VIDEO : Cuba Gooding Jr. Opens Up About Portraying O.J. Simpson

Two weeks prior to receiving a call about American Crime Story, Cuba Gooding Jr. said he received an offer to play O.J. Simpson in a different indie movie but declined. When the series came up, however, he said he signed on because he knew the story would be in responsible hands with Ryan Murphy. Gooding said in a recent interview, "He says to you, ?On this take, I want you to play it this way. That way might be showing O.J.?s guilt, or it might be portraying the frustration of his innocence. I have to be true to what he?s asking me to do. So I can?t let myself be too convinced in one frame of mind or one way of thinking.?