Catherine Zeta-Jones to star in Ryan Murphy's FX drama “Feud”

PanARMENIAN.Net - Catherine Zeta-Jones is headed for the small screen. The Oscar winner has joined Ryan Murphy's upcoming FX anthology drama Feud, Murphy revealed Tuesday on Twitter, The Hollywood Reporter said.

Zeta-Jones joins previously announced stars Jessica Lange and Susan Sarandon in the anthology series, which centers on a different famous feud every season. In the first eight-episode season, Lange and Sarandon will star as Joan Crawford and Bette Davis, respectively, with the focus on their famous rivalry that occurred during the making of 1962 feature film What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? Their feud was paramount to the movie's popularity at the time, and the picture went onto score five Oscar nominations.

Zeta-Jones will play Davis' close friend and fellow actress Olivia de Havilland, who herself was engaged in a longtime feud with her sister, actress Joan Fontaine.

Alfred Molina also stars as Baby Jane's director, Robert Aldrich; Stanley Tucci will play studio titan Jack Warner; Judy Davis is set as gossip columnist Hedda Hopper; and Dominic Burgess will portray Crawford and Davis' co-star, Victor Buono.

The pilot for Feud is based in part on the script Best Actress by Jaffe Cohen and Michael Zam, which Murphy purchased. Murphy will executive produce alongside Plan B Entertainment's Brad Pitt and Dede Gardner. He also will direct several episodes. Production begins this fall for a 2017 debut on FX.

Feud marks Zeta-Jones' first TV role in two decades. She last co-starred on the 1996 miniseries Titanic, with small roles on The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles and The Darling Buds of May before that. The actress won an Oscar for her work in Chicago, and most recently co-starred in Red 2 and Side Effects.

Murphy has shown his ability to lure top talent to TV several times before, most recently with John Travolta for The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story — a role which earned the actor an Emmy nomination. Murphy's Fox comedy-horror anthology Scream Queens is toplined by Jamie Lee Curtis in a rare TV role, and American Horror Story has welcomed a host of famous faces over the years, most recently Lady Gaga, who went on to win a Golden Globe award for her performance.