Naomi Watts has signed on to be part of Ryan Murphy’s hit anthology series Feud.
Following the success of FEUD: Bette and Joan on FX, a new project called Capote’s Women was launched, in which Deadline says Watts is set to play American socialite Babe Paley.
Paley – a friend of Truman Capote – ruled the glamorous world of New York society in the 1960s and 1970s.
Two-time Oscar-nominated director Gus Van Sant will direct all eight episodes of the series, with Pulitzer-nominated author Jon Robin Baitz serving as showrunner and writing all eight episodes.
New Role: Naomi Watts joins Ryan Murphy’s latest Feud miniseries, playing American socialite Babe Paley…in a drama about Truman Capote’s girlfriends known as the “Swans.”
The project is an adaptation of a bestseller by Laurence Leamer called Capote’s Women: A True Story of Love, Betrayal, and a Swan Song for an Era.
The miniseries is set in the ’70s and ends around the time of Truman Capote’s death in 1984.
The drama follows the lives of his sleek, stylish high-society women – dubbed his “swans” – who included Jackie Kennedy’s sister Lee Radziwill, Andy Warhol’s muse CZ Guest and Babe Paley.
It is not yet clear which other historical figures will be shown in the series.
In good hands: Watts will be helmed by two-time Oscar-nominated director Gus Van Sant (Watts pictured above last month).
Capote’s popularity with New York celebrities is perhaps unsurprising given that he has been hailed as one of the most astute writers of the 20th century.
His 1958 novella Breakfast at Tiffany’s was adapted into the Oscar-winning film starring Audrey Hepburn, while his 1966 non-fiction novel In Cold Blood is often considered one of the genre’s greatest examples.
Along with siblings Minnie and Betsey, Babe Paley made up a third of the Cushing sisters whose romances, fashion trends and parties captivated the American public during the poverty-stricken Great Depression.
The women fascinated people with their glamorous lifestyles, characterized by wealth, privilege, country houses, designer clothes, yachts, chic apartments and six high-profile marriages.
Interesting Life: Barbara (“Babe”) Paley with her second husband CBS founder William S. Paley at Sarah Roosevelt’s Greentree farewell party, held at Jock Whitney’s Manhasset estate on Long Island circa 1952
The first to marry was 21-year-old Betsey, the middle sister who ensnared the affections of James Roosevelt II. James, also known as “Jimmy” to his Harvard classmates, was the eldest son of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt.
Betsey’s time as Roosevelt in Washington DC was important to Babe because she ensured that her teenage sister was introduced to the debutante circle by hosting a ball at the White House.
Babe (née Barbara) has long been considered the most beautiful of the three girls; She was tall, slim, stylish and had aristocratic appeal. But much to her mother’s disappointment, Babe decided to enter the workforce as a debutante after two seasons of overwhelming success.
Babe became an editor at Vogue Magazine, hired by Conde Nast himself, and quickly became a style icon believing she could combine two trends of the 20th century.
She was married to oil heir Stanley Grafton Mortimer for six years and had two children, Amanda Jay Mortimer and Stanley Grafton Mortimer, before marrying CBS founder William S. Paley.
Motherhood wasn’t Babe’s forte and she reportedly ignored her children while striving for social status.
Inspiration: Capote’s popularity with New York celebrities is perhaps unsurprising given that he has been hailed as one of the most astute writers of the 20th century
Babe and William lived in a luxurious apartment at the St. Regis in New York. Over the weekend, they threw lavish parties on their 80-acre Long Island farm, attended by celebrity guests.
She maintained her position on the Best Dressed list 14 times before being officially inducted into the Fashion Hall of Fame in 1958. She remained married to William until she died of lung cancer in 1978.
One of Babe’s close friends was Truman Capote, who admitted in his diary that her only flaw was that she was perfect.
However, that friendship was shattered after Capote published his “Answered Prayers” chapter “La Cote Basque 1965” in Esquire Magazine, which detailed a thinly veiled account of William Paley’s betrayal of his wife.
He said Babe met her husband while he was washing her sheets after a woman he was having an affair with menstruated on their marital bed. She never spoke to the writer again.