“I always have a word—one word for every character I play,” says Calista Flockhart surreptitiously. On a new episode of Little Gold Men, the Golden Globe–winning actor and Ally McBeal star gives a peek into her process as she discusses her transformation into Princess Lee Radziwill, society mainstay and younger sister of Jackie O., on Ryan Murphy’s Feud: Capote vs. the Swans.
“My word for Lee was barbed wire,” reveals Flockhart. “[She’s] prickly and nasty.”
The sharpness and steel are ever present in Flockhart’s portrayal of Radziwill, from her withering line readings to her nods and her extremely prickly relationship with her famous sister. But while the veteran actor enjoyed dipping into the more unsavory parts of Radziwill’s personality—“it’s just fun”—she was also mindful not to turn Radziwill into a caricature. “You want to make sure that it comes from a place of not just one-liners,” says Flockhart. “I tried to make sure that it was filled.”
Just don’t ask Flockhart what word she used for other iconic roles, like Ally McBeal and Kitty from Brothers and Sisters—a series created by Capote vs. the Swans executive producer and writer Jon Robin Baitz. “Do you really think that I remember?” she says, laughing. “I don’t even remember half of anything that happened way back when.”
To be fair to Flockhart, it’s been a while since she’s revisited either series. She prefers not to watch herself onscreen, though she made an exception for Feud—mostly to marvel at Tom Hollander’s performance as Truman Capote. “I just thought it was so amazing that I was not about to miss it,” she says. “I watched it, but I did fast-forward through my stuff.”
Why? “I can’t stand looking at myself. I can’t stand my voice,” she says. “I always think, Oh, I should have done that. Why was I doing that? What was that about?” But as time goes on, Flockhart is learning to be a little less tough on herself, and might even pop in an Ally McBeal DVD someday. “Maybe in some years, I’ll be able to watch it. If I ever have the interest, which I have,” she says. “I don’t usually, but if I ever did, I would probably be easier on myself. Time is healing.”
Below, Flockhart chats with VF about barbed wire, reuniting with her Ally McBeal costars at the Emmys, and finding the love inside Lee and Jackie’s relationship.
Vanity Fair: Correct me if I’m wrong, but this was your first Ryan Murphy production?
Calista Flockhart: It is true. It is my first Ryan Murphy production. Yay for me.
I don’t know exactly how I got involved, but what I think happened is that Joe Mantello suggested me, which was amazing. And then I had a Zoom with Ryan and, of course, I could never say no.
Before getting involved in Capote vs. the Swans, did you have strong opinions about Lee Radziwill and the women of that era?
I was going in fairly blind. I didn’t know a lot about Lee. I didn’t know a lot about the Swans. I knew more about Truman Capote. When I was younger, as we all were, I was a big
fan of his writing. And I knew vaguely that there was some drama, but I didn’t really know anything specifically at all. So it was really fun to discover.
Can you talk to me a little bit about that process of discovery before getting to set?
Well, I do think that there is an added challenge when you are playing a real person. There was a responsibility to get it right. But on the other hand, it was never meant to be non-fiction, completely reality. It was more of an essence, more of a… quality that we were trying to create. There was a lot of artistic freedom in that. Also it was a very small slice of Lee’s character. Everybody makes it spicier than maybe it was—to add to the comedy and add to the drama. So, it was just a small aspect of Lee. Lee is so much more than what was depicted in the series.
There’s so much more that could have been used. Lee’s relationship with Jackie comes up, but we never really see Jackie. Did you delve into that at all? Did the rivalry between them inform the way that you portrayed Lee?
A guide to Hollywood’s biggest races” class=”external-link external-link-embed__hed-link button” data-event-click='{“element”:”ExternalLink”,”outgoingURL”:”https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/award-season”}’ href=”https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/award-season” rel=”nofollow noopener” target=”_blank”>A guide to Hollywood’s biggest racesArrowA guide to Hollywood’s biggest races” class=”external-link external-link-embed__image-link” data-event-click='{“element”:”ExternalLink”,”outgoingURL”:”https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/award-season”}’ href=”https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/award-season” rel=”nofollow noopener” target=”_blank”>
I did indeed. I read so many books about Lee and I read so many books about Jackie, which was interesting because Lee is in the Jackie books but from a different point of view.
There was this one book that became kind of my touchstone. It was what I kept going back to and rereading. It’s a book that is called One Special Summer. And it was a
book that was written by Lee Radziwill and illustrated by Jackie. It’s about a trip that they took by ship to Europe together when they were very young. I think Lee was 18 and Jackie was 22. And it was so sweet and charming, and the writing was really intelligent
and funny. The illustrations were great and there were photographs. It was more or less like a scrapbook that they then published. What I found very moving about it was you really got a sense of how much they loved each other, how much they cared about each other, and how much they enjoyed each other, which is really touching considering where their relationship ended up later in life.
I kept thinking about all that, that partnership and that camaraderie and that love that she had in her sister and how she lost it. I know it sounds kind of backwards, but that took me to the pain. And then that takes you to the self-protection.
Lee wore a lot of different hats. She was an interior designer at one point. She tried to be an actress in a movie that Truman wrote for her. Did you watch that movie? Did you and Tom talk about that aspect of their relationship at all?
We actually never talked about it, but I did talk a lot about it with all the other Swans. Sitting around the table in between takes talking about how these were women who were searching for something to be really good at. At least Lee was. Lee was searching for something to be extraordinary at. She was competing with her sister. She wanted to be special. She
wanted to be loved by everybody. And she… kept searching for that, whether it was design, fashion, acting. I think she was actually the most successful in her design. She was really intelligent and very talented. The acting thing, not so much from what I hear [laughs].
Lee did seem to really love Truman, but when he needed her most during the big Gore Vidal showdown, she retreated. That was a really intense scene and a really critical moment. How did you approach the disintegration of their relationship?
It’s a really interesting point that you bring up, because it was confusing for me. Lee was not really called out in Answered Prayers. So, for me as an actress, I had to find the reason why she was so angry and upset with Truman. And then, of course, we have the Gore Vidal thing that happened. So I decided that it began with the ball, the Black and White Ball. This is me, by the way, just making all of this up. It has nothing to do with reality. I don’t really know what happened, but this is how I acted it.
I decided that she was very hurt and upset, secretly hurt and upset about the ball because she thought that she was going to be the belle of the ball. And he didn’t ask her. So, I think she got hurt by that because she thought she was special—more special. He made everybody feel that way. I think Babe had the most special place in his heart, but I think Lee wanted to believe that she was. Truman Capote was a confidante, but he was also the guy who complimented her all the time, and built her up, and encouraged her to be an actress, and told her she was beautiful, and smart, and special, and extraordinary, and better than Jackie. And she really needed to hear all that. So then when he didn’t ask her to be the belle of the ball, she was really hurt, which made her angry. And when Lee gets hurt, she gets angry and she attacks.
It was so great to see the Ally Mcbeal cast reunite at the Emmys in January. What was that experience like? Did that spark any memories or any talks of a reunion?
I would love to do some sort of reboot on some of Ally McBeal. I had such a wonderful time at the Emmys, reuniting with my buddies, and dancing goofy with them. It just was so much fun. It was a highlight of my year. It was so much fun, and now we group text.
I hadn’t seen them in a really long time, and it was like not one moment passed. We were right back where we started, making jokes, laughing, nobody else could understand our sense of humor. It was really fun. It was a joy.
More Great Stories From Vanity Fair
Live Updates From the 2024 Cannes Film Festival
Cover Star Ayo Edebiri Is Making Hollywood Her Playground
Inside Disney’s CEO Succession: Bibbidi Bobbidi Who Will It Be?
Meet the Mastermind Behind New York’s Celebrity Playground of Choice
The Vatican’s Secret Role in the Science of IVF
Griffin Dunne on the Tragic Death That Reshaped His Family
Visit the VF Shop and Get Our Brand-New Tote (and Much More)
The post On ‘Feud,’ Calista Flockhart’s Lee Radziwill Is Covered in Barbed Wire appeared first on Vanity Fair.