American Crime Story packs suspense and action

After more than 135 days of television coverage that the infamous O.J. Simpson murder case received, the spotlight has officially returned to Simpson in the upcoming FX series The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story, which is set to premiere Feb. 2, 2016. The star-studded docudrama, featuring Cuba Gooding Jr. as Simpson, will re-enact the “most high-profile criminal trial in U.S. history,” according to The Hollywood Reporter.

The drama-filled trailer gives prospective viewers a glimpse into what creators Scott Alexander and Larry Karaszewski plan to unveil as the complete narrative behind the case, uncovering more details than the 1994 televised trial did. Now 22 years later, the unique true crime anthology TV series brings viewers familiar faces like John Travolta and David Schwimmer as Simpson’s attorneys Robert Shapiro and Robert Kardashian, respectively, to represent the familiar faces behind the real-life crime story, based on the book The Run of His Life: The People v. O.J. Simpson written by Jeffrey Toobin.

Gooding confessed to The Hollywood Reporter about the doubts he faced about personifying the 46-year-old former USC and NFL star and alleged murderer of ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and friend Ronald Goldman. “There was one day after filming that I went to my trailer and I couldn’t stop crying because I realized I never even considered the loss for the Goldman or Brown family,” the Academy Award winner said. “Back then, I was just so relieved that another black man got away from the injustice that was the LAPD. I was just so relieved that they didn’t screw us over again.”

Although the show tries to remain unbiased throughout the 10-episode retelling of the case, the issue of race serves a prominent role as the historic 1994 case followed the 1992 Rodney King riots in which race relations between African Americans and the LAPD were strained. Late attorney Johnnie Cochran, played by actor Courtney B. Vance, stood at the forefront of both Simpson’s acclaimed defense team and the devout black community. As the trial ultimately ended with Simpson’s acquittal, African Americans celebrated as 72 percent of their population saw him as innocent, according to a poll taken by the Washington Post at the time the verdict was announced.

But portraying an exonerated African American man was only half of the job that Gooding had. The 48-year-old actor, who is the same age Simpson was during the time of the trial, wanted to focus on the exalted football star turned actor as opposed to the currently incarcerated, dispirited Simpson. Gooding did not wish to visit Simpson in jail to prepare for his performance because of the psychological toll incarceration has on its victims.

“I have a lot of friends and family who are incarcerated, and I know what that jail cell does to your psyche,” he said. “I didn’t want him to take me into that frame of mind. He was the O.J. Simpson who everyone loved … and in that cage, he’s a ruined man.”

Aside from his present brokenness, The People v. O.J. Simpson strives to go beyond “O.J. Simpson the man, it’s really about the case itself and the lawyers on both sides,” said actress Sarah Paulson, who plays head prosecutor Marcia Clark, told Variety. The holistic perspective of the show will allow viewers to shape their own opinions about the case and decide for themselves whether they believe Simpson to be innocent or not. After intensive research on the case was conducted, alongside a close reading of Toobin’s book, the first season sets to encapsulate the tension, emotion and moral ambiguity of the so-called “Trial of the Century.”

With the first season outlined, American Crime Story has already prepared for its second installment with its focus on Hurricane Katrina, the 2005 disaster that took a deadly and costly toll on the entire nation, not just the Atlantic region. Executive producer Ryan Murphy plans to follow a specific group of people and delve into their tragic lives of seeking refuge from inside the Louisiana Superdome to local hospitals during the aftermath.

“I want this show to be a socially conscious, socially aware examination of different types of crime around the world,” Murphy said. “And in my opinion, Katrina was a f—ing crime — a crime against a lot of people who didn’t have a strong voice and we’re going to treat it as a crime. That’s what this show is all about.”