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Both sold sex appeal as part of their brands while living as gay men.
InACS, Martin plays Antonio DAmico, the supportive, longtime partner of the late fashion designer.
Did you meet Antonio DAmico, the person youre portraying?A couple of times we met.
It was difficult for me to find him, but then I found him.
It was like, FBI, find Antonio!
Because I just wanted to do justice to his story, you know?
So we found him, and he was so open and so vulnerable.
I told him, Antonio, I just want to do justice to your love for Gianni.
I want to normalize relationships like this.
Its good for the world; its good for me as a gay man with kids.
Gianni would not pick up his clothes from the floor.
Extremely organized, very focused and extremely on top of things with everything!
But in his personal life, he had me picking up after him.
The silent person behind the scenes.The silent person behind the scenes, yeah.
It was a very excruciating scene for me.
I mean, this guy was opening every door that was a secret from Giannis and Antonios relationship.
Im talking about bringing men into our lives.
Im talking about bringing escorts.
The level of commitment after 15 years.
The level of security between them and trust between them is so solid.
We want to normalize another kind of reality for open relationships.
And thats what were doing.
Theres absolutely nothing wrong.
But the scene was very intense and painful.
It was a long day.
How much do you feel like homophobia was a part of that?Ignorance!
Oh my god, every question was so ignorant coming from this guy.
And Im like, What are you talking about?
Hes my boyfriend, my partner.
But even for me, in the 90s, it was difficult to say the word boyfriend.
I wish I could have said my husband back then, in order for people to understand.
There are many relationships that are open.
Whats your relationship like with Penelope Cruz?
Weve done fundraisers together.
Its funny because as I am shooting the scene of the investigation, I hadnt seen Penelope.
I want to hold you, but I want to hold my friend.
But I go like that [holds his hand out again] and Ryan goes, Great idea!
We need this for the shot, so stay there, and you cannot hug him.
She came back to me and goes, Rick, I saw you devastated.
Your eyes were swollen.
I needed to give you a hug.
And Im like, And you didnt.
But I wasnt allowed to!
It was better for the acting.
Im glad we didnt hug because all that made even more of [an] impact for the series.
You used the actual emotion that you felt.I wanted to hug you.
I really wanted to.
But Antonio, after being interrogated for nine hours, hes filled with blood.
And it took it to the next level.
And Penelope is amazing.
I was very honored to work with her.
You have no idea.
If I knew how easy everything was going to be afterward, I would have done it way before.
And I felt a joy, and I felt the love come from my partner.
Its one of the most beautiful scenes, I think.
I was like, Whats going on here?
Is this really happening?
Gianni Versace has a line where he says, Is the brand of Versace braver than the man?
when Donatella didnt want him to come out.
And I wondered if you wrestled with that question yourself in your life?Yes.
So you say, Okay, no.
Okay, lets just not talk about it then.
But then theres this emptiness; it doesnt matter what you created.
Living with this emptiness, its not how I want to live.
And we all go through it at a certain point.
Did you ever meet Versace?I never met Versace.
I was invited to the house a hundred times to different events.
I never met Donatella.
I never met him personally.
So I used the fact that its my first time in this villa and it felt amazing.
Did you date back in the90s, early 2000s?I was working like crazy in the 90s.
I had girlfriends, I had boyfriends, I had dog friends, I had cat friends.
But my career never sabotaged my intimate life.
It didnt?It didnt, it didnt.
Did you have a partner?No.
And I had this woman who was amazing.
She knew I was gay, but we were together.
She knew?Yeah, she knew.
She knew and we were together.
I worked so hard.
I dated, but nothing as serious, as formal as Antonio and Gianni.
This interview has been edited and condensed.
