“Feud: Capote Vs. The Swans,” the second season of Ryan Murphy’s award-winning anthology, will debut on both FX and FXX on Wednesday, January 31st, and here’s what you need to know about this new story.
The Details
The second season of Murphy’s 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.
It centers on acclaimed writer Truman Capote (played by Tom Hollander), who surrounded himself with an inner circle of society’s most elite women – rich, glamorous socialites who defined a bygone era of high society New York – whom he nicknamed “the Swans.”
Beautiful and distinguished, the group included grande dame Barbara “Babe” Paley (Naomi Watts), Slim Keith (Diane Lane), C.Z. Guest (Chloë Sevigny) and Lee Radziwill (Calista Flockhart).
Capote ingratiated himself into their 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.
When an excerpt from the book, “Answered Prayers,” which was Capote’s planned masterpiece, was published in “Esquire,” it effectively destroyed his relationship with his swans, banished him from the high society he so loved, and sent him into a spiral of self-destruction from which he would ultimately never recover.
The series also stars Demi Moore as Ann “Bang-Bang” Woodward, Molly Ringwald as Joanne Carson, Treat Williams (in his final role) as Bill Paley, Joe Mantello as Jack Dunphy and Russell Tovey as John O’Shea.
Written for television by Jon Robin Baitz, “FEUD: Capote Vs. The Swans” was directed by Gus Van Sant, Max Winkler and Jennifer Lynch.
The show is executive produced by Ryan Murphy, Alexis Martin Woodall, Baitz, Van Sant, Dede Gardner, Jeremy Kleiner, Naomi Watts, Eric Kovtun and Scott Robertson. It is produced by 20th Television.
First Look
Here is the trailer for “Feud: Capote Vs. The Swans,” which introduces the major players in the season. Think of them as the original Housewives of High Society.
How to Watch
The eight-episode limited series will premiere its first two episodes on Wednesday, January 31st at 10pm ET/PT on FX, and simulcast with a special Director’s Cut of the first episode on FXX.
All episodes, including the Director’s Cut, will be available to stream the next day on Hulu.
The series will also be coming to Star+ in Latin America, and Disney+ in all other territories. Check local listings for dates.
