John Travolta helped bring 'The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story' to FX

The death of O.J. Simpson on Wednesday may lead people to recall his famous double murder trial — and, perhaps, the critically acclaimed TV program based on those proceedings.

Marion County resident John Travolta produced and starred in "The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story," a 10-part series that debuted on FX Network in 2016. Travolta played the part of Robert Shapiro, a member of Simpson's legal "dream team," which secured an acquittal.

Travolta, who lives with his family in the Jumbolair aviation community north of Ocala, talked with the Star-Banner's Dave Schlenker about the show for a 2016 story.

"I knew that I was creating something fun to watch," he said of playing the defense attorney.

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When asked whether the show exceeded his expectations, Travolta said yes, to some degree.

"I don't know if you can ever anticipate a show having such a unanimous response — the critical acclaim, the public acclaim," Travolta says in the article. "And then it was validated by 22 (award) nominations; you rarely see that kind of thing. I knew that we had the artists who would give a quality product at the best level, but who can predict this kind of definitive response?"

Schlenker asked Travolta if he had ever heard from Shapiro.

"I never did," he said in the article. "I don't know now how he feels about me playing him, but I felt I was honorable to Jeff Toobin's book, and others felt the same. But I knew this character would be someone you looked forward to seeing."

To learn more about the show, visit the FX Network website at https://www.fxnetworks.com/shows/american-crime-story/people-vs-oj-simpson

This article originally appeared on Ocala Star-Banner: Marion County's John Travolta starred in 'The People v. O.J. Simpson'