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Its easy to see the parallels between Chloe Sevigny and C. Z.
Guest, the character she plays onFXsFeud: Capote vs. the Swans.
Both are (or were, in Guests case) blonde New Yorkers, take-no-shit attitude and all.
Sevigny has read those books, too, and says theyre beautiful and inspirational in their own unique way.
Calling Guest the precursor to Martha Stewart, Sevigny says she admires her onscreen alter egos pluck and determination.
Modern New York, they say, is nothing like old New York.
For me, its not missing that kind of thing.
I miss the variety.
The world has just become homogenized.
And theres the reality-star aspect and people wanting to be in their sweatpants and with their dogs.
Its funny that you say that, because I was readingC.
They didnt exclude her, and maybe it was because of her stature within society.
When you watch someone just wasting everything about themselves …
The moments where I got to lean into that were really what the show was about for me.
Did you pull from your own emotional well for that?
The tears were not hard to come by in the scenes where I was doing that.
They were readily flowing, because I could relate it to so much.
Did you do any extracurricular reading?George Plimptons Capote bookis brilliant, obviously.
Theblack-and-white ball oral history.
I loveBreakfast at Tiffanys.
So I think for the novice, that would be a really great place to start.
Also, the book the show was based off,Capotes Women, is definitely worth reading.
You get to read about all these different women and these truncated histories of their affairs and marriages.
Its a pretty juicy read.
And thankfully, Ryan Murphy is really good at that.
I think he didnt write it.
I cant see anyone destroying it, thinking that it would actually be protecting him.
I personally dont like that book, though.
What do you hope Hollywood takes from the success of this show?This is always the hardest question.
Many things, really.
Complex female characters and complex gay leading men.
Spending money on productions.
Stories where the stakes are high but theyre also not standard stakes; theyre more complex.
Also, to read more books and to appreciate more literary figures.
