'Feud: Capote's Women' Is Stacked With Absolute Legends
In the six years since Feud: Bette and Joan premiered, Ryan Murphy has been an extremely busy man. While continuing work on his FX series American Horror Story and American Crime Story, the super-producer signed a reported $300 million deal with Netflix, which resulted in The Watcher, Hollywood, The Politician, Halston, Ratched and Dahmer. Now he's reportedly moving to Disney, and there’s no doubt that the addictive shows will just keep flowing.
In the meantime, Feud fans are finally getting a second season of the anthology series featuring a whole new world of old-school drama. Where Bette and Joan centered on the last days of Old Hollywood, Capote’s Women will move to the high society world of New York City, populated by wives of European nobles and one well-connected writer—Truman Capote—who would ultimately betray his wealthy friends.
“It’s such an iconic time and very interesting for women in particular,” Naomi Watts, who plays socialite Barbara "Babe" Paley in the FX series, told Entertainment Weekly in October 2022. “Babe Paley, what an incredible woman. As Truman described her, her only imperfection was that she was so perfect. I’m learning so much about her.”
Like many Murphy productions, Feud: Capote’s Women is absolutely stacked with legends, including Demi Moore, Diane Lane, Chlo? Sevigny, Molly Ringwald and Calista Flockhart, all of whom are playing some of midcentury New York’s most well-known social butterflies.
“I’m thrilled to be working with an incredible cast of wonderful women,” Watts told EW of her co-stars. “It’s such a dynamic group.” No kidding—now if only Jessica Lange was somehow involved. Read on for everything we know so far about Feud: Capote’s Women.
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Is Feud: Capote’s Women based on a true story?
Yes. Feud: Capote’s Women is an adaptation of Laurence Leamer’s 2021 non-fiction book Capote’s Women: A True Story of Love, Betrayal, and a Swan Song for an Era. The book centers on the details and relationships surrounding author Truman Capote’s unfinished final novel, Answered Prayers.
During the period of its writing, Capote was friends with a number of glamorous socialites, whom he referred to as his “swans.” They included Lee Radziwill, who was the younger sister of Jacqueline Kennedy, and Barbara “Babe” Paley, who was married to the founder of CBS. While Capote never finished Answered Prayers, he did publish several excerpts in Esquire magazine—and what his swans read upset them so much that they never spoke to him again.
What is Feud: Capote’s Women about?
Feud: Capote’s Women is likely to focus on the late 1960s and early 1970s. At that point, Truman Capote was well-known for the novella Breakfast at Tiffany’s and the “non-fiction novel” In Cold Blood, but he’d come down with a serious case of writer’s block. After he befriended some of New York City’s most sophisticated socialites, he decided that their lives would be perfect fodder for his next book, Answered Prayers. His friends, however, thought otherwise. When excerpts from the unfinished novel were published in Esquire, his so-called “swans” were furious. Babe Paley and her husband immediately stopped speaking to Capote, as did Nancy “Slim” Keith and Gloria Guinness.
Capote died in 1984 after years of struggling with drug and alcohol addiction. Two years later, his book Answered Prayers was published posthumously.
Is there a trailer for Feud: Capote’s Women?
FX has yet to release a trailer for Feud: Capote’s Women.
Who is in the Feud: Capote’s Women cast?
Naomi Watts (Babe Paley)
Naomi Watts stars as Barbara “Babe” Paley, who was a fashion editor at Vogue until her 1947 marriage to William S. Paley, who founded CBS. Babe was known for her impeccable style, which landed her on the International Best Dressed Hall of Fame List. Feud marks Watts’ second collaboration with Ryan Murphy after her turn in the 2022 series The Watcher.
Chlo? Sevigny (C.Z. Guest)
Chlo? Sevigny will appear as Lucy Douglas “C. Z.” Guest, another New York City socialite known for her fashion sense and social connections. When Guest married Winston Churchill’s cousin in 1947, Ernest Hemingway was the best man at the wedding. Sevigny is another Murphy alum, having starred in American Horror Story: Asylum and American Horror Story: Hotel.
Calista Flockhart (Lee Radziwill)
Calista Flockhart plays Lee Radziwill, who was the younger sister of former First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy. Lee was a princess through her 1959 marriage to Stanis?aw Albrecht Radziwi??. (Bravo fans may remember that Lee’s daughter-in-law Carole Radziwill starred on The Real Housewives of New York City in Seasons 5 through 10.) Feud is Flockhart’s first collaboration with Murphy and her first TV appearance since she played Cat Grant on Supergirl.
Demi Moore (Ann Woodward)
Demi Moore, another Murphy first-timer, will star as Ann Woodward, who worked as a showgirl in a New York City nightclub until she met her husband, banking heir William Woodward Jr. In 1955, Ann shot and killed William, claiming she mistook him for a burglar. While she was never indicted for the shooting, she was shunned by society until she died by suicide in 1975.
Diane Lane (Slim Keith)
Diane Lane joins the Murphyverse as Nancy “Slim” Keith, who began her socialite career in Hollywood, hanging out with people like Cary Grant and Gary Cooper. After her 1949 divorce from director Howard Hawks, she moved to New York and married Leland Hayward. Her third husband, Kenneth Keith, was a baron.
Molly Ringwald (Joanne Carson)
Fresh off her turn as Archie’s mom, Mary Andrews, on Riverdale, Molly Ringwald will star as Joanne Carson, who was married to talk show host Johnny Carson from 1963 to 1972. After society shunned Capote following the Esquire debacle, Joanne took him in at her home in Los Angeles.
Tom Hollander (Truman Capote)
Tom Hollander, known for his work on The White Lotus and The Night Manager, will play Truman Capote. Capote’s most famous works, In Cold Blood and Breakfast at Tiffany’s, were behind him at the time of Capote’s Women. His friendships with many of his “swans” evaporated after the publication of excerpts from his unfinished book Answered Prayers, which was loosely based on their lives. Capote died in 1984 at age 59 from liver disease complicated by phlebitis and drug intoxication.
Related: Everything There Is to Know About The White Lotus Season 3
Treat Williams (William S. Paley)
The late Treat Williams, who died June 12, 2023, in a motorcycle accident, was cast as CBS founder William S. Paley last year. His turn in Feud: Capote’s Women will mark his final television appearance. Paley knew Capote through his wife, Babe, but they ended their relationship with the writer after the publication of “La C?te Basque, 1965,” which included thinly veiled accounts of William’s infidelity.
Chris Chalk (James Baldwin)
Perry Mason star Chris Chalk is set to play James Baldwin, the iconic writer known for Notes of a Native Son, Giovanni’s Room and If Beale Street Could Talk. Capote and Baldwin were contemporaries and traveled in the same social circles, but their relationship wasn’t entirely friendly. Capote famously derided Baldwin’s work, once writing: “I loathe Jimmy’s fiction: it is crudely written and of a balls-aching boredom.” Baldwin died of stomach cancer at age 63 in 1987.
Joe Mantello (Jack Dunphy)
Joe Mantello—a veteran of Murphy’s The Normal Heart, The Watcher and American Horror Story: NYC—will play novelist Jack Dunphy, who was Capote’s partner from 1948 until Capote’s death in 1984.
How many episodes are in Feud: Capote’s Women?
Like Feud: Bette and Joan, Capote’s Women will consist of eight episodes.
What is the Feud: Capote’s Women release date?
A premiere date for Feud: Capote’s Women hasn’t yet been announced, but it’s likely to debut in late 2023 or early 2024.
How to watch Feud: Capote’s Women
Feud: Capote’s Women doesn’t yet have a premiere date, but it will likely air on FX with episodes streaming the following day on Hulu.
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