning that we weren’t going to show them, because it would be, in my opinion, for lack of a better word, distasteful to show it.”

When it came to the actor Michael Chernus, previously known for his work on shows like Severance, signing on to embody the role of Gacy, it was his natural resemblance to the infamous killer that initially set this perfect casting in motion.

Chernus said, “People – for better or for worse, would say [to me] – You kind of look like that serial killer, John Wayne Gacy. So, when this came along, my agent called me and said, ‘We’re setting up a meeting for you with this guy, Patrick Macmanus, who’s making the show about John Gacy.’ I was hesitant, at first, but when Patrick told me his approach, which is going to be no murder on-screen – no horrific violence on-screen and that he was going to try to have each episode focus partially on some of his victims and tell the story of some of the victims before they ever cross paths with John Gacy, I thought that’s an interesting thing that I haven’t seen done before. And so, that really drew me in. I was like – Okay, that’s a challenge I could be up for.”

During these eight episodes, viewers will see how Gacy broke the mold, defying the stereotypes of what our society has often deemed “the serial killer-type,” with him coming off as a friendly and charismatic guy. He even is remembered historically for calmly assisting authorities in finding his victims’ buried bodies after he was caught, which Macmanus says “was genuinely the hardest thing to write because your instincts are always to make the bad guy, the bad guy, right? It would be a disservice to the victims if you don’t make Gacy what he was, which was affable, for lack of a better word – charming, a man who wore many, many masks and knew when to put each mask on for whichever audience that he was sitting in.”

Chernus added about Gacy’s unique ways: “He feels very different than some of the other serial killers we know. He wasn’t a loner. His neighbors never would have suspected him. He was really, truly hiding in plain sight. I do think at the end of the day, he was very arrogant. He was a narcissist, most likely, and he really thought he was going to get away with it.”

As I concluded my conversation with Chernus and Macmanus about their new Devil in Disguise Peacock series, I wondered what they believe that this specific episodic storytelling offers to audiences that other true crime shows perhaps have not provided in years past.

Chernus said of true crime, “I think it’s a big genre where there’s room for all kinds of different ways of telling these stories, but I think our story is just coming at it from a different angle of not just focusing on the serial killer. Of course, John Gacy is a huge part of it. He can’t not be – but it’s more about the larger aspect of the story of how his horrible acts, the ripple effect that they had, not only just on the families and law enforcement officers involved, but on all of Chicago and all of America.”

Macmanus added: “I believe in what we did, and I believe what we did is good and special. I’m just curious as to what people are going to think, because I think there are going to be some people who will be like – Oh, it’s just not my cup of tea. I’m looking for something that has a little bit more kineticism to it or adrenaline to it. What I do hope and I do think we offer is an opening for people who don’t traditionally want to watch true crime out of the fear factor, which is completely legitimate. I’ve been saying for a while, is that I don’t actually technically call this true crime. I think this is a drama. I think this is about these people’s lives: the family, the victims, the police, the lawyers, John Wayne Gacy himself. I don’t think you can easily fit it into the true crime bucket. And so, if anything, if we could get the word out to people who don’t watch true crime, to give it a shot, I think that they will be pleasantly surprised.”