The Emmy Awards campaign trail can be grueling, but Diane Lane is having a blast. With her Emmy nomination coming up, Lane has been tackling the ring to discuss her role in Ryan Murphy's FX limited series “Feud: Capote vs. the Swans.” It's a busy time as voting begins: After speaking directly to diverseOn the 'S Awards Circuit Podcast's episode, she was headed to another FYC event.
“This whole appreciation of women’s value is really in line with the spirit of the times, especially politically and globally,” says Lynn. “This is a great time to be a woman because I think we continue to put our footprints in the sand for future generations to take further steps forward.”
In an interview with diverseOn the Fine Arts Circle Awards Podcast, Lin sat down with Crafts Senior Editor Jazz Tangkai and admitted that she’s more present than she’s ever been, and how at this point in her life and career she feels more alive than ever. “In the third act of life, which I’m embarking on, hiding is getting old.” Listen below!
Lynn has come a long way since her first Emmy nomination in 1989 for her portrayal of Lorena Wood in the miniseries “Lonesome Dove.”
“I don’t know if the nomination process is something I don’t remember. I don’t know if I just hid it,” she says. Lynn earned her second nomination in 2011 for the HBO miniseries “Cinema Verite,” and just landed her third for playing Nancy “Slim” Keith in FX’s “Feud: Capote vs. The Swans.”
In “Feud,” Lane co-stars with a star-studded cast including Naomi Watts, Demi Moore, Chloë Sevigny, Jessica Lange, and Molly Ringwald. Tom Hollander plays Truman Capote. Capote betrays his inner circle of powerful New York high society women known as the “Swans” by publishing a story titled “La Côte Basque, 1965” in Esquire magazine and exposing their secrets.
Lin recalls getting a call from Murphy and being Slim's first choice, and he was ready to join him right away. “It was a compliment,” Lin says. “I was hooked.”
Her portrayal of Slim was well received by audiences and Television Academy voting members. Lynn believes Slim was a determined and unyielding woman. “She didn't hesitate to make any decisions. She declared war and said, 'We have to unite in our goal of completely avoiding Truman, to the point of driving him off the face of the Earth if necessary.'”
Lynn says her character felt so vilified by Capote, like she was the one who had committed the crime of saying horrible things about people. “She felt like her reputation was on the line and she wasn't going to let that tarnish her reputation, and she knew a lot about declaring war.”
When Lin took on the role, she didn’t know how the show would end. Lin says it’s a new business model for her not to have all the details of what her character is going to do and say. She navigates uncertainty by trusting what she’s being told. “You have to understand the nuances of what they’re saying in the words they’re using,” she says. “It’s a learning curve for me, and I’m trying to adapt to it. It increases my flexibility as an artist. It increases my imagination. It increases how I dream. It’s more like a river of water that’s alive and breathing and moving.”
Having been acting since she was six years old, Lynn has a wide and varied portfolio. When asked what roles she looks for now, Lynn said she feels more free in her choices. Sometimes she chooses roles that don’t require a lot of travel so she can stay home to raise her child. But with her daughter Eleanor following in her mother’s acting footsteps, Lynn feels liberated from the school year.
This different era has allowed Lynn to learn more about women and herself. “They are so interesting, they have been through difficult experiences, and they have gained a level of strength to move through the different stages.”
Despite her Oscar nominations for Unfaithful and her roles in Inside Out 2 (voicing Riley’s mother) and Under the Tuscan Sun, Lane says she sometimes feels like she still has to prove her point. “I think, ‘You don’t have to try so hard. Diane, it’s okay. They get you, and you don’t have to be so assertive.’” Slim Keith was a fierce woman, ahead of her time, and Lane believes there was more to that in his upbringing.
Also in this episode of the podcast, the roundtable covers the major series categories for this year's Emmy Awards.
Variety’s “Awards Circuit” podcast, hosted by Clayton Davis, Jazz Tangkai, Emily Longerita, Jenelle Riley and Michael Schneider, who also produces, is your one-stop source for vital conversations about the best in film and television. Each episode of “Awards Circuit” features interviews with top talent and creators in film and television, discussions and debates about the awards race and industry headlines, and much more. Subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Stitcher, Spotify or wherever you download podcasts.
