Who’s who in Capote vs The Swans: from Tom Hollander to Demi Moore

Your next TV obsession is almost here. The second season of hit series Feud is set to drop on Disney+ on April 17, and anticipation is building – for good reason.

Whereas the first season examined the contentious relationship between Bette Crawford and Joan Davis, the second is set to take a deep dive into the friendship between celebrity author Truman Capote and the socialite wives, whose circles he moved in... before he betrayed them by publishing their secrets in his writing.

As befits such a scandalous subject, the cast is simply packed with star power: here’s who you need to know, and who they’re playing.

Tom Hollander as Truman Capote

Capote was an American novelist, playwright and author who shot to fame in 1966 when his classic novel In Cold Blood was published. It took Capote six years (and plenty of help from fellow author Harper Lee) but it made him a literary sensation – but his back catalogue also includes the iconic Breakfast At Tiffany’s, which was of course adapted into the famous film starring Audrey Hepburn.

Open about his sexuality (the author was gay) and famed for his high-pitched voice and eccentric mannerisms, Capote eventually fell foul of his group of celebrity socialite wives when he used their lives (plus the secrets they had confided in him) as fodder for his next book. Ostracised by New York society as a result, he fell into a depressive spiral which eventually killed him.

Hollander himself is an English actor. Born in 1967 and brought up in Oxford, he was a member of the infamous Cambridge Footlights theatre group and started acting young. He’s since forged a career in TV and film – notably in The Night Manager, for which he was won a BAFTA, and in the second season of hit HBO show The White Lotus.

Naomi Watts as Babe Paley

Babe Paley was one of Capote’s closest friends, and led a colourful life of her own. Born in 1915, she was brought up in a wealthy family and groomed to be a society wife. However, she eventually rose to become editor of Vogue instead, and became a fashion icon during her years on the scene.

Her personal life was also riddled with scandal. Married twice, she neglected her children and relied on her wealthy husbands to fund her extravagant lifestyle. Her daughter Amanda later called their relationship “virtually nonexistent” – while her second marriage to William Paley resulted in heartbreak as he embarked on various affairs, right under her nose.

Naomi Watts, who plays her, is a British actress. Born in 1968 to Peter Watts, an audio engineer for Pink Floyd, she spent a lot of her childhood on the move. Her parents divorced when she was four (in 1976, her father was found dead in his flat from a suspected heroin overdose) and at 14 she moved with her family to Australia, where she started her career in acting and became friends with Nicole Kidman.

Since then, she has appeared in films including Alejandro González Iñárritu's film 21 Grams (2003), The Impossible (2012), Birdman (2014) and Netflix thriller series The Watcher.

Diane Lane as Slim Keith

The glamorous Slim Keith was a socialite and fashion icon who became part of the American jet set between the Fifties and Sixties. Born Mary Raye Cross in 1917, she grew up in a fractured family (her brother Bobby died in 1928 and her father Edward blamed her mother for letting it happen). At 16, a chance encounter with the actor William Powell led to her becoming part of Hollywood’s elite.

During her time, she was pursued by Clark Gable and Ernest Hemingway, married three times and was even credited with launching Lauren Bacall’s career.

Diane Lane, who plays her, has been a mainstay of Hollywood for years. Born in 1965, she was the centre of a tug of war match between her divorced parents – so much so that Lane’s mother kidnapped her and took her back to Georgia when she tried to move to Los Angeles.

Lane herself began acting at the age of six and has gone onto appear in miniseries Lonesome Dove (1989), A Walk on the Moon (1999) and 2002 film Unfaithful, which garnered her numerous awards including both Academy Award and Golden Globe nominations.

Chloë Sevigny as C. Z. Guest

C.Z was another American socialite, whose unusual name derives from her childhood nickname ‘Sissy’ given her by her brother. Born Lucy Douglas Cochrane in 1920, she was presented as a debutante and ultimately went onto marry Winston Frederick Churchill Guest, the cousin of Winston, at Ernest Hemingway’s home in Cuba.

Guest went onto cultivate a large circle of celebrity friends, including Cecil Beaton, the Guinnesses, and the Duke and Duchess of Windsor.

Sevigny is also somewhat of a style icon. Known for appearing in experimental or independent films (which included the controversial The Brown Bunny in 2004), she rose to fame in the 1990s after appearing in a string of music videos. Since then, she’s gone onto appear in films like Boys Don’t Cry (1999) and American Psycho (2000), Call Me By Your Name director Luca Guadagnino's drama We Are Who We Are, and HBO series Big Love, for which she won a Golden Globe award.

Calista Flockhart as Lee Radziwiłł

Caroline Lee Bouvier was a part of an American familial dynasty – in fact, she was the sister of Jackie Onassis, the wife of John F Kennedy. Born in 1933, she was considered New York’s most eligible debutante and accordingly had three husbands during her life.

The second of those was Polish aristocrat, Prince Stanisław Albrecht Radziwiłł, which led to Lee styling herself Her Serene Highness. Considered one of society’s best dressed women, she was often seen in the presence of celebrities – which included accompanying the Rolling Stones on their 1972 tour alongside Capote.

Calista Kay Flockhart (the daughter of Kay Calista) shot to fame in the Nineties after appearing in a 1994 stage production of The Glass Menagerie, followed by 1996 film The Birdcage. Today, she’s best known for starring in the Fox series Ally McBeal, for which she received a Golden Globe Award.

Demi Moore as Ann Woodward

Ann Woodward wore many caps during her career: socialite, showgirl, model, and radio actress. Starting her career on radio (she was voted The Most Beautiful Girl in Radio in 1940, in fact) she later married William Woodward Jr, a banking heir.

Unfortunately for her, William Woodward was shot dead in 1955 and Ann found herself under suspicion for his death. Though she was never formally charged, she was ostracised from New York society as a result, and Capote borrowed her story for his unfinished novel Answered Prayers. Before the stories were scheduled to be published, she took her own life with cyanide.

Moore is one of America’s most iconic actresses. Brought up in relative poverty, she moved to New York to work as a model and broke through in daytime television, before hitting her stride in 1990 with romantic film Ghost, which became one of the most commercially successful releases of all time.

By 1995, Moore was the highest paid actress in Hollywood, and appeared in films like A Few Good Men (1992) and Indecent Proposal (1993) before taking a break from acting and segueing into TV and directing.

Molly Ringwald as Joanne Carson

Carson, like many of her friends, was a model and television host – who was married to fellow host and producer Johnny Carson between 1963 and 1972. She became close with Truman Capote, and he eventually died at her home in Los Angeles in 1984.

Ringwald, like Moore, is one of the original members of the ‘Brat Pack’ group of actors, who found fame in the 1980s and 90s in John Hughes’ iconic high school films. Born in 1968, she began acting young – and broke through with Sixteen Candles (1984), The Breakfast Club (1985) and Pretty in Pink (1986).

Treat Williams as Bill Paley

Married to Babe, Bill Paley was an American businessman who dabbled mainly in radio, and built the Columbia Broadcasting System up from a small radio network to one of the biggest radio and TV providers in the States. A notorious womaniser, his marriages weren’t happy – in fact, his first marriage ended when a newspaper published a suicide note written to him by a former girlfriend. He also provided a stipend to Louise Brooks, another former flame, for the rest of her life.

Treat Williams started acting in 1979 – when he starred in the first film version of the musical Hair, and in Steven Spielberg’s 1941. Since then, he’s appeared in hundreds of films, including The Eagle Has Landed (1976), Once Upon A Time in America (1984) and A Streetcar Named Desire (1984). He died in June 2023 in a motorbike accident.

Joe Mantello as Jack Dunphy

Dunphy was an American novelist and playwright who is best known today for being the romantic partner of Capote. The pair met in 1948, and stayed close until Capote’s death.

Joe Mantello is an American actor and director. He made his Broadway debut for Angels in America (1993) for which he won a Tony Award; since then he’s acted in Broadway revivals of The Normal Heart (2011) and The Glass Menagerie (2017). He’s also increasingly worked as a Broadway director, winning several Tony Awards and directing productions such as 2003’s Wicked.

Feud: Capote vs the Swans will be streaming on Disney+ from April 17