Capote vs. the Swans Writer Breaks Down Truman, Babe Paley Scene

FX/Hulu’s Feud: Capote vs. the Swans depicts the notorious rift between author Truman Capote and his “swans” — a handpicked assortment of Manhattan socialites who ice out Capote from New York society after he publishes a brief story loosely based mostly on Babe Paley and her husband’s varied infidelities. On this scene from the pilot, written by Jon Robin Baitz, the viewers is handled to a meet-cute of types between Truman (Tom Hollander) and Babe (Naomi Watts) years earlier than their conflict that provides an thought of the deep connection between the 2 gamers.

Truman Capote is an American popular culture icon, recognizable to literary followers even immediately. Getting his voice and mannerisms on the web page was essential — and Baitz says that Hollander caught to the script, avoiding any ad-libbing in character as Truman. “His respect for the word is based on his love of playwrights, of trying to figure out what the thing is that you’re trying to capture,” says Baitz.

“I’m fighting mythology a bit,” Baitz remembers of the method of writing Truman, the character, with out being slowed down by Truman, the actual particular person. “There is a mythology that Truman cloaks himself in, always: genius floundering in catastrophe, a slow-moving disaster.” Babe’s personal self-deprecation permits Truman to decrease his guard as a result of it shatters what Baitz describes as her personal public persona: “a strong American, regal, royal beauty.”

Invoice Paley’s infidelities are hardly a shock to Babe, who asks Truman level clean if he noticed her husband along with his mistress within the earlier scene. “She asks this very pointed question, almost as a test,” says Baitz, who provides that Babe instantly appreciates Truman’s honesty. “Their friendship is not really born but acknowledged — having [taken place] naturally, almost by osmosis. They feel like kindred spirits.”

Writing exposition doesn’t come naturally to Baitz, who says he began out as an actor earlier than pivoting to writing. “An actor’s process is mysterious, but this fundamental moment is when you put on the vestments: the costume, the acute trauma of your character, what they wear, what they smell like,” he says. “I’m not good at plot — I mean I’m proficient. But I have a sense of how [the characters] smell. Does she have Chanel No. 5 on? Is there a cashmere wrap near her? Envisioning the painting actually helps me get into the mood and psychology of the scene.”

Baitz admits that discovering the “visual vocabulary” is a vital aspect of screenwriting: “As a playwright, I make music out of words. In film and television, you have to make music out of the pictures as much as you do the words.” For Feud, he took inspiration from painters Francis Bacon and Lucian Freud when imagining the tableau of a scene — typically with the assistance of EP Ryan Murphy. “Ryan is very encouraging of creating paintings,” says Baitz. “We’d talk late at night — usually with a martini — on the phone, and we’d essentially paint the scenes together and find what the secrets are under the surface of the action.”

This story first appeared in a Might standalone problem of The Hollywood Reporter journal. Click on right here to subscribe.