Ally McBeal star Calista Flockhart unrecognisable in new TV role

You’d be forgiven if you didn’t recognise Ally McBeal star Calista Flockhart in the promotional material for a new TV series she stars in.

Flockhart is part of an all-star cast for the upcoming FX Networks series Feud: Capote vs The Swans, which also features Naomi Watts, Diane Lane, Chloe Sevigny, Demi Moore and Molly Ringwald.

The show, which will premiere in Australia on Binge next February, is the long-awaited second season of Ryan Murphy’s award-winning Feud series.

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The first season, Feud: Bette and Joan, was a runaway hit, starring Susan Sarandon as Bette Davis and Jessica Lange as Joan Crawford.

Feud: Bette and Joan aired in 2017, so it’s been a long wait for the next instalment, which focuses on American author Truman Capote’s complicated relationship with his so-called “swans”, a group of glamorous women who dominated New York high society.

Based on Laurence Leamer’s bestseller Capote’s Women: A True Story of Love, Betrayal, and a Swan Song for an Era, the show is set in the early 1970s.

After the publication of his bestselling book In Cold Blood (1965), Capote was an in-demand figure on the New York social scene, surrounding himself with the city’s most stylish and wealthy women.

He fell out of favour with the “swans” when he published a short story in 1975 called La Cote Basque 1965, which exposed some of their hidden secrets.

Flockhart plays Jackie Kennedy’s younger sister Lee Radziwill in the series.

Australian actress Naomi Watts plays Babe Paley, the wife of CBS founder William S. Paley, while Demi Moore plays banking widow Ann Woodward.

Pretty in Pink star Molly Ringwald stars as Johnny Carson’s second wife, Joanne Carson, while Diane Lane plays Slim Keith, the former wife of film director Howard Hawks (the man who “discovered” Lauren Bacall.)

Capote is played by Tom Hollander (The White Lotus, The Ipress File) while Chloe Sevigny portrays Andy Warhol muse and socialite C.Z Guest.

The first images of the star-studded cast posted to FX’s Instagram account wowed fans of the first series.

“Calista is back! ❤️ We need a trailer asap 👏🏼” wrote one.

“What a stellar cast!” another follower gushed.

“I’ve been waiting so patiently. I’m excited!” added a third.

One follower remarked on other cast members looking almost unrecognisable thanks to the hair, makeup, costuming and lighting on the promo poster.

“Who are on top right and on centre bottom?” one fan asked.

“Top right is Molly Ringwald and centre bottom is Diane Lane,” another follower answered.

“Thank you! They are unrecognisable! Magic!” the first fan responded.

Flockhart rose to fame in the late 1990s playing the title character on the Fox series Ally McBeal (1997-2002), winning a Golden Globe Award in 1998.

From 2006 to 2011, she starred as Kitty Walker on the drama series Brothers & Sisters, and from 2015 and 2021 she appeared as Cat Grant in the superhero drama Supergirl.

Her film career has perhaps been less successful, with roles in The Birdcage (1996), A Midsummer Night’s Dream (1999) and Things You Can Tell Just By Looking At Her (2000).

The actress is married to Hollywood star Harrison Ford, whom she met at the Golden Globes in 2002.

The pair wed in Santa Fe, New Mexico on June 15, 2010, and share an adopted son, Liam Flockhart Floyd.

Feud: Capote vs The Swans premieres on Binge on February 1, 2024.

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