Feud, an FX anthology series created by Ryan Murphy, has added a new cast member for the upcoming second season. Deadline reports that Molly Ringwald has joined the previously announced Naomi Watts, Calista Flockhart, Diane Lane, and Chlo Sevigny as one of Capote’s Women in the upcoming film. Tom Hollander, who plays the notorious author Truman Capote, will co-star with her. The film Capote’s Women is based on the best-selling book of the same name by Laurence Leamer, which tells the story of Capote and his “swans.” It takes place in the 1970s and ends with Capote’s death in 1984, and it tells the story of how Capote destroyed his relationships with several famous women, including Lee Radziwell (Flockhart), Slim Keith (Lane), and Babe Paley (Watts), when he published La Côte Basque in Esquire Magazine in 1965.
His short piece revealing the inner workings of New York’s high society sparked a nasty public fight that was front page news until after his death. Although most of the ladies were angry with Capote after he published the not-so-subtle article, Ringwald plays one of the few who continued to have a positive connection with the writer. In the film, Ringwald will play Joanne Carson, the second wife of late-night TV star Johnny Carson and a lifelong friend of Truman Capotes. Their bond was so strong that she was the recipient of the last narrative he ever wrote, and he assisted in the editing of her unpublished tale about her first love for Johnny. Produced by Plan B Entertainment and Ryan Murphy Productions, with Murphy serving as executive producer with Plan B’s Dede Gardner, Tim Minear, and Alexis Martin Woodall for Season 2, much of the original Season 1 cast and crew have returned to work on Capote’s Women.
Gus Van Sant, who has been nominated for an Oscar, has been recruited to helm all eight episodes, while Jon Robin Baitz, who has been nominated for both a Pulitzer Prize and a Tony Award, has been tapped to serve as showrunner and writer. They are also in charge of production as executive producers. Ringwald has just worked with Murphy on another project, so she comes into Feud with some familiarity with the FX network and its blockbuster new drama The Bear.
On September 21, she’ll be seen in Monster: The Story of Jeffrey Dahmer, which Murphy co-created with Ian Brennan for Netflix. Her breakout roles came in the 1980s, with films like The Breakfast Club and Sixteen Candles, but in recent years, Ringwald has become more known thanks to her roles on television shows like Raising Expectations and Riverdale. In addition, her novels Getting the Pretty Back and When It Happens to You: A Novel of Stories have become bestsellers.
Starting this autumn, production of the show Feud will move to New York.