Gianni Versace's Killer Was Fixated on Tom Cruise and Had a 'Creepy' Run-in With Lisa Kudrow Weeks Before Bombshell Assassination
Andrew Cunanan reportedly had a fascination with fame and celebrities.
July 14 2026, Published 2:15 p.m. ET
Gianni Versace's killer, Andrew Cunanan, was said to have had an intense fascination with fame – that included an outright obsession with Tom Cruise.
Nearly 30 years after the Italian fashion designer was assassinated, RadarOnline.com revisits his murderer's bizarre fixations.
Andrew Cunanan's Fascination With Tom Cruise
Andrew Cunanan was obsessed with Tom Cruise and 'often emulated him,' according to Michael O'Brien.
One of Cunanan's former friends, Michael O'Brien, claimed the killer "wanted to be" the action star and "often emulated him."
"He’d go to Hollywood and hit the best places and drive around in a rented BMW in the hopes of running into his hero," O'Brien said in a resurfaced interview. "He had a vast collection of leather jackets, but his favorite was the bomber jacket that looked exactly like the one Cruise wore in Top Gun."
Andrew Cunanan allegedly believed he might spark a romantic relationship with Tom Cruise, according to a former friend.
According to O'Brien, "Andrew would look in the mirror and pretend to be the characters Tom played in the movies."
Cunanan's was so fixated on Cruise that he allegedly even had delusions that he may one day have a sexual relationship with him and used the actor as a "gauge or meter when it came to rating other guys."
"If somebody said to him a guy on the street was cute, Andrew would say, ‘Oh, he’s OK, but he’s no Tom Cruise. No guy is as cute as my Tom," added O'Brien.
"He really believed that one day he and Tom might actually be together. That’s how crazy he was about the whole thing."
Andrew Cunanan Allegedly 'Cornered' Lisa Kudrow
Andrew Cunanan allegedly pestered Lisa Kudrow at a dinner party.
As Radar previously reported, Cunanan was also rumored to have met Friends star Lisa Kudrow at a dinner party mere weeks before he murdered Versace. According to one of the actress' pals, Kudrow allegedly told them that Cunanan gave her "the creeps" because he "cornered" her and "wouldn't go away."
"He had this wild look in his eyes, and he kept talking and talking — about HIMSELF!" she reportedly added. "He told me what a great actor he would be, and he dropped name after name."
"I was trying to think of anything to say to get away from him," Kudrow continued, according to the insider. "And when no one came over to rescue me, I decided to say I had to go to the bathroom – just so I had a reason to get up and get out of there."
Gianni Versace's Assassination
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Andrew Cunanan killed Gianni Versace in 1997.
On July 15, 1997, Cunanan shot Versace twice in the back of his head outside his home in Miami Beach, sparking an immediate manhunt. However, the justice process was cut short when the killer apparently took his own life several days after Versace's assassination.
His body was found in a boat house only a few miles from the fashion designer's property on July 23, 1997.
Cunanan's exact motive is still unclear to this day, though investigators believe he was targeting gay men. Before his death, Cunanan was also connected to four other violent murders – Jeffrey Trail, his ex David Madson, Lee Miglin and William Reese
