Feud: Capote vs. The Swans featured an A-list cast that even had stars Naomi Watts and Diane Lane awestruck.
“Each day, I would hear about a new member of the cast joining, I was just mind blown,” Watts, 55, told Us Weekly exclusively at the FYC red carpet for the FX series in Los Angeles on Wednesday, May 29. The actress went on to say that she’s “admired” some of her costars “for decades.”
Lane, 59, agreed with Watts, noting she’s still “very grateful” to be part of the cast.
The show, which premiered in January, followed the story of writer Truman Capote’s friendship and falling out with The Swans — an elite group of New York City socialites.
Watts starred as Babe Paley, journalist and leader of The Swans. Lane took on the role of Slim Keith, who was famously married to director Howard Hawks and served as his inspiration for Lauren Bacall’s character in the movie To Have and Have Not. Tom Hollander, Chloë Sevigny, Demi Moore and Calista Flockhart also starred in the latest Feud installment.
“It was just wonderful,” Watts gushed of filming the show. “It made so much sense because these women were admired in their circles and in their time, and it just worked. I feel very lucky to be amongst that group.”
Lane said that she wished on-and-offscreen friendships with casts would “be like this all the time,” seemingly referring to The Swans.
“We all got a little addicted to the show while we were making it, enjoying the fact that it turned out as well as it did, and it should’ve,” Lane continued. “It’s wonderful when things turn out as you hope they will. We all always hope the best for our babies, and this baby had a lot of love.”
The legendary star said “each one of these women cast [members] are formidable,” which made working on the show “extra delicious.” The set was “fun,” “brave” and “extremely glamorous,” she added.
“It was everything you’d think it was,” Lane said. “We kept our focus but we also, occasionally, had these out of body experiences where we’d go, ‘Wow. This is amazing. We’re doing what we love, and it feels so good.’”
Feud: Capote vs. The Swans is the second installment in Ryan Murphy’s Feud anthology series. The first, Feud: Bette and Joan, aired in 2017. All episodes of both seasons are currently streaming on Hulu.
Reporting by Lanae Brody