Actor Chris Chalk is set to star as writer James Baldwin in the upcoming second season of Ryan Murphy’s Feud series, Feud: Capote’s Women. In an exclusive interview for Deadline’s 20 Questions podcast, Chalk, who currently stars in HBO’s Perry Mason, revealed that he has always wanted to play Baldwin and found the role to be challenging yet the set of Feud “mind-blowingly supportive.”
“I’ve always wanted to play him,” Chalk said of Baldwin, adding that the set was “such a supportive environment, like mind-blowingly supportive,” but that the role—which he already shot several months ago, directed by Max Winkler—was by no means easy.
“We shot 20 pages in two days,” he said. “I got the script and was like, ‘That’s a lot of words.’ I had a little mini panic attack… but it was amazing. Then there was a five-page monologue.”
Feud: Capote’s Women is based on Laurence Leamer’s bestselling book, with a script by Jon Robin Baitz, and follows Truman Capote’s friendship with a group of society women he called his “swans”. The show is set to explore Capote’s use of these women’s lives for a thinly-veiled exposé he wrote for Esquire in 1975, titled “La Côte Basque 1965”. This betrayal led to his banishment from society.
Alongside Chalk, the show stars Molly Ringwald as Joanne Carson, Calista Flockhart as Barbara ‘Babe’ Paley, Naomi Watts as Jackie Kennedy’s sister Lee Radziwill, Chloë Sevigny as C.Z. Guest, and Diane Lane as Nancy ‘Slim’ Keith. Truman Capote will be played by Tom Hollander.
Chris Chalk has previously appeared in a range of popular TV series and films, including Gotham, Homeland, 12 Years a Slave, and When They See Us. He started his career with a role in the 2010 Broadway production of Fences, alongside Denzel Washington and Viola Davis.
Feud: Capote’s Women is set to be released this fall, and fans of the show are eagerly awaiting its arrival. With a talented cast and an intriguing premise, Feud: Capote’s Women is sure to be a hit with audiences.