Calista Flockhart as Lee Radziwill in ‘Feud: Capote Vs. The Swans’.Photo:Pari Dukovic/FX
Pari Dukovic/FX
The stars ofFeud: Capote Vs. The Swanslook effortlessas they channel Manhattan’s high society of the ‘60s and ‘70s in designer fashions, glam jewelry and perfectly coifed hair in the newRyan Murphyseries.
“I didn’t have to do any of the work,”Calista Flockhart, who portraysLee Radziwill, tells PEOPLE in this week’s issue of making looking like a socialite appear easy. “I just had my costume and the wig and the makeup and it was all done.”
Working on the period piece took Flockhart, 59, back to her early days in New York City.
“I was thinking a lot about how I came to New York in 1988, 1989, and people still dressed up to go to the theater,” she says. “And I remember very quickly, that changed. I remember thinking, oh, I can just wear anything I want now to go to a play. There was a sadness to that — and also a relief. It was kind of the end of an era that these women experienced at the end of the show.”
Flockhart didn’t reach out to Radziwill’s daughter-in-law, former Real Housewife of New York CityCarole, for advice on getting into character, but she did pull inspiration from a loved one.
Lee Radziwill.Daily Mirror/Mirrorpix/Mirrorpix via Getty
Daily Mirror/Mirrorpix/Mirrorpix via Getty
Truman Capote’s swans, as he deemed them, had eyes on them wherever they went, whether attending the city’s most exclusive parties, eating at the poshest restaurants or summering on Long Island, N.Y. With the advent of the internet and social media, today’s public figures might feel a similar pressure as the swans once did to appear perfect all the time.
For Flockhart, “it depends what kind of pressure you’re going to put on yourself,” she says. “You’re either going to engage in it or just check out or somewhere in the middle, and it depends on how much you care. I think it’s an individual choice.”
For more onFeud: Capote Vs. The Swans,pick up the latest issue of PEOPLE, on newsstands Friday, or subscribehere.
TheAlly McBealstar actually thinks the myriad content available in 2024 helps drown out some of those pressures because people have so much they can put their attention towards.
Harrison Ford and Calista Flockhart.Tristar Media/WireImage
Tristar Media/WireImage
“I knew absolutely nothing,” she admits of the inspiration for the series. “I knew a lot about Truman Capote. Maybe I had a little memory of it at one point in my life, but really nothing.”
Flockhart also had the support of her husbandHarrison Fordas she took on the job.
“He supports me in so many ways,” she told PEOPLE at theJan. 23Feudpremiere in N.Y.C. “It’s a mutual thing.
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Feud: Capote Vs. The Swansairs Wednesdays at 10 p.m. ET on FX.
source: people.com
