'Feud: Capote vs. The Swans': Who plays Truman Capote and his 'Swans' in new FX series?
It's the season for telling fictionalized versions of true events: think Netflix's "Griselda" or Apple TV's "Masters of the Air". The latest to join this lineup is Ryan Murphy's "Feud: Capote vs. The Swans," scheduled to drop on FX on Wednesday, Jan. 31.
The eight-episode limited series is based on the bestselling book "Capote's Women: A True Story of Love, Betrayal, and a Swan Song for an Era" by Laurence Leamer and focuses on the relationship between writer Truman Capote and a group of rich, glamorous women he surrounded himself with and nicknamed "the swans."
The season sees Capote become "ingratiated" into the women's lives, "befriending them and becoming their confidante, only to ultimately betray them by writing a thinly veiled fictionalization of their lives, exposing their most intimate secrets," FX notes.
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Here's everything you need to know about "Feud: Capote vs. The Swans" cast and who they are portraying.
Tom Hollander as Truman Capote
British actor Tom Hollander plays the celebrated author in the series. Some of his notable works include “Breakfast at Tiffany’s" and “In Cold Blood".
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Naomi Watts as Babe Paley
Barbara Paley, popularly known as Babe Paley, was a fashion icon, magazine editor and socialite, admired in New York society. Before getting married to CBS executive William S. Paley in 1947, she was an editor at Vogue Magazine.
She died of cancer in July 1978, according to the New York Times.
Diane Lane as Slim Keith
Born in California as Nancy Gross, Slim Keith, often dubbed as the original 'California Girl' due to her long legs and athletic physique, entered high society as a 22-year-old model when she posed on the cover of Harper's Bazaar, according to Tatler.
Keith was a major society figure on both coasts and married multiple times. Her first marriage was with Hollywood producer Howard Hawk, second with Broadway producer Leland Hayward and third with British aristocrat Sir Kenneth Keith, through which she became Lady Keith.
Chloë Sevigny as C. Z. Guest
C. Z. Guest is described as "one of the monarchs of New York society," by the New York Times in her obituary. The socialite and author was a constant on the best-dressed list along with being a gardening and equestrian enthusiast. According to the obituary, Capote referred to her as a “cool vanilla lady” because of her elegance and charm.
She was married to Winston Frederick Churchill Guest, an international polo star, heir to the Phipps steel fortune and a second cousin of Winston Churchill, until his death in 1982. Guest herself passed away in November 2003.
Calista Flockhart as Lee Radziwill
Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis' younger sister, Lee Radziwill was a jet-setting socialite and fashion icon, who along with her sister were bona fide "it-girls" in the 1960s. Radziwill briefly worked as an actress, starring in the film "Laura," before becoming an interior designer and a public relations executive for Italian fashion house, Giorgio Armani.
Radziwill married and divorced three times. She was previously wed to publishing executive Michael Temple Canfield, Polish aristocrat Prince Stanislaw Albrecht Radziwill, whom she shares two children – Prince Anthony and Princess Anna Christina – and film director Herbert Ross. She passed away in February 2019 at the age of 85.
Demi Moore as Ann Woodward
Despite humble beginnings, Ann Woodward made her way into New York high society when she married banking heir William Woodward Jr, whom she accidentally killed in 1955 thinking he was a burglar, according to a New York Times report. Though a grand jury ruled the shooting an accident, Woodward's life was never the same and she eventually died of suicide in 1957.
Reports suggest that Woodward took her own life days before Esquire published an excerpt from Capote's unfinished, but published, novel, "Answered Prayers," which included a fictionalized version of the shooting and portrayed Woodward as Ann Cutler, "a harlot and a gold digger who killed her husband because he had discovered she was a bigamist".
Molly Ringwald as Joanne Carson
Joanne, comedian Johnny Carson’s ex-wife, was one of Capote's closest friends, especially after he was alienated by the New York elite. Capote died at her home in California in August 1984.
'Feud: Capote vs. The Swans' trailer
FX released the latest trailer for the series on Jan. 18.
Saman Shafiq is a trending news reporter for USA TODAY. Reach her at [email protected] and follow her on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter @saman_shafiq7.