'People v OJ Simpson' Star Cuba Gooding Jr. 'Relieved' Series Is Over

Johnnie Cochran and OJ Simpson (Courtney B. Vance and Cuba Gooding)

“People v OJ Simpson” star Cuba Gooding Jr. is “relieved” that the series has concluded.

“I was in a dark place with it,” Gooding said at an event to benefit the Motion Picture and Television Fund on Thursday in Los Angeles. “I went to church one Sunday and the pastor asked for [me] to stay after the service. Him and his wife prayed over me because he felt there was a darkness in my spirit. It was things like that where I’m like, ‘Man, this show is really affecting people.'”

According to People, Gooding, who played the accused murderer in the FX anthology series, also revealed what he hopes the real Simpson might take away from the series, should he ever watch it.

Also Read: 'People v OJ Simpson' Finale Ratings Jump 18 Percent From Last Week

“I would hope he would find some identification of some truth as he knew it back then and that he would eventually find redemption and healing,” he said. “And I’m not saying that he’s guilty or innocent, but I hope that, you know, anybody who watches this finds a better understanding.”

Ryan Murphy‘s take on “the Trial of the Century” concluded on Tuesday, showing the now infamous “not guilty” verdict that vindicated Simpson in the murders of his ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman.

Other stars of the series included Sarah Paulson as prosecutor Marcia Clark, Courtney B. Vance as defense attorney Johnnie Cochran, John Travolta as defense attorney Robert Shapiro and David Schwimmer as Simpson’s friend Robert Kardashian.

'People v OJ Simpson': 9 Weird Facts It Didn't Include (Photos)

If you're watching "The People v OJ Simpson" in light of Simpson's release from prison, get ready for some surprises. But the most amazing details in the FX miniseries were true. And the show didn't even include some of the strangest facts about Simpson's life -- although some made it into ESPN's "OJ: Made in America" (pictured). Here are nine bizarre details FX left out.
1. Marcia Clark Was Packing

"In light of her high public profile, the detectives in the Simpson case had prevailed upon Clark to start carrying a gun," Jeffrey Toobin writes in "The Run of His Life."
Clark (played by Sarah Paulson) once missed a flight because she forgot about her gun and had to fill out federal forms to carry it.
FX
2. Johnnie Cochran: Two Times a Family Man

In the 1970s, Cochran had two families, one of which he kept secret from the other.
CNN
While living with his wife Barbara, Cochran (Courtney B. Vance) also had a relationship with his secretary, Patty, who later changed her last name to Cochran. They traveled, bought property and had a child together. He also had two daughters with Barbara.
FX
3. From Witness to Ghostwriter

Screenwriter Pablo Fenjves testified against Simpson about hearing the "plaintive wail" of Nicole Brown Simpson's Akita when she was murdered. Later, he ghost-wrote Simpson's book "If I Did It."
4. Lance Ito Bashed the State Supreme Court

Toobin writes that when Ito (Kenneth Choi) was a prosecutor, he despised California's liberal Supreme Court so much that he had a custom vanity plate referring to them as "7 BOZOS."
FX
5. Ito Had Crazy Game

Ito met his future wife, Margaret York, in the most unromantic setting possible: at a homicide scene, at 4 a.m.
Getty Images
6. OJ Was Jealous of Kato

The reason Kato Kaelin was living with OJ, Toobin writes, is that he had formerly been a tenant in Nicole Brown Simpson's guest house.
Getty Images
When Nicole moved into a new home, she intended for Kato to move in and help babysit her kids. But Simpson objected to Kato living under the same roof as his ex-wife. So he let him stay at his own home.
Getty Images
"OJ's offer thus simultaneously removed a potential rival for Nicole's affections and took money out of his ex-wife's pocket," Toobin wrote.
Getty Images
7. There Was a Gross Mark Fuhrman-Nicole Brown Simpson Rumor

There were unsubstantiated reports that Mark Furhman (Steven Pasquale) bragged to other officers about having sex with Nicole Brown Simpson and complimented her "boob job." Two detectives who were said to have heard of the alleged bragging later denied they had.
YouTube
Johnnie Cochran repeatedly brought up the "boob job" talk in court on Sept. 1, 1995. Here's the transcript.
FX
8. OJ's Son v OJ

Simpson's son, Jason, once took a bat to OJ's statue of himself. Jason said in a deposition that he wasn't mad at his dad: "I wanted a party, and I was gonna throw a party, and I got busted. My dad found out that I was going to have a party that night. He said I couldn't have a party."
FX
9. The Juror Who Gave the Black Power Salute Was an Ex-Black Panther

The show accurately showed a juror giving Simpson a black power salute. What it didn't include was that the juror, Lionel (Lon) Cryer, was “a former Black Panther whom prosecutors had inexplicably left on the panel.”
If you liked this gallery, you might like this list of bizarre details "The People v OJ Simpson" got right...
FX
... and this list of what "The People v OJ Simpson" got wrong.
FX

1 of 17

As OJ Simpson walks free, here are some details that didn’t make it into FX’s devastating miniseries

If you're watching "The People v OJ Simpson" in light of Simpson's release from prison, get ready for some surprises. But the most amazing details in the FX miniseries were true. And the show didn't even include some of the strangest facts about Simpson's life -- although some made it into ESPN's "OJ: Made in America" (pictured). Here are nine bizarre details FX left out.

View In Gallery