‘Feud: Capote vs the Swans’ will bring Diane Lane back to the Emmys
Ryan Murphy‘s FX anthology series “Feud” returned with a second installment last year with this season focusing on the fallout between Truman Capote and a group of New York socialites known as the Swans. As expected, “Feud: Capote vs the Swans,” is another glossy, delicious drama with gossip and scandal right at its heart. Gus Van Sant, the Oscar-nominated director behind “Good Will Hunting” and “Milk,” directs proceedings while Tom Hollander shines in the lead role of Capote himself.
It’s the Swans, however, that make up the bulk of the cast and the show’s drama. Naomi Watts, Chloë Sevigny, Calista Flockhart, Demi Moore, and Molly Ringwald all play the Swans but it’s Diane Lane who perhaps shines the brightest. She portrays socialite and fashion icon Slim Keith, who was once upon a time married to Howard Hawks. Critics have all noted that this is a plum role for Lane’s talents to burn bright.
Graeme Guttman (Screen Rant) observed: “Diane Lane as Slim Keith leads the charge against Capote after the publication of his scandalous excerpt, and it’s a role she absolutely tears through. There are hints of matriarchal care, but an underlying venom is revealed as the reality of her connections to the other women, Babe in particular, is uncovered.”
Alison Herman (Variety) opined: “‘Capote vs. The Swans’ grows increasingly unmoored from its inspiration, pivoting from a highbrow tabloid scandal to a more abstract exploration of loneliness and angst… Lane shines in the first, slinging bitchy one-liners in a clipped mid-Atlantic accent.”
Peter Travers (ABC News) explained: “The swans seize the spotlight by divine right, with just the right actors to play them. Lane is an exquisite force of nature as Slim Keith, who brought Hollywood connections to Capote’s circle and never let her bond with the swans interfere with having a fling with their husbands.”
As a result, we are predicting that Lane will be nominated for Best TV Movie/Limited Series Supporting Actress alongside Jennifer Jason Leigh (“Fargo”), Kali Reis (“True Detective: Night Country”), Jessica Gunning (“Baby Reindeer”), Aja Naomi King (“Lessons in Chemistry”), Sandra Oh (“The Sympathizer”), and Nava Mau (“Baby Reindeer”).
This would be Lane’s first Emmy nomination in 13 years. Her last bid came in 2011 when she picked up a bid for Best TV Movie/Limited Series Actress for “Cinema Verite.” Before that, she was nominated in the same category in 1989 for “Lonesome Dove.” This shows that Emmy voters are willing to nominate Lane for the right role while it’s clear she is best liked in a limited series. That works out nicely here.
This category has been a good place for actresses on the hunt for an Emmys comeback, too. Holland Taylor went 10 years without an Emmy nomination before she picked up a bid here for “Hollywood.” Mare Winningham went the same amount of time without a citation before “Dopesick” secured her Emmy comeback. Toni Collette went 10 years without a bid, too. Then, she was nominated here for “Unbelievable.” And Patricia Clarkson went 13 years, the same number as Lane, without an Emmy nomination before a bid here for “Sharp Objects.”
Plus, we already know that Emmy voters like the “Feud” anthology series. “Bette and Joan,” which focused on the rivalry between actresses Bette Davis (Susan Sarandon) and Joan Crawford (Jessica Lange), was nominated for six acting awards at the 2017 Emmys: Sarandon and Lange for Best TV Movie/Limited Series Actress; Alfred Molina and Stanley Tucci for Best TV Movie/Limited Series Supporting Actor; and Judy Davis and Jackie Hoffman for Best TV Movie/Limited Series Supporting Actress. Two out of those six bids came for the category Lane is hoping to land a nomination in herself, so that’s another good sign.
Emmy voters like actresses who portray a real person in this category, too, with the likes of Niecy Nash-Betts (“Dahmer – Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story”), Phillipa Soo (“Hamilton”), Renée Elise Goldsberry (“Hamilton”), and “Mrs America” trio Tracey Ullman, Uzo Aduba, and Margo Martindale all earning nominations in recent years.
Lane could be competing against several co-stars in this category including Sevigny, Flockhart, Moore, and Ringwald. That shouldn’t matter, though, as voters have shown on numerous occasions that they don’t mind nominating two or more actresses from the same show in this category. Recent examples include Juliette Lewis and Annaleigh Ashford (“Welcome to Chippendales”), Kaitlyn Dever and Winningham (“Dopesick”), and Marsha Stephanie Blake and Vera Farmiga (“When They See Us”), as well as the aforementioned actresses in both “Hamilton” and “Mrs. America.” Plus, “The White Lotus” snagged five nominations in this category in 2022, for Jennifer Coolidge, Connie Britton, Alexandra Daddario, Natasha Rothwell, and Sydney Sweeney.
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