Jessica Lange is my favorite actress. She was brilliant in American Horror Story. Susan S. is an able actress, but do not like her in real life. I am so looking forward to this starting. Do you like the "drama" of the old time actresses or the realistic young actresses? I think over dramatic is a thing of the past.

@Annamarie449 said:

Jessica Lange is my favorite actress. She was brilliant in American Horror Story. Susan S. is an able actress, but do not like her in real life. I am so looking forward to this starting. Do you like the "drama" of the old time actresses or the realistic young actresses? I think over dramatic is a thing of the past.

Is Susan one of those likeable actresses on screen but awful in real life? I was hoping not, but I am curious as to why you don't like her. Maybe something I haven't heard about her. I love the real Bette's voice and in some teasers it did sound like Susan was trying to nail her voice, but it didn't work out. As much as I love Jessica, I think she is absolutely phenomenal, she looks nothing like Joan on this show. It feels like Ryan used her because she's been on almost all of his FX shows. Despite that, I am excited for this show portraying the rivalry between two of my favorite classic actresses.

@Drayvin said:

Is Susan one of those likeable actresses on screen but awful in real life? I was hoping not, but I am curious as to why you don't like her. Maybe something I haven't heard about her. I love the real Bette's voice and in some teasers it did sound like Susan was trying to nail her voice, but it didn't work out. As much as I love Jessica, I think she is absolutely phenomenal, she looks nothing like Joan on this show. It feels like Ryan used her because she's been on almost all of his FX shows. Despite that, I am excited for this show portraying the rivalry between two of my favorite classic actresses.

Susan Sarandon has always been very outspoken about her political views, which makes a lot of people hate her. It's not my case, but I do know that she gets a lot of hate for expressing her opinions, which could be considered "liberal" by some.

I dislike Sarandon, not only for her political views, but do you know she was stupid enough to name her child after a murderer. Norman Mailer became enchanted with a convicted murderer. (http://http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2017/02/21/the-murderer-who-broke-norman-mailer-s-heart.html) Read about it here. Anyway, Susan named her child John Henry.
I am a liberal, but did not appreciate all the hateful things she said about Hilliary Clinton. Going to watch Feud tonight...will post again then.

Well, I've finally seen the first episode and I still think Susan's voice doesn't really sound like Bette's, but somehow, it works. I mean, this is not, like, an impersonation type of acting. I haven't seen tons of Bette Davis' interviews, but I have seen a few and I felt that Susan managed to capture her persona. Both her and Jessica were pretty amazing. Anna, I just realized that I never answered your question (not that you were devastated about it, though, haha). Anyway:

@Annamarie449 said:

Do you like the "drama" of the old time actresses or the realistic young actresses? I think over dramatic is a thing of the past.

I never really thought about it, but come to think of it, I like both acting styles. There's something charming about the old time actresses, and I think their acting style was more appropriate for the kind of movies in which they starred. Their acting was usually not too "natural", but it was captivating in its own way and it was closer to stage acting, which I like. It would be interesting, for example, to imagine a film like "Baby Jane" with a more "realistic" type of acting. It would lose a part of its charm, but it would be interesting to see it, anyway.

By the way, the link doesn't work. I find it odd that Susan would name her child after a murderer. I'm not saying that you're lying, but I am pretty surprised by this, because she doesn't seem like a horrible person who would pay tribute to a murderer. Did she ever make any statements about this? It would be very disappointing, because I always found her to be rather sweet and likeable :( And I can't really say much about Hilary, because I don't live in the USA and I don't know much about USA politics, except that Trump freaks me out.

https://newrepublic.com/article/140610/norman-mailers-fatal-friendship... You may need to copy and paste this link. There actually is a lot if you google Norman Mailler.
But I do separate personal feelings with appreciation for an artists talent...eg Woody Allen etc. I really thought Sarandon was convincing as Davis. I think Lange captured the deep pain Crawford carried within. I enjoyed this and looking forward to the next episode.

@Milo_Jeeder said:

This has been mentioned on the other thread, but I wanted to bring attention to this topic in particular, because I want to read other people's opinions and because... hell, there was only one thread! We need more threads, as long as they're not OT. Anyway, I consider Susan Sarandon a great actress, perhaps one of my all time favorites. I was super excited when I found out that both her and Jessica were doing this show. A couple of days ago, I saw the teasers and the trailers and I can't wait to see the first episode. However, I felt a little bit disappointed (for the lack of a better word) with what I could see on Susan's side. Bette Davis had a very distinctive voice and I noticed that Susan sounded nothing like her, and it's not just the voice. Judging from what I have seen so far, it doesn't really look like she's playing Bette Davis in general. My guess is that she actually tried to sound like her, but it probably sounded too weird/tacky, so she simply decided to use her regular voice. I mean, I'm not saying that this is a bad thing and perhaps I'll appreciate the character, but I really wanted to hear something closer to Bette's voice. Also, I don't think they did a very good job with the make up, because, well... she looks too much like Susan Sarandon and nothing like Bette. I think they did a better job with Jessica, who still looks like herself, but they also managed to capture Joan's features, without making it look like a caricature.

In one of the teasers, it seems like Susan is actually trying to make an effort to sound like Bette and, even though it sounds a little bit campy, I actually like it. Here's the link to the teaser:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ynjQ94ZODis

By the way, for some reason, I am obsessed with this teaser and the one where we see Bette and Joan walking down a staircase.

She sounds a lot like Bette when she got older and her voice deepened.

I enjoyed it, even though I did not think Susan was the best choice for Bette but I am liking her performance. I actually think Judy Davis and she could switch rolls. The interesting thing to me is both actresses are much older than either Joan (57) or Bette (54) were at the time. However, women in their 50s back then looked so much older compared to now it is actually the perfect choice. Excited that it is actually a series... I assumed it was a movie when I saw the previews. Going to be fun. Oh and I decided I wanted to read "What Ever Happened to Baby Jane" ..which is available kindles if anyone is interested: http://amzn.to/2mgdHNC

Thanks for the link to Amazon for the book. Let us know if it's worth reading. My personal opinion on Bette's voice, is that she was a cigarette smoker and had the raspiness that comes with it sometimes. Vanity Fair has some very informative articles here. link to VF.

@Annamarie449 said:

https://newrepublic.com/article/140610/norman-mailers-fatal-friendship... You may need to copy and paste this link. There actually is a lot if you google Norman Mailler.
But I do separate personal feelings with appreciation for an artists talent...eg Woody Allen etc. I really thought Sarandon was convincing as Davis. I think Lange captured the deep pain Crawford carried within. I enjoyed this and looking forward to the next episode.

Joan was such a classy determined and hardworking actress. I am in awe of her. I respect her professionalism so much. I'm so happy that this show focuses on that part of her and not a smear campaign that her hateful, ungrateful adopted daughter Christina lied while trying to ruin Joan's image.

@Anna thanks for the VF link!

I'm so happy that this show focuses on that part of her and not a smear campaign that her hateful, ungrateful adopted daughter Christina did while trying to ruin Joan's image.

Hmmm, I'm curious as to why you discount all of Christina's story? I think that much of it was corroborated by other sources? I agree Joan was hardworking and determined but not perfect. I think Christina may have exaggerated some of it but I don't think she just whipped it all up out of thin air either.

[@HoneyWest] said:

I enjoyed it, even though I did not think Susan was the best choice for Bette but I am liking her performance.

I did not think Susan or Jessica was the best choice for either role, but I am enjoying them both. Bette Davis is my favorite old time actress and Joan Crawford is my second favorite, so I am glad for this series. Loved Jessica ever since she first played on AHS, have fallen more in love with her after watching some of her movies, "Hush" and "Cousin Bette" are my favorites so far.

@Milo_Jeeder said:

However, I felt a little bit disappointed (for the lack of a better word) with what I could see on Susan's side. Bette Davis had a very distinctive voice and I noticed that Susan sounded nothing like her, and it's not just the voice. Judging from what I have seen so far, it doesn't really look like she's playing Bette Davis in general. My guess is that she actually tried to sound like her, but it probably sounded too weird/tacky, so she simply decided to use her regular voice. I mean, I'm not saying that this is a bad thing and perhaps I'll appreciate the character, but I really wanted to hear something closer to Bette's voice. Also, I don't think they did a very good job with the make up, because, well... she looks too much like Susan Sarandon and nothing like Bette. I think they did a better job with Jessica, who still looks like herself, but they also managed to capture Joan's features, without making it look like a caricature.

In one of the teasers, it seems like Susan is actually trying to make an effort to sound like Bette and, even though it sounds a little bit campy, I actually like it.

It's funny because I felt just the opposite. I kept trying to picture Jessica as Joan, but could never see it. I would never know she was supposed to be Joan Crawford if, well, if I hadn't already know. They didn't even try to make her look like Joan. I wonder if Jessica wouldn't shave her eyebrows so she could have Joan's eyebrows. That would have made a big difference.

As far as Susan, I thought she looked and sounded more like her character, Bette. Her voice did go in and out as far as sounding like her, but she seemed more like Bette than Jessica did Joan.

I love both actresses, but was just a little disappointed in their depictions.

@izzybee3 said:

I wonder if Jessica wouldn't shave her eyebrows so she could have Joan's eyebrows. That would have made a big difference.

I agree with this.

@ScorpionQ2 said:

@izzybee3 said:

I wonder if Jessica wouldn't shave her eyebrows so she could have Joan's eyebrows. That would have made a big difference.

I agree with this.

Well, if she did there is a good chance they would never grow back, I think they could have done it with make up and they probably tried but maybe it looked too much like a caricature? I feel like they decided to let them interrupt these women as they saw them and let the acting carry the roles rather than trying to do an imitation...