Jessica Lange Shines Bright as Faded Star Joan Crawford in FX’s “Feud”

amp8220I know isn39t that amazingamp8221 mused Jessica Lange when I quizzed her at the Winter 2017 Television Critics Association Press Tour as to why their onscreen union took so long amp160amp8220But I think Susanamp8217s perfect for the partamp160 I thought how great and interesting it would be to create these two women togetheramp8221Feud Bette and Joan centers on the legendary pairing of the Oscarwinning duo as they filmed the classic horror tale Whatever Happened to Baby Jane amp160At the time both women were transitioning from their Old Hollywood heydays to their final acts in a business that valued youth above all elseamp160 Crawford was desperately clinging to the glamorous persona that made her a star while Davis seemed content becoming a more ageappropriate character actorBoth women notorious for their diva behavior had navigated similar careers yet their onscreen paths had not crossed amp160That made them perfect fodder for the gossip columnists of the time a time when juicy tabloid tales of offscreen discord translated to eyeballs in theaters amp160As detailed in Feud it wasnamp8217t long before the publicity machine had the two legends taking shots at each other and well the rest is historyamp8220I39ve never been pitted against somebody the way these two were pitted against one anotheramp8221 Lange said amp160amp8220But of course we all have that in us jealousy or rivalry or whateveramp160 Those traits are just human nature only these women were manipulated for an effectamp8221What follows is an edited transcript of my interview with LangeWhat has been the most exciting part of doing thisWell the look and everything about it is so extraordinary and to find Joanamp8217s rhythms and her idea of herself and that style of acting which now feels somewhat artificial but when you think of it in that context I think she was a marvelous actress Because of her beauty or the way she was presented she didnamp8217t get the credence that was due heramp160 She was a much better actress than was ever acknowledgedWhat were some of the touchstones in your research that made you understand herCertainly going back to her childhood which reads like a tragic Dickens story the poverty the physical abuse a mother who never wanted her or liked her no father and the sexual relationship she had with her stepfather from the age of 11 amp160There was one thing after another and if you build on that you can see where her tragedy lies and how important it was she had this amazing kind of drive and ambition after all she had to overcome amp160It gave me a look into her life and that was something that I could never have imagined from seeing Joan Crawford the MGM movie star actress But if you go back to her roots she was absolutely dirt poor an uneducated Texas child amp160I mean itamp8217s really quite astonishing what she managed to do especially with the tragedy that she carried with her for her whole lifeDo you remember the little vestiges of Hollywood from that era when you first came to HollywoodPhysically not so much in the films that were being made but I remember going on my first screen test and it was at MGM amp160Just driving through those MGM gates amp8211 walking the Andy Hardy streets Esther Williamsamp8217 swimming pool was still there along with Greta Garboamp8217s dressing roomamp160 There was all this stuff about Hollywood and I did grow up in awe of the movies and these women amp160I mean I was in a small Minnesota town where we didn39t even have a movie theater so it was really about watching old films on TVWas there an upside to the studio system of the day or are you glad you never had to deal with itI don39t know if there was an upsideamp160 I mean they took care of their own so if you were in trouble you were well protected that39s for sure amp160I think you were deeply indebted you owed them your life your livelihood your career your personal lifeamp160 So it was certainly a trade off but when they were done with you they were done with youHow did you enjoy playing someone who used such powerful often harsh languageIt was great amp160A lot of that actually does come from transcripts of interviews or from biographies so whenever I could fit in an actual quote of Joanamp8217s I would do it amp160She was a colorful characterWas the wardrobe and make up aspect of this fun for youI donamp8217t enjoy make up or wardrobe I39d rather live my life in pajamas but especially for Joan there was never a moment where she wasn39t amp8220onamp8221 amp160You read in her books that somebody would come unannounced to visit her and she would have to run upstairs and change amp160She actually wrote about this amp160amp8220I had to change from my writing correspondence outfit into my receiving guests outfitamp8221 amp160It was crazy I donamp8217t know how you could live like thatWere there times doing your research that you saw her crumbleThere was one interview where I think she might have been a little quotunder the weatherquot and she39s trying very hard to enunciate that amp8220MGM speakamp8221 and at some point some children approach and she says amp8220Howamp8217re youamp8221 with a twang amp160So it39s there and what39s great as an actor is to find how you relate that to everything that she doesamp160 Oftentimes in the scenes that we had where she has had too much to drink you can see that facade or presentation kind of crumble and something else come to the forefrontLately you are getting some of the most celebrated work of your career yet you say things haven39t changed so much from the days depicted in the seriesI have to thank my dear friend Ryan Murphy for giving me these parts over the last five years like the characters Iamp8217ve played in American Horror Story and now thisamp160 Also the fact that I won a Tony Award this year on Broadway for playing one of the greatest parts ever written with Long Dayamp8217s Journey into Night and that was because Ryan optioned the play for me amp160If it hadn39t been for that I think there would be very lean times I really do amp160Iamp8217m not offered the kind of roles that I was 20 years ago and actually don39t think they39re out there really amp160I look back and think in the last 10 years what parts done by women my age would I have died to do amp160I canamp8217t come up with oneShouldnamp8217t the success of those projects send a message to HollywoodWell yes you would think so wouldn39t you But it all comes down to who is pulling the stringsClick on the social media tiles above or below to share this content with your friends and colleaguesThe opinions and points of view expressed in this commentary are exclusively the views of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of MediaVillagecomMyersBizNet Inc management or associated bloggers Image at top courtesy of FXamp160amp160

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Jessica Lange Shines Bright as Faded Star Joan Crawford in FX’s “Feud”

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Jessica Lange Shines Bright as Faded Star Joan Crawford in FX’s “Feud”

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