After spending much of her acclaimed career in films, Naomi Watts is dipping her toes in long form TV storytelling more and more. “It’s fun when you find a piece of writing that draws you in and a character that you love to play,” admits the actress. Her latest foray on the small screen is the FX limited series “Feud: Captote vs. The Swans,” where she portrays famed New York socialite Babe Paley. “I really haven’t had so much joy in playing a character for a very, very long time,” reveals Watts, “So the long form can be really liberating for that reason, because you discover things as you go.” Watch the exclusive video interview above.
Perhaps one of the reasons that Truman Capote (Tom Hollander) was so drawn to Babe was her distinctive fashion, which had an air of glamor and perfection. The writer referred to Babe, and her close circle of friends, as “swans.” It’s an analogy that Watts found appropriate given the “huge amount of effort” Paley exerted below the service in order to achieve her elegant persona. Maintaining her appearance became a way for Babe to find control in life. “I think Babe was disciplined in different ways,” notes Watts, “Aesthetically, beauty just mattered in such a deep way for her.”
WATCH our exclusive video interview with Lou Eyrich, ‘Feud: Capote vs. The Swans’ costume designer
For all the elegance Babe displays, Watts sees her character as anything but superficial. There is a deep pain carried underneath the perfect exterior. “The pain is hidden with a soldier-on mentality,” she explains. “There was a fragility, but a thick skin in order to just keep going. And that takes strength. So it’s quite an interesting complexity to examine.”
Plenty of that pain resulted from a tumultuous marriage to CBS founder William Paley, which was full of infidelity and humiliation. He’s portrayed by the late Treat Williams in the series, in his final role before his death. “It’s fair to say, I think he had a wonderful time making this,” says Watts, remembering her complicated scenes with Williams. “We would talk a lot in between the scenes and were sometimes quite shaken up by some of the things we had to do and say. And he’s a beautiful emotional human being. I’m just so sad that he doesn’t get to share the accolades because his work is wonderful.”
WATCH our exclusive video interview with Jason McCormick, ‘Feud: Capote vs. The Swans’ cinematographer
Of course, Watts’ primary scene partner through much of the series is Capote. Much of the story hinges on the arc of their friendship: from inseparable friends, to warring enemies, and back to enduring love. “I think they both had a hole in their lives where there’s a love that’s not there and an intimacy that was never formed,” describes Watts of their connection, and they fell into each other.” Watts elaborates that Babe didn’t always feel seen in her marriage, and there was always a competitive fear within the bonds between her female friends. “So I think she really gave herself to him and in a way that she’d never experienced before. And it just felt safe,” says the actress, “They were carrying the same kind of pain.”
The series concludes with the deaths of Babe and Capote, and despite carrying the name “Feud” in their title, both figures appear to their friend on their deathbed in order to lead their friend gently into the afterlife. “I’ll never forget the scene that we shot last. It just broke me,” admits Watts. It is a deeply emotional moment where Capote imagines his long lost friend comforting him, all hatchets have been buried, and he slips away. “I think it’s commenting on the fact that despite all of the pain, and drama, and humiliation and betrayal that went down, there was still love there,” describes Watts. “And when you come close to death, what is it that really matters in your life? What are you thinking about? It’s too exhausting to carry the anger and the bitterness and the regrets for too long. And then when you get close to death, maybe you just let those things go and feel the love again.”
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