Feud: Capote Vs. The Swans poster features the socialites Truman Capote scandalized in his works of fiction in Ryan Murphy’s new FX series
FX has unveiled the first poster for the highly anticipated series Feud: Capote Vs. The Swans, which reveals a January 31 premiere date.
Tom Hollander stars as iconic writer Truman Capote, who surrounded himself with a group of New York City socialites he called “The Swans.”
The Swans included Barbara “Babe” Paley (Naomi Watts), Slim Keith (Diane Lane), CZ Guest (Chloë Sevigny), Lee Radziwill (Calista Flockhart), Anne Woodward (Demi Moore) and Joanne Carson (Molly Ringwald).
The eight-episode series is the second installment of creator Ryan Murphy's Feud series, following 2017's Bette and Joan, starring Susan Sarandon as Bette Davis and Jessica Lange as Joan Crawford.
The story follows Capote as he befriends these women, who entrust their secrets to him, only to betray them.
New Poster: FX has unveiled the first poster for the highly anticipated series Feud: Capote Vs. The Swans, which reveals a January 31 premiere date
Tom as Truman: Tom Hollander stars as iconic writer Truman Capote, who surrounded himself with a group of New York City socialites he called “The Swans”
Naomi as Babe: Naomi Watts stars as Babe Paley in FX's Feud: Capote Vs. The Swans
Capote would further write: 'a thinly veiled fictionalization of their lives, exposing their most intimate secrets',
The author allowed some excerpts from the book to be published by Esquire, which destroyed his relationship with The Swans and effectively shunned him from high society.
Capote had been planning the book since 1958, which he saw as a magnum opus on the scale of Marcel Proust's In Search of Lost Time.
The book was initially scheduled to be published in 1968, but was postponed several times before Capote allowed Esquire to publish four chapters in 1975 and 1976.
While the standalone Mojave was well received, the now infamous La Cote Basque 1965 – based on the lives of Babe Paley and her husband, CBS magnate William Paley – was incredibly controversial and marked the beginning of Capote's downfall.
The other two chapters – Unspoiled Monsters and Kate McCloud – were also unfavorably received, with Unspoiled Monsters said to be a thinly veiled satire of Tennessee Williams, whose friendship with Capote was strained.
Capote referred to the 1971 book Answered Prayers as a “posthumous novel,” explaining, “Either I'm going to kill it, or it's going to kill me.”
Capote died in 1984 at the age of just 59, while his magnum opus was unpublished, but was published posthumously in 1986 as an 'unfinished novel'.
Chloe as CZ: Chloe Sevigny guest stars as CZ on FX's Feud: Capote Vs. the Swans
Molly as Joanne: Molly Ringwald plays Joanne Carson (wife of Johnny Carson) in FX's Feud: Capote Vs. The Swans
Demi as Ann: Demi Moore plays Ann Woodward in FX's Feud: Capote Vs. the Swans
Calista as Lee: Calista Flockhart plays Lee Radziwill in FX's Feud: Capote Vs. The Swans
Diane as Slim: Diane Lane as Slim Keith in FX's Feud: Capote Vs. The Swans
Treat as Bill: The series also stars the late actor Treat Williams (who passed away in June after a motorcycle accident) as Bill Paley
The series also stars the late actor Treat Williams (who passed away in June after a motorcycle accident) as Bill Paley, Joe Mantello as Jack Dunphy and Russell Tovey as John O'Shea.
The book is based on Lawrence Leamer's 2021 book Capote's Women: A True Story of Love, Betrayal, and a Swan Song for an Era.
Jon Robin Baitz (Brothers & Sisters) wrote all eight episodes this season, with Gus Van Sant, Max Winkler and Jennifer Lynch directing.
Baitz serves as executive producer alongside Ryan Murphy, Alexis Martin Woodall, Van Sant, Dede Gardner, Jeremy Kleiner, Naomi Watts, Eric Kovtun and Scott Robertson