Feud is an American anthology drama television series created by Ryan Murphy, Jaffe Cohen, and Michael Zam, which premiered on FX on March 5, 2017. Conceived as an anthology series, Feuds first season, Bette and Joan, chronicles the well-documented rivalry between Hollywood actresses Joan Crawford and Bette Davis during and after the production of their psychological horror thriller film What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? (1962); while the second season, Capote vs. The Swans, aired in 2024 and focuses on the fallout of a roman à clef story written by author Truman Capote based on the lives of a group of several New York socialites whom he termed "the Swans".
In the first season, Bette and Joan, Jessica Lange and Susan Sarandon star as Crawford and Davis, respectively. Judy Davis, Jackie Hoffman, Alfred Molina, Stanley Tucci, and Alison Wright feature in supporting roles. Academy Award–winning actresses Catherine Zeta-Jones and Kathy Bates also appear. Critically acclaimed, with major praise for Lange and Sarandon's performances, the first season garnered several accolades. It received 18 nominations at the 69th Primetime Emmy Awards and won two, including Outstanding Hairstyling and Makeup (Non-Prosthetic). Bette and Joan also received nominations for six Critics' Choice Awards, four Golden Globe Awards, two Screen Actors Guild Awards, and three Television Critics Association Awards.
In February 2017, FX renewed the series for a second season. Following a hiatus, in April 2022, it was announced that the second season would be Feud: Capote vs. The Swans, with Jon Robin Baitz serving as showrunner/writer, Gus Van Sant as director, and Naomi Watts starring as Babe Paley, with Tom Hollander portraying Capote. It premiered on January 31, 2024.
Summary The first season (subtitled Bette and Joan) centers on the backstage battle between Bette Davis (Susan Sarandon) and Joan Crawford (Jessica Lange) during and after the production of their 1962 film What Ever Happened to Baby Jane?.
The second season (subtitled Capote vs. The Swans) focuses on the end of Truman Capote's friendships with many New York socialites nicknamed "the Swans" when he lightly fictionalizes their lives in published excerpts from his ultimately unfinished novel Answered Prayers.
Cast and characters Bette and Joan Main Jessica Lange as Joan Crawford/Blanche Hudson Susan Sarandon as Bette Davis/Baby Jane Hudson Judy Davis as Hedda Hopper, gossip columnist Jackie Hoffman as Mamacita, Crawford's housekeeper Alfred Molina as Robert Aldrich, director/producer of What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? and Hush...Hush, Sweet Charlotte Stanley Tucci as Jack L. Warner, head of Warner Bros. Alison Wright as Pauline Jameson, Aldrich's assistant
Recurring Catherine Zeta-Jones as Olivia de Havilland, Davis's friend and fellow actress who co-stars with her in Hush...Hush, Sweet Charlotte and participates in a 1970s documentary on Crawford Kathy Bates as Joan Blondell, Davis's friend and fellow actress who participates in a 1970s documentary on Crawford Kiernan Shipka as B. D. Merrill, Davis's daughter Reed Diamond as Peter, Joan's latest paramour Ken Lerner as Marty, Crawford's agent Joel Kelley Dauten as Adam Freedman, a documentary filmmaker Molly Price as Harriet Foster Aldrich, Robert Aldrich's wife Dominic Burgess as Victor Buono, an actor who co-stars in What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? and Hush...Hush, Sweet Charlotte
Historical figures Feud features appearances by a number of actors, directors and other historical figures of the period, including:
Mark Valley as Gary Merrill, a fading actor and Bette Davis's estranged fourth husband Kris Black as Cliff Robertson, Joan's co-star in Autumn Leaves Lizz Carter as Margaret Leighton, Bette's co-star in the Broadway production of The Night of the Iguana Jake Robards as Patrick O'Neal, Bette's co-star in the Broadway production of The Night of the Iguana Alisha Soper as Marilyn Monroe, winner of the Best Actress Golden Globe in 1960 for Some Like It Hot Jon Morgan Woodward as Al Steele, the CEO of the Pepsi-Cola Company and Joan Crawford's fourth husband Tom Berklund as Fred MacMurray, Joan's co-star in Above Suspicion Kerry Stein as Louis B. Mayer, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer studio head Scott Vance as Michael Curtiz, director of Mildred Pierce who gave Crawford her Best Actress Oscar in 1945 Toby Huss as Frank Sinatra, singer and actor who stars in Aldrich's film 4 for Texas Cameron Cowperthwaite as Michael Parks, Bette's co-star in an episode of Perry Mason Daniel Hagen as Michael Luciano, film editor of What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? Sarah Paulson as Geraldine Page, Davis' co-nominee for Best Actress in 1963 Serinda Swan as Anne Bancroft, winner of the Best Actress Oscar in 1963 for The Miracle Worker John Rubinstein as George Cukor, a film director and longtime friend of Crawford Phillip Boyd as Maximilian Schell, winner of the Best Actor Oscar in 1962 for Judgment at Nuremberg Cash Black as Rip Torn, Geraldine Page's husband Bryant Boon as Gregory Peck, winner of the Best Actor Oscar in 1963 for To Kill a Mockingbird Eric Callero as Jack Lord, actor who attended the 35th Academy Awards Taylor Coffman as Lee Remick, Davis's co-nominee for Best Actress in 1963 Anthony Crivello as David Lean, winner of the Best Director Oscar in 1963 for Lawrence of Arabia Lindsay Hanzl as Eva Marie Saint, actress who attended the 35th Academy Awards Louis B. Jack as Ed Begley, winner of the Best Supporting Actor Oscar in 1963 for Sweet Bird of Youth Anthony Tyler Quinn as Wendell Corey, president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences from 1961 to 1963 Paris Verra as Patty Duke, winner of the Best Supporting Actress Oscar in 1963, who appeared with Bancroft in The Miracle Worker Greg Winter as Bob Stack, actor who attended the 35th Academy Awards John Waters as William Castle, the director and producer of Crawford's 1964 horror B movie Strait-Jacket Raymond J. Barry as Hal LeSueur, Joan Crawford's brother Matthew Glave as Joseph Cotten, an actor who co-stars in Hush...Hush, Sweet Charlotte Earlene Davis as Agnes Moorehead, an actress who co-stars in Hush...Hush, Sweet Charlotte James Hawthorn as Bruce Dern, actor who appears in Hush...Hush, Sweet Charlotte Melissa Russell as Diane Baker, Joan's co-star in Strait-Jacket
Capote vs. The Swans
Naomi Watts as Babe Paley, a socialite and magazine editor, as well as Capote's best friend. Diane Lane as Slim Keith, a socialite and fashion icon with a disdain for Capote. Chloë Sevigny as C. Z. Guest, a socialite and author, as well as the last "Swan" to remain friends with Capote. Calista Flockhart as Lee Radziwill, a foul-mouthed socialite, as well as the younger sister of Jackie Kennedy. Demi Moore as Ann Woodward, a socialite and radio actress accused of murdering her own husband. Molly Ringwald as Joanne Carson, a show host and Capote's final martyr. Treat Williams as Bill Paley, the adulterous husband of Babe Paley. Joe Mantello as Jack Dunphy, Capote's longest-lasting boyfriend, who got him into rehab. Russell Tovey as John O'Shea, Capote's abusive side-piece with a "heterosexual dominance" complex. Tom Hollander as Truman Capote, the esteemed author of La Côte Basque, 1965, a story with deep and long-lasting consequences for New York elite society—in particular the group of socialites known as "the Swans".
Episodes
Season 1: Bette and Joan (2017)
Season 2: Capote vs. The Swans (2024)
Production Development Ryan Murphy, a fan of Davis since his childhood, interviewed the actress just months before her death in 1989. The agreed-upon 20-minute interview lasted four hours, and inspired his characterization of Davis in Feud. He said, "When I would ask her about Joan Crawford ... She would just go on about how much she hated her. But then she would sort of say ... 'She was a professional. And I admired that'." Murphy first conceived Bette and Joan as a film years before the FX series, and approached both Sarandon and Lange about the lead roles. Sarandon said, "It just felt like it didn't have a context, just being bitchy and kind of funny, but what else? In expanding it to eight hours, you could get more complexity and so many other characters."
Feud: Bette and Joan was being written at the same time that Murphy was forming his Half Foundation, which promotes an increased presence of women in film and television production positions. The series features 15 acting roles for women over 40, and half the episodes were directed by women, including actress Helen Hunt. Initially conceived as an anthology series, Feud, developed by Murphy, was picked up to series by FX on May 5, 2016. Bette and Joan was inspired by the real-life feud between Crawford and Davis, and explores issues of sexism, ageism, and misogyny in Hollywood. Its eight episodes were expanded from a feature-length screenplay Murphy had optioned called Best Actress by Jaffe Cohen and Michael Zam.
Sarandon said, "In our story, it was a fact that [the people behind Baby Jane] encouraged the animosity [between Crawford and Davis], first of all to control them, second of all to make what they thought was more onscreen tension, and that really hasn't changed a lot." Melanie McFarland of Salon wrote that the series shows "just how brutal the Hollywood system was on some of the greatest talents in its firmament" and that it "cuts to the root of why collaborating and delighting in the fall of the mighty is eternally marketable." The Crawford-Davis feud was also documented in Shaun Considine's 1989 book Bette and Joan: The Divine Feud.
Casting
Frequent Murphy collaborator Jessica Lange and Susan Sarandon were attached to star as Joan Crawford and Bette Davis in Feud. Alfred Molina, Stanley Tucci, Judy Davis, and Dominic Burgess were also a part of the cast, in the roles of Robert Aldrich, Jack L. Warner, Hedda Hopper, and Victor Buono, respectively. In August 2016, Catherine Zeta-Jones and Sarah Paulson joined the cast playing Olivia de Havilland and Geraldine Page, respectively.
In September 2016, it was reported that American Horror Story executive producer Tim Minear would be co-showrunning the series with Murphy. Jackie Hoffman joined the cast as Mamacita, Crawford's housekeeper. In November 2016, Molly Price, Kathy Bates and Alison Wright joined the cast of the series, in the roles of Harriet Foster, Joan Blondell, and Pauline Jameson. In January 2017, it was announced Kiernan Shipka was cast in the series as Davis's daughter, Barbara "B.D." Sherry.
Sarandon admitted to initially being "overwhelmed and terrified" about the prospect of portraying Davis accurately. She said, "She's so big and she really was so big, so I tried not to make her a caricature or someone a female impersonator would do ... That was my fear, that she would just be kind of one-dimensional." Lange said her performance was informed by her view that Crawford's "brutal childhood" was masked by the "beautiful, impenetrable veneer of this great, gorgeous movie star ... So she was always on, which is a tremendous burden in and of itself, but always there was this thing lurking underneath of being this poverty-stricken, abused, unloved, abandoned young child and woman." Both Sarandon and Lange researched their roles by reading books by and about Davis and Crawford, and watching and listening to TV performances and recordings.
For Capote vs. The Swans, Naomi Watts was cast to star as Babe Paley in April 2022. In August, Chloë Sevigny, Tom Hollander, Calista Flockhart and Diane Lane would be added to the cast. The following month, Demi Moore and Molly Ringwald were added to the cast. In March 2023, Chris Chalk announced his involvement in the season.