A Look at Feud: Capote vs. The Swans (2024)

Who doesn’t love a good story about bad girls? Truman Capote was no exception, and the long-awaited successor to Ryan Murphy’s amazing Feud (2017) focuses on the author’s complicated relationship with a group of elite Manhattan socialites in Feud: Capote vs. The Swans (2024), and it’s due to drop on streaming service Hulu on January 31, 2024.

First of all, I would like to point out that FX has been pretty stingy with their promotional material in advance of the premier. Everywhere I looked, there were the same eigh photos of the principal actors in their roles, and the official trailer is very rapidly edited so seeing any more details about clothing was really difficult. Secondly, I take no responsibility for some of the atrocious photoshopping done to these women in the photos you will see below. Yeah, every single one of them is over the age of 50, but last I checked, they’re all holding up pretty well. Anyway, with that out of the way, here’s what we do know…

Truman Capote – Tom Hollander

Tom Hollander plays Truman Capote and from the look of things, seems to nail it pretty well.

Babe Paley – Naomi Watts

Often touted as Capote’s “favorite swan,” Babe Paley was the wife of Bill Paley, chief executive of CBS. She’s played by Naomi Watts.

Slim Keith – Diane Lane

Nancy “Slim” Keith, aka Lady Keith of Castleacre, was known for her “crisp” personal style. She’s played by Diane Lane.

C.Z. Guest – Chloë Sevigny

C.Z. Guest was another American socialite who married into British nobility, but she was primarily known for being a muse to everyone from Andy Warhol to Salvador Dali. She’s played by Chloë Sevigny.

Lee Radziwill – Calista Flockhart

Lee Radizwill was the younger, more glamorous sister of Jacqueline Kennedy. Her exploits were well documented in the New York scene during the middle decades of the 20th century. She’s played by Calista Flockhart.

Ann Woodward – Demi Moore

Most folks will know Ann Woodward because of the suspicious death of her husband, William Woodward, Jr. in 1955. Ann was considered a suspect in his shooting death, but the whole business was quietly hushed up until 1975, when Capote’s explosive article in *Esquire* blew it all open again. She ended up taking her own life shortly thereafter. In the series, she’s played by Demi Moore.

Joanne Carson – Molly Ringwald

The odd swan out, Joanne Carson was the ex-wife of Johnny Carson, and was not part of the insular New York City jet set that the other women were; however, she and Capote were a bonded pair throughout the aftermath of his *Esquire* article. She’s played by Molly Ringwald.

I am greedily reading the source material for the series, Capote’s Women: A True Story of Love, Betrayal, and a Swan Song For an Era by Laurence Leamer, binging it all before the show drops on Wednesday.

Who else is eagerly anticipating Feud: Capote vs. The Swans (2024)? Tell us about it in the comments!

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6 thoughts on “A Look at Feud: Capote vs. The Swans (2024)”

Fizza says:

January 30, 2024 at 6:40 am

I’m hoping it will be sold to the U.K. An American friend told me this was coming out.
LadySlippers says:

January 30, 2024 at 9:12 am

This looks divine. I hope it actually is.
MJ says:

January 30, 2024 at 12:23 pm

I really can’t tell that’s Molly Ringwald. But the cast alone makes me want to watch this!
Al Don says:

January 30, 2024 at 2:55 pm

Hell of a cast and the visuals look interesting so far. Will have to check this out.

Also, given Truman Capote’s highly specific look and inflections, you’d think he’d be an incredibly hard person to cast. But the two so far I’ve seen – Philip Seymour Hoffman and Toby Jones – were fantastic.

Tom Hollander’s a bloody good actor – so good they paid him for playing Spider-Man, which he didn’t even do. So here’s hoping he continues the tradition of Hoffman and Jones.
SarahV says:

January 30, 2024 at 7:51 pm

I will follow Diane Kane into any theater, down any street and into any project.
Susan Pola Staples says:

January 30, 2024 at 10:56 pm

Moi