Posted in: Peacock, TV | Tagged: Devil in Disguise: John Wayne Gacy, Marin Ireland

Devil in Disguise Star Marin Ireland on Navigating Emotional Journey

Marin Ireland (Dope Thief) spoke with us about tackling Peacock's Devil in Disguise: John Wayne Gacy, the series' perspectives, and more.

Marin Ireland is always looking for new opportunities to challenge herself in her roles, no matter the genre. Whether it's dramas like The Irishman (2019), horror like The Boogeyman (2023), or superhero like Netflix's The Umbrella Academy, the actress goes above and beyond with nearly 90 projects under her belt. Her latest is one of her most visceral outings as Elizabeth Piest, mother of Rob Piest (Brandon McEwan), one of the many victims of the infamous serial killer John Wayne Gacy in the Peacock series Devil in Disguise: John Wayne Gacy. The series chronicles the investigators behind Gacy's (Michael Chernus) capture, and the emphasis is on his victims and their families. Ireland spoke to Bleeding Cool about working with creator Patrick Macmanus and Chernus, developing deep empathy for her subject for performance inspiration, co-stars who played her family, and her most difficult scene.

'Devil in Disguise: John Wayne Gacy' Star Marin Ireland on Finding Strength in Elizabeth Through Tragedy

What intrigued you about Devil in Disguise?

I was really excited about the fact that the series was focusing on the victims and honoring their lives, and that was something I had talked about with Patrick [Macmanus] and with Michael Chernus as well, so that made me feel hopeful about the project.

What was it like working with Patrick as a creative?

Patrick is incredibly deeply invested, caring, supportive, and really understands all sides of it. He'd been an actor himself as well, so he understands what he's asking of actors, especially when it's such a difficult project.

How did you prep for playing Elizabeth, and what was the biggest challenge for you?

It's an emotionally demanding character with. She begins at a place of profound tragedy, and it only gets deeper from there. It was about taking care of myself in a lot of ways, and I tried to focus on honoring that kind of story, so I read a bunch of first-person stories, memoirs, accounts of people who lost children, or experienced a sudden loss in that way to learn more about the different ways that can affect people in their lives and figure out which one felt like it was, and which elements felt like they reflected Elizabeth's journey.

How did you develop that Piest family dynamic with Greg [Bryk], Cricket [Brown], and Thom [Nyhuss]?

They are also all people with theater backgrounds, which helps a lot. We share a lot of similar work ethics and approaches to things. I was also lucky because they're pretty special, very talented, and sweet people, so we all clicked very quickly together. That's a testament to Patrick in terms of finding the right dynamic, too, but I was very fortunate.

Was there a scene that stood out during production that was most difficult for you to get through?

One of them that I thought would be the easiest was shooting the last time she sees Rob, which we shot near the end of the production, because of scheduling, weather, and everything. It happened on [Elizabeth's] birthday in December 1978, and we ended up shooting it the day after her birthday, I think it was 45, 46 years later, and the sort of poignancy of that day overwhelmed everybody on set. We thought it was going to be one of the easier days, and it ended up being one of the most difficult.

Devil in Disguise: John Wayne Gacy, which also stars Gabriel Luna, James Badge Dale, Michael Angarano, and Chris Sullivan, premieres October 16th on Peacock.

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