Watch Dramatic ‘American Crime Story’ O.J. Simpson Trailer
FX released the first trailer for its forthcoming limited series, American Crime Story: The People V. O.J. Simpson. A spin-off of American Horror Story, American Crime Story‘s first installment, which made Rolling Stone‘s “68 Reasons This Year Will Rule,” centers on the infamous 1995 O.J. Simpson murder trial where Simpson was acquitted for the murders of Ronald Goldman and Simpson’s ex-wife, Nicole Brown.
Cuba Gooding Jr. stars as O.J. Simpson. The cast also includes John Travolta as defense attorney Robert Shapiro (Travolta is serving double duty as a producer), David Schwimmer as defense attorney Robert Kardashian, Sarah Paulson (who also stars in American Horror Story) as prosecutor Marcia Clark, Courtney B. Vance as defense attorney Johnnie Cochran and Bruce Greenwood as Los Angeles Country District Attorney Gil Garcetti.
For those who witnessed the real-life “Trial of the Century,” the one-minute clip will feel familiar. The words “You saw the chase” flash across the screen as the camera traces police chasing a white Bronco on a Los Angeles highway. The phrase “You watched the trial” is followed by mobs of media, police and others swarming the outside of the courtroom. However, the clip also teases with “But you don’t know the half of it.”
What that might be isn’t clear in the short trailer, but it appears the story will be told from both the prosecution and defense’s perspectives. A Kardashian/Simpson connection is drawn when Schwimmer’s character says, “He’s my friend, I don’t turn my back on people.” Travolta’s character refers to Simpson’s suicide note, saying, “Who the hell signs a suicide note with a happy face?” and race is addressed when Gooding Jr.’s character says, “You want to make this a black thing? Well, I’m not black. I’m O.J.”
The miniseries is based on Jeffrey Toobin’s book, The Run of His Life: The People V. O.J. Simpson and will premiere on FX on February 2nd.