Capote vs. the Swans writer unravels Truman, Babe Paley scene

FX/Hulus Feud: Capote vs. the Swans depicts the infamous rift between writer Truman Capote and his “swans” – a hand-picked collection of Manhattan socialites who extract Capote from New York society after he publishes a short story loosely based on Babe Paley and her husband's various infidelities . In this scene from the pilot, written by Jon Robin Baitz, audiences are treated to a kind of meet-cute between Truman (Tom Hollander) and Babe (Naomi Watts), years before their collision, giving a sense of the deep connection between the two players.

Truman Capote is an icon of American pop culture, recognizable to literary fans even today. It was important to get his voice and mannerisms on the page – and Baitz says Hollander stuck to the script and avoided any character mentions as Truman. “His respect for the word is based on his love for playwrights, for trying to figure out what you're trying to capture,” Baitz says.

“I'm kind of fighting the mythology,” Baitz recalls of the process of writing Truman, the character, without getting bogged down in Truman, the real person. 'There is a mythology that Truman always wraps himself in: genius floundering in a catastrophe, a slow-moving disaster.' Babe's own self-deprecation causes Truman to lower his guard because it shatters what Baitz describes as her own public persona: “a strong American, regal, royal beauty.”

Bill Paley's infidelity is hardly a surprise to Babe, who asks Truman point-blank if he saw her husband with his mistress in the previous scene. “She asks this very pointed question, almost as a test,” says Baitz, who adds that Babe immediately appreciates Truman's honesty. “Their friendship was not really born, but recognized – having [taken place] natural, almost by osmosis. They feel like like-minded people.”

Writing exposition doesn't come naturally to Baitz, who says he started out as an actor before turning to writing. “The process of an actor is mysterious, but this fundamental moment is when you put on the robes: the costume, the acute trauma of your character, what they wear, how they smell,” he says. “I'm not good at plotting – I mean, I'm skilled. But I do have an idea how [the characters] odor. Is she wearing Chanel No. 5? Is there a cashmere cloth near her? By imagining the painting I can really get into the mood and psychology of the scene.”

Baitz admits that finding the “visual vocabulary” is an important element in screenwriting: “As a playwright, I make music out of words. In film and television you have to make music from the images as much as from the words.” For Feudhe was inspired by the painters Francis Bacon and Lucian Freud when devising the tableau of a scene – often with the help of EP Ryan Murphy. “Ryan really encourages painting,” says Baitz. “We would talk late at night — usually over a martini — on the phone, and we would essentially paint the scenes together and discover what the secrets lie beneath the surface of the action.”

This story first appeared in a May standalone issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine. Click here to subscribe.