Faye (2024)

[bunniefuu]

Can we sh**t?

We need to sh**t! I'm

here now, come on!

I really would like to sh**t.

I really... I'm sitting here,

- I really would like to sh**t.

- Laurent Bouzereau: Yes, we are.

Okay. Uh,

- you tell me when you're ready, Faye.

- Ready.

Are we rolling?

We're rolling.

Here's the amazing thing.

Today is March 29th.

Now, on March 29, 1977,

- you took this picture.

- Oh, wow.

Yeah.

Show the picture to camera.

It's exactly 45 years ago.

Wow. It's an awfully long time.

When you look at

this picture today,

what do you see?

Well, I remember the moment.

I had won the Oscar for

"Network" the night before,

and closer to 5 o'clock,

Terry O'Neill tried

to persuade me

to come to the pool at

dawn when the sun came up

because he didn't want a

traditional kind of picture

with the actress standing

with the Oscar and that.

But he staged this.

What I loved is that,

"Is that all there is?" was

kind of the theme to it.

Because at my feet are all

of the morning newspapers

announcing the wins and also

a posthumous Peter Finch Oscar

because he passed away

three months earlier.

So, it was bittersweet and

this is a classic place,

Beverly Hills Hotel

and swimming pool.

So anyway, it was

an amazing night.

It was really crazy.

Very, very, um, memorable.

Do you know me?

Well, uh,

I think I would've remembered.

Have we ever met?

Faye Dunaway in one word...

"un-dismissible."

Well, I'm Miss Bonnie Parker,

and this here is

Mr. Clyde Barrow.

We rob banks.

Faye's a legend, an inspiration,

a force of nature,

a literal

and absolute genius

of an acting artist.

And Faye is my chum.

It's a funny, dirty, little job.

Alchemy.

It's the relationship

between a lens and a face.

You can't pigeonhole

her as a movie star.

You see a Faye Dunaway movie,

and you see something

completely different.

You don't see Faye Dunaway.

You see Bonnie Parker.

You see Laura Mars.

You see Wanda Wilcox.

You see Joan Crawford.

Hollywood royalty.

Mesmerizing.

You know, it's very rare

that you get somebody

who's so striking-looking

that's got acting chops.

And she had a confidence because

Faye knew she could bring it.

- I'm scared!

- So am I!

- What are you scared for? You've got the g*n!

- Yes!

My mom is a very strong woman,

and I think that's

one of the reasons

why she was so good at acting

is because she would

keep her emotions inside.

And then when she had to act

a scene, she would let it out.

I told him, Lou!

I've been telling him

every day for a week!

I am sick of telling

him! Now, you tell him!

If you go back

and you watch all

of my mom's movies,

I think she's all of

her characters in one,

in real life because she

put a little bit of herself

into every character,

and she put a little bit of

her character into herself.

I was never arrogant that way.

I knew I needed a

look, and I got one.

Faye Dunaway in one word?

Complicated.

Who's one of the worst

people you know in Hollywood?

That I worked with?

Or that you wouldn't wanna

work with again. If...

One million dollars,

Faye Dunaway.

Everybody you can

put into this chair

will tell you exactly

the same thing.

You will read people

with their superficial

comments about Faye.

She's volatile, she's

difficult, temperamental,

aggressive. Yeah, well,

that's also true.

But she's equally fastidious,

caring, deeply caring,

and she has an eye

and a temperament for detail

that I think tips that balance

into what people call difficult.

And I think before you start

to make superficial judgments

about someone like Faye,

you have to look

deeper at the artist.

This is the worst

seat in the world.

I'm not happy with

anything here.

I wanna sit at an angle.

I don't wanna sit straight on.

So the shoulders are there?

Does that look better, darling,

- or shall I come straight like that?

- No, looks nice.

It's the work, you know?

It takes what it takes.

People think it's simple and,

"Oh, this and that. Be real."

But there's so many details.

I do a makeup, and I do a hair.

You know, you have to

get there early enough

till you have the exact time.

So, if you get there there,

and you don't have the time,

you're nervous and frantic.

If you come early you

have your preparation,

you have an organization.

It's just a lot of stuff

that has to fit

together like a puzzle.

I need a glass of

water, not a bottle!

Got it. Hold on.

And it's supposed

to liberate you.

And it's difficult because

it's tense, all of it.

- Alright, Faye, put down the book.

- Speaker: Put down the book.

In a minute!

So, now you see what it is

about me.

Not easy.

It's not easy, but

it gets the results.

We'll see, we'll see.

I just seem to always have

wanted to be an actress,

or I always knew that that's

what I wanted to pursue anyway,

you know, from a very

early age in the South

when I was 5, 6 years old.

And I'd always grown up

feeling that I could achieve

what I wanted to achieve

if I worked hard enough.

I mean that is, in fact, the

American dream, isn't it?

I was born Dorothy Faye Dunaway

on January 14, 1941.

Dorothy Faye is the little

girl with brown hair

who stood in the middle of a

dirt road in Bascom, Florida

and played hopscotch

and mother-may-I.

But I haven't been Dorothy

Faye for a long time.

She might've been written

out of the script.

We hope not, right?

She hasn't been.

She's very important to me,

and that's who I wanna

go back to sometimes.

But, Faye is someone that

perhaps I have created.

It's a persona that is

related very much to my work.

It's specific to my career.

That's the actress, I suppose.

And Dorothy Faye is that

little girl from the South.

That still is a deep part of me,

and I have to stay close to

because she's, you know,

integral to who I am.

My mother and my father,

they were young

when they married,

and I don't think they had

a very good relationship

because he had the

disease of alcoholism.

True, serious illness,

and he wasn't

bringing money home.

He might've been drinking

too much even then.

So, my mother sent a letter

to the w*r Department,

asking them to draft my

father, and they did.

He was a cook. He

worked in the kitchen.

And they sent the check

to her every month,

and we were able to pay off

bills and pay off the house.

But, my mother had a great

sense of doing things right

and also taking things

into her own hands

when they didn't work.

That's what I learned

by being with her and

seeing how she operated.

And that's what it takes

to make things work.

My mom was very close to Grace,

and we would go to her little

farm in South Carolina,

and my mom was always trying

to, like, take care of her.

I've always been close with her.

I mean, she taught

me everything.

She had backbone, and

she fought very hard

in a very difficult life

with very little money,

and difficulties with my father.

And my mother

always wanted more.

So, she taught me to achieve.

She taught me to do the

best, to get straight A's,

to work hard, no matter what.

And I'm glad that she did.

But it was also

pretty demanding.

I was trained to be

the best, and I was.

I got some... an

idea in my mind,

and I was gonna try to

achieve it. That's my mother.

- We'll start with that guy.

- Oh Lord.

Well, this is me and my

beloved brother, Mac,

the sweetest boy in the

world, except for Liam.

I always thought

he was so sweet,

and I was such a kind of

go-getter, after my mother,

that I felt guilty and I felt

I wish I were more like him.

My brother, his name

was Mac Simmion Dunaway,

and he's younger than

me, two years younger,

and he was, I thought,

a lot sweeter than me.

But I envied that.

I envied that he was so

lovely and charming and sweet.

I was with him at his bedside

just before he passed,

which I'm happy about.

I'm glad that I was there.

He just had contracted

some kind of illness

without us really expecting it.

Heartbreaking that we lost him.

He was a wonderful

man, had a great life.

This one was

interesting, I think,

'cause I'd never seen it before,

and there's no time or date

or anything like that...

Absolutely, that is what it

is. It's Mannheim, Germany.

It's when my father was

stationed in Germany,

and we were outside

one of the parks there.

And my brother and my father

are standing exactly

the same way.

You can see. Sweet. Very sweet.

He was stationed

there in the Army,

and we spent two years there.

The time pattern of my life

was established very early

when we began to travel

with my father in the Army.

Every two years, he was

transferred somewhere else,

and we went from Florida

to Arkansas and Texas,

and then to Germany,

and back to Utah which

is dreary and very arid.

And it was a rhythm that

was not pleasant sometimes.

It was painful because you had

to pick up and leave friends

and people that

you loved and knew,

and there was no

kind of holding on.

No kind of... It was...

I don't think it's

good to do that

but, I mean, I liked

it at the time,

mostly because there

was something new,

and I was always curious,

and I always wanted

to see new places.

But it was a mixture. It

was both bad and good.

I'm interested to know at

what point you got interested

in acting, and decided,

or had a vague decision,

- at least, to be an actress.

- I, I can always remember, you say, a very vague,

a-an unspoken kind of

leaning towards it.

I always did plays.

I always played games

where I was acting or dressing

up and things like that.

There was neighborhood

playhouses,

and I auditioned when I was 13

for the part of Nurse

Kelly in "Harvey."

And I played that in this

neighborhood playhouse

in Dugway Proving Ground, Utah,

which was an Army base

where my father was.

That was something I did because

I was interested in that.

I was always interested in that,

but that was parallel

to my family experience,

which was painful.

The marriage had crumbled.

It was falling apart,

and the acting was a way to

escape from the difficulties

that existed in my family

life, in my home life.

I mean, it was hurting

us as well, the children,

so my mother wanted a divorce,

and we went back to Florida.

Did you have a happy

childhood or an unhappy one?

- I read a bit about it...

- Both, really. Not-Not terribly.

It was, um, it was...

Well, there was a divorce in

the family when I was older,

but the childhood

itself was, was, um,

not particularly unhappy.

I remember that my relationship

with my mother, for example,

was very close, you know? It

was not until really my teens

that there was the divorce,

and that certainly

is an adjustment

because that is difficult

emotionally, and I imagine,

financially, it was a

bit less of an easy life.

We lived in Tallahassee,

and I went to Leon High School.

Tried out to be a cheerleader,

became a cheerleader.

There was a drama club as well,

and I had a couple of roles

in the productions there.

After I graduated,

I went to Florida State

University for one year,

and then I transferred to

the University of Florida

because I had a

boyfriend who was there.

But winning a beauty contest

was de rigueur in the South.

This is a very important

thing. You had to win one.

You had to win one.

And I tried a number of times,

and I was always

runner-up to May Queen,

six votes that I didn't

get, that someone else got.

And then, when I finally

became Sweetheart of Sigma Chi,

my darling boyfriend

at that time,

Eugene Page, who's no longer

with us, unfortunately,

he was part of this,

and when I won that,

I thought, that's it.

I've done it now.

And in spite of the fact that

Gene and I were very close,

I had to go and live my life.

I had to go and do

what I wanted to do,

to be an actress. And so,

I then researched

and found a school

that was interesting because

it was Boston University,

and it had visiting directors

from the New York stage.

So I got accepted, and I

went to Boston University

just after I became

Sweetheart of Sigma Chi.

Okay, what's next?

Ah. This is...

I think it's a...

some kind of Roman...

It's me playing Medea

when I was in college,

and that's the chorus

and that's the gladiator.

That's a play production that

I was in when I was young.

Were you a terribly

ambitious young girl

when you were a teenager

that got you out

- in this crazy business in the first place?

- I had a lot of desire.

And a lot of, um, energy.

And a lot of, um, you know,

determination to do good work.

Did you ever get

down and frustrated,

didn't think you

were gonna make it,

or did you always know

that you had that goal set

- and you were gonna make it?

- All the time!

Every day down and

frustrated and, you know,

had to pull yourself up

and talk to yourself,

and I think that there's a

lot of character building

and strength that goes

into, when one is fearful

and when one takes

on a large task.

Six days after I graduated

from Boston University,

I went on Broadway in New York

to play with Emlyn Williams

in "A Man for All Seasons,"

and, at the same time,

I worked in the training program

for Lincoln Center Repertory.

Cause Robert Whitehead, the

great producer, with Kazan,

had seen me play

things up in Boston.

Faye was in the company of

Lincoln Center led by Kazan,

and everybody wanted

to be in this company.

You had to audition for it.

But, to be in the

company you had to spend,

almost eight or nine months

in the training program.

We didn't think about

going to Hollywood.

We were thinking about

being on the stage,

and so we were in an

extremely exciting

and enviable place

by being with Kazan.

What do you think of the

new Lincoln Center group?

Well, I must think a lot of it.

I've worked a long time on it.

We've brought this

bunch together,

and it's a very exciting group.

Very fresh and young, eager.

And, uh, high-spirited.

Wonderful group of people.

- You mean the actors, don't you?

- Yeah.

Kazan would locate the

part within the actor.

That was his secret. He

said, "The material I use

is the life that the actor

has led up to this moment."

Kazan taught me how to act.

He taught me my feelings

were my strength.

I used to think they

made me look weak

and that I was weak if I cried

or felt sad or depressed.

And he taught me to

use those feelings.

He says, "They're who you are.

They make you strong.

They don't make you weak."

You know, when you

meet little girls,

and they wanna be an actress

like you when they grow up,

- what do you tell them?

- Get a good education.

Become a person.

And education is a

big part of that.

And then, when you can bring

something to the profession,

come in. But don't

come out saying,

"Oh, I wanna be an actress

and get in front of a camera,"

because a million other people

will be there before you,

or simultaneously,

and it's just not the way

that it's gonna happen.

You have to develop

your own uniqueness.

I was getting a salary

on Broadway at that time,

but it wasn't that much.

But I was a young actress.

I was auditioning for things.

I finally got "Hogan's Goat."

This was written

by William Alfred,

who became my great

mentor and friend.

And it was Off-Broadway,

but it was a beautiful role

and written in blank verse

with an Irish accent.

Daughter of a mighty Father,

maiden patron of the May,

angel forms around thee gather,

Macula non est in te.

My mom in her 20s,

she really turned more

of parental guidance

to William Alfred,

who she had met

on "Hogan's Goat."

He was a professor at Harvard.

He was also a writer,

and they kind of just bonded.

I remember there's a

picture of them together,

and they're just literally

at two ends of the desk,

and there's just like a

typewriter in the middle,

and you can see

they're just working.

And that was their relationship.

And he would always read books,

so he got my mom into

more reading and learning

and educating herself, and being

a master of her craft.

Bill Alfred was my

father, basically.

My father in art.

I would always go up

there with my scripts,

and we would sit

in his living room,

and he would fiddle and say,

"Well, this is what maybe the

playwright was thinking about."

So, he helped me enormously,

and he showed me how to work.

But the play, "Hogan's

Goat," was a surprise hit.

You know, everyone

came to see it.

Jackie Onassis came one night.

And the reviews were very

good. Not just for me,

but for the play as well.

That's when Hollywood

came knocking.

And the casting

director, Joyce Selznick,

was in the audience,

and she recommended

me to Sam Spiegel,

who was a very big

Hollywood producer.

He had produced

"The African Queen,"

"On the Waterfront"

with Marlon Brando,

"Lawrence of Arabia,"

and he became a friend.

Platonic. Never... There was

never any romance between us,

but he believed in me, and

he put me into my first film,

"The Happening."

Are you scared?

Yes, I'm scared.

I don't think you're

really scared yet.

It was glorious! You kidding?

I was in shape.

I used to do 100

sit-ups every morning

because I had these bare

midriff things I had to wear.

It was the first film

I did. Can you imagine?

A young actress in this

world of movie-making,

which is glamorous

and thrilling.

You and Rad made up your minds

to go and sell the place?

- You're gonna have to talk to Rad about that, Henry.

- Okay.

Only I hope you folks

don't wait too long.

In "Hurry Sundown," I

played the farm wife.

Jane Fonda played the wealthier

wife with Michael Caine

that I wanted to play,

but I got the role of

the poor Southern woman

who was with John Phillip Law.

But I took it also because

it reminded me of my mother.

And the role of the

farm wife was something

that I knew from my grandmother

when I was growing up.

And it was a good

experience in the end.

Good afternoon. This

is the Barrow g*ng.

Now, if everybody will just take

it easy, nobody will get hurt.

"Bonnie and Clyde,"

in its preparation and

in its preproduction,

was really a kind of men's club.

It was written by Robert

Benton and David Newman.

Arthur Penn was the director.

Warren Beatty was the

star, but also the producer

and the kind of driving force

in wanting to get it made.

But, they waited to cast

quote-unquote "the girl."

Who's the girl gonna be?

I went to the Beverly

Wilshire Hotel in Los Angeles

cause that's where

Warren had a suite

in the very top of the hotel,

and Arthur Penn was there. And

we auditioned in the suite,

and I read some scenes

of "Bonnie and Clyde."

And Arthur basically said

he wanted me to do it.

Warren was less sure,

but, in the end, Arthur Penn

committed himself to me.

He actually told Warren

that if I didn't play it,

he wasn't gonna do it.

It was Penn who insisted

on Faye Dunaway.

Although the other actresses

being considered included

Jane Fonda, Tuesday Weld,

Natalie Wood, Leslie Caron,

and, my, my, the film

would've been different

with any of the other actresses

because of a special sensibility

that Faye Dunaway

brought to that part.

I mean, I was a Southerner.

You know, I mean, you

saw in "Bonnie and Clyde"

that I was home free.

And the accent is a part of it.

Oh, big Clyde Barrow!

You're just like your brother!

- Uh-huh!

- Ignorant, uneducated hillbilly!

Listen, the only

special thing about you

is your peculiar ideas

about love-makin',

which is no love-makin' at all!

"Bonnie and Clyde,"

the studios didn't like it.

They didn't wanna show it.

And Warren, at one point,

in Warren's inimitable way,

laid right down on

the floor and says,

"Sell me the picture."

And they said, "Oh, get

up from the floor, kid.

Get... What are you

talk... Get up."

And he didn't. He just

stood there, said,

"Sell me the picture. I'll be

back with a check this afternoon."

He left. Well, you know,

they then are saying,

"Oh, God, he showed it to Fox.

"Or he showed it

to another studio.

And they're

interested, and now..."

So, it worked.

"Bonnie and Clyde" came

out in the summer of 1967,

but it took five or six months

before the movie really

started to take off

and be popular

across the country.

And that was right at

this interesting moment

when everything in old

Hollywood was falling apart.

The production code, which had

governed the content of movies

for many decades, had

finally been dismantled.

So, there was

suddenly this window

when you could have

very adult movies.

But nobody, including the people

who were making the movies,

knew quite how far

those movies could go.

With "Bonnie and Clyde,"

you got the sense that

the Band-Aid had

been ripped off.

All of a sudden, you saw...

anguish. Real anguish.

You heard about

Clyde's sexual impotence.

You saw her intensely frustrated

and lonely,

and her humanity validated.

But also, her sadness,

and that was not

something we'd seen before

with that kind of frankness.

How long did it take them to

sh**t you up the way they did

in, uh, in the end of

"Bonnie and Clyde"?

Yeah, it was incredible.

It took, um... I

think we did it...

I think we did it

twice, on two days,

and there were about four

cameras going on each one.

That was incredible.

The shootout and the death scene

was shocking, and part of

it was that you liked them.

And it was echoing something

that was going on

across the country.

In '63, President

Kennedy was assassinated,

and then a few years later,

his brother, Robert Kennedy,

running for President,

was assassinated,

and Martin Luther

King was assassinated.

Those were also

incredibly turbulent times

and very frightening

because it just

felt like everything

that we had been told and

everything we had known

was being turned upside down,

and I think "Bonnie and Clyde,"

in this very seductive way,

just brought that right

into the movie theater.

This is Faye's

first time in Paris.

Will you tell us just shortly,

uh, your stage experience?

Three years stage

experience in New York

with the Lincoln Center

Repertory Company.

Two years with that,

one year on Broadway.

As a result of this fame

that came as a result

of "Bonnie and Clyde,"

it was a very frantic

and hectic time.

I don't have anything against

fame, but it can be difficult

because you don't have a

lot of privacy sometimes.

But, it's something that I

accept and am grateful for

because there are

people who like my work.

When one becomes successful,

it's an opportunity.

- It's a freedom, really. Success is freedom.

- Yes, of course, it is.

You can choose

what you wanna do.

You can choose what's

most exciting for you.

Bonnie and Clyde are

very big here in France,

and they have been

for a long time,

even though the film has

only just now arrived.

The French have for months been

buying Bonnie and Clyde songs,

neckties, hats, dresses,

car accessories.

People came in costumes

of the American 1930s

to see the Paris

premiere of the film

and to see its stars, Faye

Dunaway and Warren Beatty.

Her look, which really did spark

a major fashion trend,

was intentionally anachronistic.

Because if you look at pictures

of the real Bonnie Parker,

she did not look like

Faye Dunaway. And so,

this was a highly

stylized, visually,

highly romanticized version

of Bonnie and Clyde,

which was appropriate

because this is partly

a movie about celebrity

and about seeking celebrity.

And that part of

the story is true.

Come on, smile. Hey...

The look for Bonnie

was established

by Theadora Van Runkle.

She was a great friend of

mine for many, many years,

and she was a divine

costume designer.

And so, after Bonnie, she

did "Thomas Crown" for me,

with these very short

miniskirts and ruffly things.

And this woman, very

feminine, but very aggressive.

Alright, Eddy! I'm immoral!

So is the world! I'm

here for the money, okay?

My character was a

private investigator,

and she was a dresser.

She did these incredible looks

every time she was in public,

and that was just

the choice we made.

In a lot of my films,

the clothes have

created statements.

I know what I am.

Don't put your

labels on me, Eddy.

The story of "The

Thomas Crown Affair"

is about Thomas Crown,

played by Steve McQueen,

and he has these guys rob

a bank, and, of course,

it's the quote-unquote

"perfect crime."

And the insurance company,

they send this high-powered

insurance investigator

to help the Boston Police.

And that insurance

investigator is Faye Dunaway,

Vicki, and, of course,

they both are very intrigued

by each other to put it mildly.

Whose head are you after?

- Yours.

- Mine?

Yours.

She's very much of the moment.

It's the '60s.

The women's movement is

coming into the forefront,

so she's this independent woman

who was so cool and

so self-possessed.

Nobody who's ever

seen that movie

would argue that

perhaps the chess game

is the most erotic piece

of filmmaking ever made.

Do you play?

Try me.

And there's not a word spoken!

It's just chess moves.

It's fingers. It's looks.

It's a chess game!

But, she and Steve McQueen,

they play it so well

that it is a silent game,

and it's all in the looks,

and, boy, does that work.

And you know she's in control.

Check.

He and I had a wonderful

chemistry, actually,

because he was an

actor for sure,

but he was also Steve.

He had a persona that was

something that defined him

perhaps more than this

quote-unquote "acting."

There's a story

that Steve McQueen

disparagingly referred to her

either as Dun-fadeaway

or Fadin'-away.

Because she was thin.

She was, like, disappearing

and losing weight.

There's a big demand that

you be very, very, very thin.

And that you fit everything.

And that you look great.

And you get a half

an hour for lunch,

from the time they break,

to you eat, go to the

toilet, brush your teeth,

and get back on set.

Absolutely, there is much

more pressure on a woman.

The clothes are very demanding.

But, you're going at such a pace

you don't have time

to eat very much.

Sharon Stone: In truth,

you just don't get to eat

three healthy meals a

day and fit the clothes

that come off the runway.

You just really don't.

And Faye and I know that.

All the great photographers

photograph Faye

'cause she is a fashion icon.

Jerry Schatzberg, of course,

photographed Faye beautifully.

They were an item in the '60s,

and are still great friends.

And he's a formidable

photographer

as well as director himself.

I got a call from "Esquire,"

and they said they would like

me to photograph a new actress.

And I was really

happy to meet Faye,

and we did some

wonderful photographs.

In the middle of the

sh**t, she started crying.

And I thought maybe

I had said something,

but I couldn't

really tell at first.

I don't know. I think

probably I wanted

to have a vulnerability

for these stills

and, you know, you think of

something that is sad for you

and makes you cry.

Life is emotional, and

it's easy to tap into that.

The lunches we had

led to dinners,

and we just liked

talking to one another.

We started spending time.

After a while, she knew

that I was aiming to

get into making films,

and she started

asking me questions

about the film I was

working on. And that's how

we got started with "Puzzle

of a Downfall Child."

Would you want to take a

picture of me now, as I am?

Well, uh, I didn't

bring my camera.

No, but you would not

because I am imperfect!

I... My makeup has worn

off, I look horrible.

You know you look

wonderful though,

so you should stop knocking

yourself down like that.

I was in a play called "Huey,"

and Jerry saw me on that

and thought I would be good

for the role. But, of

course, he checked with Faye,

and Faye said, "Yeah, well

sure. That'd be great."

And Faye was so

gorgeous in the film,

and it appealed to her

because it was another

side of herself.

You know, couldn't think

of anything more different

than Bonnie in this part.

The character was

Lou Andreas Sand,

but it was based on a model

by the name of Anne St. Marie.

And she was a top, top

model. Just owned the city.

And Jerry's photographed

her many times.

She kept a list of photographers

she didn't like anymore,

and she would say that she

wouldn't work for them.

The camera gives

you 15, 20 pounds.

Thin as you are, may I suggest

you drop five or seven pounds.

Five or seven.

Certainly, the

character based on Anne

was very tortured by

relationships in the past,

and she had a lot of

darkness in her as well.

And, you know, it's

a difficult thing,

sometimes I would think,

coming to terms

with being a model,

because her whole

career was based on

how she looked through

a lens, a camera.

So, that was something

that was very akin

to what I experienced as

an actress in, in film.

I'm not adding up to

anything, am I, Aaron?

I'm not making any

sense, am I? It won't...

Yes, you are.

As a matter of fact,

there was a period of time

when you weren't doing too well.

Was that when you were ill?

I was able to relate

to this character.

I mean, who was it who said

I walked around in

a cloud of drama?

I think it was Kazan.

That you never know

what's gonna happen next.

It could be true, and I

was... had periods, you know,

where I was very depressed

and I was very moody

and actually have,

we might as well say,

a bipolar diagnosis.

It's a very real

thing. It's bipolar.

It's manic depressive

is another name

for this illness.

And it's an imbalance,

a biological imbalance.

You can be up high,

you can be manic,

you can be very depressed

is the other place to be.

So, I do have mood

swings, up and down.

And it was happening

early on as well, I think.

And they only

became more evident

as I grew later in my life.

Will you stop angering me?

My mom always had

depression issues,

bipolar issues,

but it wasn't until a

couple of years ago,

where I had watched my mom go

through, like, really hard,

hard times and hit rock bottom.

So, I kind of got to the point

where I said, "Hey, listen,

like, let's get you to

this clinic in Boston,"

where she went to

lectures and classes,

and they got her

on the right stuff,

and she came out like

a whole new person.

I worked with a group of doctors

who analyzed my behavior,

and who, who gave me

prescriptions for pills

that they thought

would be good for me,

and they have helped.

So, I am quieter,

but throughout my career,

people know that there

were tough times.

But I don't need to

make an excuse about it.

I'm still responsible

for my actions.

But this is what I

came to understand

was the reason for

them. It's something

you need to be aware

of, and you need to try

to do the right thing

to take care of it.

Unfortunately,

something happened in her

life that then, uh, we, uh,

had to break up.

Well, I went over to

Italy, and I did a film

with Mastroianni,

and, uh, I did fall

in love with him,

and we had a relationship

for a couple of years.

I would say if I'm

gonna lose somebody,

it might as well be to

Marcello Mastroianni.

I got the feeling

I'm a part of a plan.

I come out all alone.

But it's nice, anyway.

I don't say it isn't.

Marcello Mastroianni,

well, he was the king of Europe.

He was the most

famous actor in Italy.

Are you married?

Just about.

Is she in Milan? Do

you live together?

Yes, for a while now.

And, you know, we were together,

but he was married,

and it's tricky because in a

Catholic country like Italy,

you couldn't have divorce.

So, it had to be

backstreet. And I really...

Foolish girl.

I really kinda got

into it for a while,

I mean, because he

meant so much to me.

I would fly into

Fiumicino with a brown wig

and go to a place where we

had a person arranging things.

I mean, it was all

very, you know,

romantic and illusional.

Delusional perhaps.

Its hard to say. You're young

and there are interesting

people that you meet.

And so, that was certainly

the case with him.

That was the way it was.

And then, finally,

it was too much.

Finally, I was

ready to leave it.

Marcello Mastroianni was

quoted in a woman's magazine,

saying the most extraordinary

things about you.

The most complimentary.

The most fantastic woman

he's ever known in his life.

Well, I think that's very nice.

I don't know, that's a

whole other can of peas.

- That you'd rather not open up.

- I think not.

Ah. Are you sad though

with the, the breakup

of that relationship?

No, I'm not at all.

And, uh... I mean, I am,

you know, in certain, certain...

Yes. Yes and no. I'm not...

Things happen as

they happen, I think.

I do have some kind of...

belief that it was...

what happened was right

and necessary for

him, as well as me.

He made a bit of a

furor there for a while,

but I don't think it was...

I think he's very well

now, and I think, you know,

we-we gained from

it. Whatever it was.

And that's all I'm

gonna tell you.

I've got sort of two-year

sequences in my life,

and I think that definitely

dates back to the time

when we were traveling

with my father in the Army.

Every two years, you know,

you had to pick up and go.

You had to leave the

friends that were there.

And I think I learned not

to be too close to people

because you're gonna

lose them anyway.

So, you may as well move away.

There's going to be an end,

and the end, I think,

was very painful for me.

And now, I think I... that still

is part of my life that way.

And I think that was a pattern

that was set up very early,

and I noticed in

my relationships

they lasted about two years.

You know, I could've

still been with Marcello.

In many ways, he was

the love of my life.

And also, I've always

been about work.

I need my work.

It fulfills me.

It makes me feel

good about myself.

And I feel a sense

of my own strength,

and I feel I can

achieve something.

So, to me, what I

need is my work.

I don't need, necessarily,

another person.

But I know it's wrong.

I know one should have

other people in one's life.

But, work was the thing

I could always turn to.

It was the thing that

never let me down.

It was what I did,

and it was solid.

I don't see anyone for

very long, Mr. Gittes.

It's difficult for me.

On "Chinatown,"

I was told to call Faye

to come out from New York to

LA to do wardrobe fittings.

And I said, "Hi, Miss

Dunaway. I'm Howard Koch,

"and I'm the first assistant

director on the movie.

"And just calling you

to say that, you know,

we need you out here next

week. We'll fly you out."

And then she said to me,

"You're Sagittarius,

aren't you?"

"Uh, yes."

She said, "Oh, we

won't get along."

Whoa.

Okay.

So, that was my

introduction to Faye.

You see, I'm Mrs.

Evelyn Mulwray.

You know, Mr. Mulwray's wife?

Not, uh, that Mulwray?

Yes, Mr. Gittes, that Mulwray.

What reputation did

she have at that point?

That she was difficult.

Faye was difficult but serious,

and a terrific actress.

That's the reputation.

There's no point in

gettin' tough with me...

I don't get tough with

anyone, Mr. Gittes.

My lawyer does.

"Chinatown" is a film

noir detective story,

and then it becomes

something so much deeper.

It's a story about

large-scale corruption

in a business-type sense,

and more importantly,

familial corruption.

The kind of horrors that people

in power do to the powerless.

And at the time, again,

it was tied into the things

going on in the larger world.

People have gotta know

whether or not their

president is a crook.

Well, I'm not a crook.

You see, it all happened at

the beginning of the Watergate.

When I came here,

it all started.

And during those eight

weeks, we were bombarded

by all news media with

what was going on.

And the parallels

were so obvious

that it obviously inspired us

to go more even

in this direction

and try to dig

into certain things

that had to do with Los

Angeles and its history.

They're blowin' these

farmers outta their land

and then pickin'

it up for peanuts.

You have any idea what

this land would be worth

with a steady water supply?

About 30 million more

than they paid for it.

It felt like everything you

thought was right was wrong,

and everything you thought

was moral was immoral.

And that feels even more

powerful and more relevant.

It was a mysterious woman, too,

which is fun to

play, first of all,

because I have to know what

she's thinking all the time,

and that particular

character nobody else knew

what she was thinking,

so that they easily

misconstru... mis-misconstrued

- what she was saying or doing.

- David Sheehan: Yeah, yeah.

As did Gittes, the

Nicholson character.

You've already got one

going, Mrs. Mulwray.

- Oh.

- Does, uh, my talking

about your father upset you?

Why, no.

Yes. A little. You

see, Hollis and my f...

my father had, um, a

falling out, finally.

Evelyn Mulwray was dynamite.

She was a great character.

You know, Roman Polanski

did a good movie.

We had difficult

times, he and I,

but he's a great film director.

There you go.

That's Polanski and

me in "Chinatown."

Roman the Terror.

But he thought I

was a terror also,

I'm sure, so... We had a

pretty complicated time.

Jack helped, though.

Nicholson being there

made all the difference.

For this particular movie,

it was all about the hair,

the makeup, the dress,

the whole thing of Mrs. Mulwray,

and she made it difficult

on all of us because...

and I'm sure you've

heard about Blistex.

When did you discover Blistex?

On my lips, I can't

speak without it.

Lee Harman, who was

our great makeup man,

had a tube of Blistex.

And between every shot,

he'd have to put

Blistex on her lips.

It was her security blanket.

But, for Roman and

for the rest of us...

Oy vey, what a pain in the a*s.

Cause it took time,

and you wanna keep it rolling.

I remember this one time,

we're sh**ting in a restaurant

called the Windsor Restaurant.

It's a two-shot

of Faye and Jack,

and, originally, she

didn't have the hat on.

So, as we're about to sh**t,

one hair on Faye's head

just stuck up.

So, Roman said, "Faye!

Faye, you have one hair!

Can you just, you

know, just..."

And Faye went, "Okay,

okay," and put it down.

And I said, "Okay, ready,

and..." And the hair popped up.

It was a very tense moment

and, you know, my hair

was deeply marcelled,

which means they have

to force it into waves.

And I have naturally curly hair,

so my hair doesn't wanna do

what another person

tells it to do.

And there was a

hair sticking up.

Susie Germaine, the

hairdresser, she comes in...

with the spray. Get it down.

"Okay, ready, and..."

The hair pops up again.

Roman literally walks around

and pulls the hair

out of Faye's head.

I've been around a long time.

Even then, I had been

around a long time.

I never heard some

of those words.

That's enough to set off

the manic depression.

I just... I said... I...

Well, it was offensive.

You don't do that.

So, I went to my trailer,

and it was a whole situation.

Finally, we got her

back to the set,

but Anthea Sylbert,

costume designer,

put a hat on her.

So, we started the scene over,

and she shot it with a hat on,

so we didn't have to worry

about the hair popping up.

Now,

I think you know all

you need know about me.

I didn't want publicity.

I didn't want to go into

any of this, then or now.

Is that all?

After that hair incident,

Jack nicknamed me.

"Dread," he called me.

The Dreaded Dunaway

was his name for me.

He still to this

day calls me Dread.

And I love it.

Now I wanna know how it happened

and I wanna know why and I wanna

know before Escobar gets here

because I don't wanna

lose my license.

I don't know what you

are talking about.

Th-This is the craziest,

the most insane...

Stop it!

One of the most shocking scenes

was the moment of revelation

that Evelyn Mulwray

had, in fact, been

r*ped by her own father,

and a child from that

relationship was her daughter

and her sister.

What's her name?

Katherine.

Katherine who?

She's my daughter.

I said I want the truth!

What we do in movies

is we usually do that

and that

and the hand comes quite

close, but it doesn't slap.

Well, it doesn't

work, of course.

I said finally to Jack,

"You're gonna have to slap me.

Just go ahead and do it." And

he said, "You sure, Dread?"

And so I said, yeah. So

then, we did it again,

and it worked.

She's my sister.

She's my daughter.

My sister, my daughter...

I said I want the truth!

She's my sister and my daughter!

Faye's such an

extraordinary actress

and her ferocious intent

with her characters was

something I really admired.

For a beautiful woman

to take a bite out of

characters like that

is so unusual and

so rarely offered.

Better get out of here!

Lena, it's me!

In the early '70s,

we are now making

films about women

who can be independent.

Women who are no longer

defining themselves

purely in terms of

being mothers and wives.

And that-that marked

the '70s, in society,

as well as on screen.

What good are you?

I'm your father, Lena.

So what?

You wanna read me

nursery rhymes?

It's a little late for that.

This was not somebody

who was typecast.

She was playing very

different kinds of characters

with very different looks.

Anything Faye Dunaway

was going to be in,

I wanted to see it.

I saw it happen.

With your own eyes?

In a nightmare.

The '70s was just

like a goldmine.

It was an incredible

time for film.

That's when things

started happening

in a major kind of way,

and the big one was "Network."

I want you to get up now.

I want all of you to get

up out of your chairs.

I want you to get up right

now and go to the window,

open it, and stick

your head out and yell,

"I'm as mad as hell,

and I'm not going to

take this anymore!"

When the script was sent to me,

I read it, and I said yes.

And everyone didn't

want me to do it.

They said she

didn't have a heart,

and she didn't have a soul.

She was a TV baby.

That's all she knew.

Television and ratings and

that's what made her tick.

I seem to be inept

at everything.

Except my work.

I'm good at my work.

So, I confine myself to that.

All I want out of life is

a 30 share and a 20 rating.

The script was by

Paddy Chayefsky,

and he was, I think, using

the character of Diana

and Faye Dunaway's body and soul

to critique what he saw as

the worst excesses

of television.

Namely that mentality that

we have to be number one.

We have to have all the profits.

Who cares who gets

trampled in the process?

We've got the number-one

show in television!

And at next year's affiliates

meeting, I'll be standing here,

telling you we've

got the top five!

Now, you're talking about

a multi, multi, multi-million

dollar industry.

As big as steel, as

big as electronics.

It's an enormous

industry. And right now,

it's an industry dedicated

to one thing, profit,

and the only responsibility they

have is to their stockholders.

- The interesting thing...

- And that, I think, is worth knowing,

that what you see on television

is what's getting

money for the network.

And it's not true.

I think it's necessary to expose

what that process is,

as it goes on in

contemporary times.

And it just seemed to me that

you had to play her. You

had to get it out there.

And Sidney Lumet was

a fantastic director.

And I had said to Faye,

when I first met her,

"I know what the first

question is gonna be from you,

"and that you're gonna ask me,

where is her vulnerability?

"And I'm gonna tell you

right now, she has none.

"And if you try to get any in,

I'll cut it out of the movie."

I've been telling you people

since I took this

job six months ago

that I want angry shows.

I don't want conventional

programming on this network.

I want counterculture. I

want anti-establishment.

David Itzkoff: Dunaway, at

this point in her career,

is, of course, an A-list star.

She was the first person to be

officially cast in the film.

She's already got

her Oscar nominations

for "Bonnie and Clyde"

and for "Chinatown,"

and an actor that Sidney

Lumet and Paddy Chayefsky

wanted very badly for this part.

This was essentially

a lone woman

working in a

male-dominated industry

who really had

power and control,

and was seeking more

power in her department.

I'm talking about a six

dollar cost per thousand show.

I'm talking about 100,

130,000 dollar-minutes!

Do you wanna figure out the

revenues of a strip show

that sells for 100,000

bucks a minute?

One show like that could

pull this whole network

right out of the

hole! Now, Frank,

it's being handed

to us on a plate.

Let's not blow it.

Women can be powerful, and

when they become powerful,

power corrupts.

And she proved the point.

Talk about equality for women,

she could be as mean

and single-minded

and devastating as any man.

And you know what? It was

kind of exciting to see that

as a young woman starting out.

I've heard it said by women

who have seen "Network"

that the, uh, character

you created in the picture,

uh, might set the woman's

movement back 50 years.

I have a very definite

opinion on that.

I think that for, for years,

uh, and I'm not actively

involved in the movement,

God knows I'm for it,

um, but what we've been

trying to get away from

is stereotypical

women's roles that,

that reflect an

inaccurate view of,

of what a woman really is.

Now, you cannot then

say, "Well, yes,

but she always has to

be nice at the end."

It's a kind of hypocrisy

which I don't think real

feminists are gonna feel.

Now, my task, I felt

the largest task I had,

I think, in this was

to infuse the role

with some sense of

what she is, in fact,

giving up and paying for it.

It was just very

important to understand

the lengths to which

she had developed

without normal human

emotions and decency,

and there was a way

somehow to let her soul,

or her lack of

soul, seep through.

And the moment I

think that happened

was with William

Holden at the end

where we're splitting up.

What exactly is it

you want me to do?

I just want you to love me.

I just want you to love

me, primal doubts and all.

I don't know how to do that.

I mean, that's

the look. It's...

"I can't.

Just can't."

I don't want your pain.

I don't want your menopause

or decay and death!

- I don't need you, Max! Now, get out of...

- You need me!

You need me badly.

You know, she was

tragic, in my view.

And that look, that's

a lost person in hell.

And she's not gonna get out.

And the winner is...

Faye Dunaway in "Network."

Well, I didn't expect

this to happen quite yet,

but I do thank you very

much, and I'm very grateful.

I would like especially

to thank Sidney Lumet,

Paddy Chayefsky,

Howard Gottfried,

uh, Danny Melnick,

and the great generosity

of a rare group of

actors, company of actors,

in particular William

Holden, Robert Duval,

and Peter Finch. Thank you.

Oh, that's wonderful. Oh!

And they set it up so everyone

can, like, partake in it.

Oh, that's amazing.

Margaret Roth:

That is so cool.

Ah...

Couple more. Maybe you're

looking, just like that.

Thirty minutes from

now, there are gonna be

a few hundred people in here

to welcome Faye Dunaway to

probably the most exhaustive

career retrospective

of her ex-husband Terry O'Neill.

And, of course, perhaps the

greatest shot of his career,

Faye Dunaway, the morning

after she won her Oscar.

My dad was a photographer.

He was born in England,

so he was just an English

guy through and through.

I guess his specialty was

putting someone in a place,

letting that person

be themselves,

and then taking the picture

because it directly

represents them

instead of someone

just setting it up.

I have a funny picture

that no one's ever seen

- that I took with, uh, Dad.

- What?

Before he died, we were visiting

the Beverly Hills Hotel,

and there's this huge sign

on the pool that says

"No photography

in the pool area."

And I got Dad to, like,

stand by the sign,

and just kinda do one of

those things holding a camera.

- It was just a great, great photo.

- That's lovely.

I always called Terry a

journalist with a camera,

not a pen.

You know, he needed a

photograph that told a story.

And he did that with

that photograph.

He actually persuaded

a major Hollywood star,

on the night that she

collects her Oscar,

to be poolside at 6:00

a.m. the next morning.

And he took 12 shots,

and off she went to bed

again. It took 15 minutes.

It, many times,

has been described

as probably the greatest

Hollywood shot of all time.

And it was very indicative of

Terry's need to tell a story.

He said, "The morning

after you're gonna wake up,

and your life will have

changed dramatically."

When my parents met,

my mom was married

to Peter Wolf,

who was a rock star

in the J. Geils Band.

My dad was also married

to a lady named Vera

who was an actress-slash-model.

They were both married,

both in relationships,

and they just kind of

sparked this interest.

I mean, I think that's how it

works most of the time, right?

Terry was taking

photographs of me,

and we kind of started

to get to know each other

and like each other.

Things had not been

working out with Peter

in terms of what we truly want.

He was younger than I was,

and we didn't want the

same things anymore.

And so, I ended it.

It was hard because I

had to kind of give him

the papers by surprise.

But, more than that, I

did want to have a child,

as part of a woman's experience.

Look at that.

Little... little baby pictures.

Yeah. This one. This is

great. This was way early on.

"Who's the best boy in

the world?" I used to say.

And he would say, "Me,

me." It's so nice.

I wanted you to talk to

us about being a mom.

Oh, God.

There is nothing that's

more, more important to me.

I don't know why. I was

most important to my mother.

She had her heart set

always on having a child,

and she planned for it,

and I don't know whether

I got that from her

as I was growing up...

I... It meant very much to me.

And there came a moment

where the work had taken over

to the point where it

was too late, really,

for me to have a child

in a biological sense.

So, I found my son, Liam,

and I adopted him with Terry,

and I was overjoyed, really,

when it evolved

the way that it did

because I certainly know

that he's everything

to me. Everything.

I never care to discuss my

adoption with my parents.

And my mom doesn't

like to talk about it,

especially in a business where

everyone is in your business,

or likes to think that they

can be in your business.

So I think that that's one

of things she kept to herself

and didn't want

everyone else knowing.

I wanted that to be

private and personal,

and I didn't want it to be

out there in all the world.

And I wanted to keep him safe.

That was my major priority.

And people still want to pry

about it and talk about it

and I don't see

the point in that.

And I don't choose to

reveal everything to people.

I was less than a week

old when I was adopted.

And to this day, I mean,

I don't know who my

biological parents were,

my birth mother, that's

what you call it.

But, to me, it's like a parent

is the person who raised you.

So, for me,

you grow up with your

parents. They're your parents

your whole life.

There's no one else.

My parents were married.

They did actually

get married in 1983,

three years after I was born.

And I grew up

and I split time between

London and New York City.

My mom had a place

in New York City,

300 Central Park West,

and my dad had a place in

London right behind Harrods.

I just remember it

always being busy.

There were always people

there. There were always people

hanging out, having a good time,

lots of laughing.

It was odd because

we would have people

come to the house to do things.

You know, instead of people

going out to get a haircut,

they would come into my house,

give me a haircut, because,

back then, they

were the megastars.

They couldn't just take

their kids to the park.

You can't do those

normal activities

without getting hounded by

people, much like today.

Many years ago, Joan

Crawford told a reporter

that of all the young

actresses on the way up,

only one had the

makings of a true star,

and that was Faye Dunaway.

- This is stuff that Dad took...

- What? Tell me.

That are Polaroids that

no one's ever seen before.

- And that we have about...

- Oh, my God.

Yeah. We have about

20 pages of em.

- You do?

- Yeah.

- This is the Crawford stuff.

- Yeah.

- Wow.

- There's a funny story about...

- Tell me.

- Probably about 10 years ago.

We were looking

through Dad's archive.

He said, "Whoa-whoa-whoa,

wait. That picture's not mine.

"I never shot Joan

Crawford. I never met her.

I never... you know,

anything like that."

And Robin had to stop him

and he was like, "No,

no, no, that's Faye."

Like, it looked so

realistic and everything

- and he was just like...

- Yeah.

- Oh, that's wonderful.

- Didn't even remember it.

Do you feel, in

any way, a kinship

to Joan Crawford? Is she

anything like you are?

Oh, I feel an enormous kinship.

Enormous.

Um, "Is she like me?"

is a different question

because there are,

I think, in me,

to be honest, some tendencies.

I don't know. I'll have to...

I've never completely examined

that, but I can do that.

But, a kinship, yes.

We're ready for

you, Miss Crawford.

Before "Mommie Dearest"

and after "Mommie Dearest"

it's a different Faye Dunaway.

Let's go.

It's a different

conception of Faye Dunaway.

Throughout the late '60s

and throughout the '70s,

we're talking about one of the

most respected actors working.

So, there's no reason to

think that "Mommie Dearest"

would be anything other

than a rich, serious film,

exploring the life of

another Hollywood legend.

Come on. You've got

everything you want.

No, I don't. I want a baby.

A baby?

Yeah.

There are moments in your

life when things make sense

and it did at that time.

I'd just been married to

Terry, just had a baby,

and, somehow, that was,

financially, a good prospect.

It wasn't really, and it was

the wrong thing for me to do,

but it was one of the mistakes.

Darling?

Remember what I told you

about adopted children?

Adopted children are luckiest

- because they were chosen.

- That's right.

I feel like "Mommie Dearest"

was released 40 years too early.

Joan Crawford, her passing

was so recent when that

book was published.

Christina Crawford

was the first person

to ever write a tell-all book

about this Hollywood star

and what life was like

behind that glitzy curtain.

I don't want her growing

up a spoiled Hollywood brat

just because she's

Crawford's daughter.

Nobody had ever really

talked about those skeletons

because Hollywood

actors and actresses,

they were so protected,

and they were just idolized

as perfect human beings.

Now, we talk about

mental illness.

Now, we talk about child abuse.

Back then, it

wasn't talked about.

And to have this book come out

- that just reveals all of it was overwhelming.

- Ow!

You be quiet!

You're always rummaging

through my drawers,

trying to find a way to

make people look at you!

Why are you always looking

at yourself in the mirror?

Faye Dunaway is uncanny

in her performance as Crawford.

It's like watching a ghost

to see her on the screen.

But, "Mommie

Dearest" is basically

just a pointless record

of neurotic child abuse.

One of the most depressing

films in a long time.

I agree with you.

Well-made, but depressing.

The way the film has been

structured, you sit there

and wait for the beating scenes.

And when you're in the

audience thinking that,

you sort of feel lousy.

Everybody wants to make fun

of her for "Mommie Dearest,"

but you tell me how

you play that part.

And ask yourselves, was it Faye,

or was it the way

they shot the scene?

That wasn't Faye

Dunaway's error.

The joke is on the director.

The joke is not on the artist.

And if the director puts

the artist in that position,

shame on the director.

Don't f*ck with me, fellas!

This ain't my first

time at the rodeo.

The woman lived her life

almost as grand opera.

She was performing while

she was having these rages,

in my judgment at

least, and, uh,

and so those were

conscious choices.

I would do 'em again.

Frank Perry didn't help

me shape the scenes.

I wish he had come in

and said, "Come on, Faye,

that's too far. Come

on. Pull it back."

I mean, I'm a professional.

I would've done that.

But, I got engrossed

in trying to achieve

what the script seemed

to be requiring of me.

And it might've kicked

into my bipolar,

this mania, this

irritation, this mood swing.

Carol Ann! I asked you to

keep the children quiet today!

Now, for Christ's sake,

get them out of the garden!

I'm sorry, Joan.

She was scary.

She's frightening.

I was on the edge of my

seat sometimes, thinking,

"Am I gonna get fired?"

And Frank would remind me,

"Don't do this, or

you're gonna get fired,"

from the beginning!

"Don't look so good,

"or I'm gonna have to fire you,

and I have no

control over this."

So, who was in charge?

I mean, it's a

terrible way to work,

thinking you're gonna

get fired at any time.

Rutanya Alda said that there was

like a fearfulness

of me on the set.

Well, that's because

the character

was written fearful, I suppose.

But I don't recall bad

things with Rutanya.

You know, sometimes I guess

I've been unkind to people

or seemingly cruel.

I haven't meant to be, and

it's not in my nature to be.

I don't willfully want to be.

I'm sort of led by

extremes of nature

sometimes, I suppose.

No... wire... hangers!

What's wire hangers

doing in this closet

when I told you,

no wire hangers ever?!

There were quite a few takes

of that particular scene.

I do remember a lot of

coverage on Faye Dunaway

because of that incredible

mask she was wearing,

and the lighting and those

eyes with that makeup.

You live in the most

beautiful house in Brentwood,

- and you don't care...

- Mommie!

If your clothes look

hunchbacked from wire hangers?!

Mara Hobel was the little

girl that I had to hit,

and I was crazy worried about it

and very sympathetic.

And I tried to make

sure she was alright,

and that we had done

it in such a way

that she didn't

actually get hurt.

It was a difficult

role. Very difficult.

Tina!

Bring me the axe!

I never felt afraid

during any of our

physical scenes together.

I trusted her immensely.

She was incredible to me.

It makes me sad that she...

doesn't have fond memories of...

doing "Mommie Dearest"

because I loved it.

At the time it came out,

it was perceived as a disaster

and it was something

that Faye Dunaway

had a really hard time

rebounding from, for

a very long time.

You have to give

Pauline Kael credit

for being one of the

few critics of the time

to really take that

movie seriously

and I always remember the line

that Pauline Kael wrote in

the "New Yorker" which is,

"You can laugh at the movie,

but you can't laugh at her."

That performance

by Faye Dunaway,

it absolutely should've been

her next Oscar nomination.

I actually paid money to see it

on one of the big

theaters on Broadway

when it opened. The

theater was full.

And then, people

started laughing.

And laughing and

laughing and I went,

"Whoa." I-I-I was shocked.

I didn't expect that.

But they thoroughly

enjoyed the movie.

They loved the movie.

They loved it in a whole

other way as it's become.

"Mommie Dearest" has

a life of its own

that has legs that

no one expected.

The film is now being shown

at a lot of places at midnight,

like "Rocky Horror

Picture Show," you know?

And that's wonderful.

Kids come, apparently, and

bring hangers and cleanser

and talk to the screen and...

- It's gonna get to be a cult film.

- Well,

that would be

wonderful, I think.

Throughout these 40 years,

it's so interesting

that one film can evoke

such a different

reaction out of everyone.

You know, some people see

it as this over-the-top,

outrageous, campy comedy.

What's wire hangers

doing in this closet?!

I can see that side of

that. I absolutely can.

On the other hand, I've also have

had people that have come up to me

and said that they

started watching it

and had to shut it off

because it reminded them

of their own childhood.

I've had people that

have said to me,

"It gave me the courage

to actually come forward

and say I was abused."

Do you feel you

made some mistakes?

- The things you chose to do?

- Mm...

I might take Crawford back.

But, I really wouldn't because

I did like her so much.

The only reason is because

she was very larger than life

and I wouldn't... I don't

want to be that myself.

And there's an inevitable

tendency of people,

who both work in the industry

and, and the audience,

to associate.

To think you're like

the parts you play.

Life is hills and

valleys sometimes.

You're not always gonna

be up there doing...

making the right

choices, being perfect.

You're gonna have

moments where you think,

"Why did I ever do that?"

So, that's something that

you can't control sometimes.

It is shocking, though,

to see that here was this

person who was so iconic,

her characters were so linked

to this 10-year period

of massive change.

And by the time the '80s

came around, that was over.

The world is at last my oyster.

You know, you had

the Reagan years.

It was a whole

different ballgame

and where was the place

for Faye Dunaway in that?

Look, I drink.

When I drink, I move

in a wrong direction.

My mom was an alcoholic.

She always used to say that

her drink of choice

was just a gin martini.

And she would drink them,

especially with William Alfred.

They used to have

martinis together.

She always jokes that,

you know, on her deathbed,

she's like, "Just bring

me a dry martini."

"One last one before

I go out" kinda thing.

But, when I was growing

up, I remember my mom

going to the alcohol

treatment centers.

And then slowly over

time, she got sober.

She got sobriety.

I mean, I went through a period

where I had problems

with alcohol,

as did my father. It's

an inherited thing.

I'm in program and have

been for about 15 years.

And I knew what that was like

because it had been

part of my experience

and that, I think, was

helpful when I did "Barfly."

When you run off like this,

I feel like you're trying

to get away from me.

Hey, baby.

I'm doin' this for us.

We'll be able to

drink with class.

We don't have to be barflies

right down to the grave.

I didn't wanna do the movie.

My grandfather, my uncle,

and my father

all drank themselves to

death before they were 50.

You know, my father drank

himself to death at 47,

and I met... I only met

him for the first time

the year before when he was 46.

So, I didn't wanna do a movie

where I was glorifying

being an alcoholic.

And Barbet Schroeder chased me

from New York to LA to London.

And then, when I met Faye,

it kinda changed

my mind a little.

I was very in awe of her.

I was kind of a

little intimidated,

and I don't get intimidated.

But, she'd been somebody

I did look up to,

and I don't look

up to very many.

I had never worked with anybody

who was like a legendary hero.

I can't stand people.

I hate them.

Oh, yeah?

What I would hear

through the grapevine,

"We got Faye Dunaway

and Mickey Rourke.

Which one of em is

gonna explode first?"

Cause she had a

bit of a reputation,

and I, I imagine I

probably had one.

And people were waiting for...

that. And it never

f*ck' happened.

Pour me one, then.

Deglamorizing is always

interesting. You know?

You don't wanna play

these queens forever.

And to get human, to get real,

and, you know, I was

in very good hands

with Barbet Schroeder,

the director.

Mickey Rourke was

great to work with.

Very generous actor

that I liked very much.

But, it was a chance

for me to come back

in a vulnerable role as well.

I kept coming to

set on the testing,

and Barbet Schroeder,

who directed it, said,

"No, you still look too

good. The hair's too good."

So, we had to keep

working to bring it down.

It wasn't something

that I normally do

but if it's right for the

role, you wanna do it,

and you do do it.

You always start from

reality, you know?

And I went, first of all,

to a bar on 9th Avenue

where the world of

the film existed,

down to the fights, everything.

And the humor,

and the dancing...

But there was a woman

there who was very,

ironically, very like Wanda.

She had a tragedy in her life

that she never recovered from,

and yet she was very warm

and very funny and, you

know, very touching.

When Faye got to the set,

she was ready to go to work.

And so whatever I did, she

was right f*cking there.

And she was there.

I could see the wheels

turning in her eyes,

in her expression,

in how she delivered

her next line.

Nothing ever works

right in this life.

She would always add

a little different

twist to each take.

We call that working

moment to moment.

It's alright.

Now, you knew Terry O'Neill.

Oh, I knew... Terry

and I were mates.

Terry was never afraid to

speak what was on his mind

cause he was just

a regular guy.

I loved Terry.

How did you meet him?

When I met Faye, he

was there at the house.

They were just at the end

of their relationship.

To be honest,

I don't remember my

parents getting divorced.

You know, I was about 7

when they got divorced,

so prior to their divorce,

they had been living separately

in London and New

York for years.

So, we would kind

of go back and forth

and my dad would

come to New York,

or I would go to

London with my mom.

But, it slowly kinda started

to dissipate over time,

so I probably only saw my

dad once or twice a year.

I would either go to London,

or if he was

traveling to New York,

I would get to see

him. So, I think,

even though they finally

got divorced in '87,

I think it was over for

a few years before that.

I don't know what

contributed to the divorce.

He was English, and I

didn't wanna live in England

completely. Not for full-time.

I love England, still.

It's a great way of life.

But, at a certain moment,

I was Faye Dunaway, and

I'm an American actress,

and there aren't many jobs

for an American

actress in England.

And if I don't work, I

don't feel at my best.

I just wanted to be

back in my country

and performing in my way.

Hi!

We're making Faye

ready for Tel Aviv.

She gonna look beautiful.

- You're touching your hair.

- The ends of the hair.

Yeah, just like this.

- When I do this...

- Okay, you got his hands?

Yes.

That's wonderful.

When it comes to actresses,

there was really

a big difference

with male actor.

It's great.

This is great.

In fact, one of

the biggest agents

once said to me,

he would rather represent men

because their career

is longer than women.

Women, as they head into 40,

you're not old enough

to play a grandmother,

and maybe now,

you're thinking that

you're not young enough

to be a love interest.

I'm looking for roles

that just touch the real issues

and the real feelings

that women have,

rather than this very

covered up, controlled,

exterior kind of persona.

And I felt that, um,

you know, having lived

in London for eight years

and being away from

my home, basically,

and I really was seeking and...

I'm developing roles of my

own, now that I'm producing.

I'm really looking for

women that are funny,

are vulnerable, are complex,

and that I have a chance to

develop all of those areas.

I wanted to start to

initiate my own projects,

and so I moved to

California in that time.

I lived on Linda Crest

Drive in Beverly Hills

with a white house, very pretty.

It has to do with producing,

you know, because this is a town

where, in fact, all the

business actually takes place.

And I kind of find

that interesting.

It's a, it's a community.

Kate Capshaw And now,

our final presenter.

Please let me introduce

the legendary Faye Dunaway.

There's a river of tradition

that runs through this

industry, and through time,

of actresses who take

on roles that challenge

the conventional wisdom

about who a woman is.

And Sharon Stone has done that.

Sharon, I salute you,

admire you, and love you.

I met Faye at a photo sh**t,

pre the release of

"Basic Instinct,"

doing all the press for it.

And I said,

"May I watch you do

your photo sh**t?"

And she said, "Sure, kid,

just stay outta my eyeline."

So, I stayed off to the side,

and I watched her,

and she was so good.

She was so professional,

and, I mean, she's

just so beautiful.

And we really just hit it off.

She was just so willing

to allow me the

opportunity to know her,

to learn from her, to

understand her experience.

And she offered me a friendship

that I hadn't expected

from someone of her stature.

You always try to give back.

If you know what you're

doing, you need to share it.

You need to give it back

to the people that need it

and that deserve it. I

feel strongly about that.

It was a good feeling

to help Sharon

and we are still good

friends to this day.

I like the tent,

but wouldn't drapes

have been simpler?

We got termites.

But, you're a carpenter.

I guess they wanted a

really well-built meal.

Robert Urich and I

wanted to do a sitcom

called "It Had To Be You." It

was my first venture, foray,

into this sitcom,

which is comedy.

Which wasn't my

cup of tea, really.

I mean, I'm not a

comedic actress.

I'm a...

down and dirty, very

dramatic actress.

But I wanted to

have a try at it.

She was way ahead of

the pack in saying,

"You know what? I

wanna go do television.

"I wanna go do something

commercial and funny,

"and have a place to go

to work for, you know,

eight or nine months a year

and then have my time off."

And she could go off and do

something small and independent

and do something on television,

and she could go

back to the theater,

but she had options.

But, when it came to films, I

think she chose really well.

She makes this film

with Emir Kusturica

called "Arizona Dream."

It is a surreal adventure

in which she costars

with Johnny Depp.

And it's not implausible

that his character

is romantically drawn

to this older woman.

Johnny Depp is a prince,

and I worked with him twice.

First was "Arizona Dream,"

and then after that, we did

"Don Juan DeMarco"

with Marlon Brando.

It was movies like "The Chamber"

with Gene Hackman

and Chris O'Donnell,

and "Gia" with Angelina

Jolie that was done for HBO

and she won the Golden Globe.

This means an enormous

amount to me tonight,

and I was completely thrown

because I really

didn't expect to win.

I... I don't know why.

You know, I mean...

But, the point is I'm

really grateful that I did,

and it means a lot because

I'm struggling, too.

And I'm trying... I'm putting

my own projects together.

By the '90s, you're getting

a lot of younger filmmakers

who'd been through film

school in the '80s,

and, of course, they've

grown up, like I was,

on '70s films.

So, I'm sure James Gray is

like, "Are you kidding me?

Like, I would get to

direct Faye Dunaway?"

Don't you know what

he does for Frank?

What?

How do you think he gets the money

for all the things he buys you?

There were some

actors in their 20s,

Mark Wahlberg, Charlize

Theron, and Joaquin Phoenix,

and then there were the sort

of older group of actors,

James Caan, Faye

Dunaway, Ellen Burstyn,

who were the sort of

'70s heroes that I had.

It was so great because I

remember the younger actors

always looking to the older

actor to learn something.

"The Yards" was unique

because it had,

like, two generations

and so it was kind of a

congregational sort of thing

where the two generations

intermingled with each other.

Gray was a wonderful director,

so that was a good experience.

It was incredibly intimidating,

but they were terrific with me.

Whatever reputation that

she had in some ways

is also a comment

on how women are,

in some ways, treated and judged

on a very different

scale than men.

So yeah, her story is

tremendously relevant.

She directed a short film

which I thought was quite

good. "Yellow Bird."

It was adapted from

Tennessee Williams,

Williams himself

did the voiceover,

and it was shown at the

2001 Cannes Film Festival.

So, she wasn't just

a screen divinity.

She was a hard-working

stage actress,

a screen actress, a

director of a short film,

and somebody who could

play Maria Callas.

She is currently

enjoying, uh, her role

in the stage play "Master Class"

at the Doolittle Theater

here in Los Angeles

through July 13th.

Getting great reviews

and standing ovations

when it comes to an end

for the curtain call.

Faye, welcome back and

thanks for coming to CBS.

"Master Class" is about,

uh, the great Maria Callas,

when she taught

voice at Juilliard.

Yes. There was a

moment in her life,

late in her career,

early 50s she was,

where she held some

held some very famous

and well-attended master

classes at Juilliard.

And everybody from

Tennessee Williams

to Leonard Bernstein was there.

No applause! We're

here to work.

You're not in a theater.

This is a classroom.

No folderol. This

is a master class.

I saw the play in Los Angeles

when she was here,

and Faye transformed

to that character.

Cause if you look at both of

them, they don't look alike.

But, on the stage,

you saw Maria Callas.

So, she did the

play to begin with,

and then she bought the

rights after the play

to option and do the movie.

Isn't it tough to take

something from the stage

and put it on the screen?

Not really. So many plays have

become, "Crimes of the Heart..."

Oh, right. Uh, uh, "Driving

Miss Daisy" became...

"Driving Miss Daisy" was

a great, great movie,

and it was... I actually

saw that on stage as well.

No, you-you do what's

called "opening it up."

I think this movie

probably oughta...

definitely oughta stay very true

to what McNally has written.

When it comes to work,

my mom gets obsessed.

She wanted to tackle it all.

Writing it, directing

it, and being in it,

playing Maria Callas.

A career in the theater

demands total concentration.

100% detail.

The film eventually

got some financing,

and they started sh**ting

in Pontiac, Michigan

for two or three months,

and then they had to shut down

because the money

was running out.

So, I came in and

helped take over

all the things that

needed to be done

to maybe kinda get the

production back on track.

But, it was too far gone.

The money just dried up.

As much as it was a

passion project for her,

you have to be realistic

at a certain point

and shut down.

Very devastating.

I was in pieces for

quite some time.

You know, locked up in my

room, going to analysis.

It's just when you

have a dream like that,

and you've worked

on it for so long,

I knew what-what it was about.

I knew what she was about.

But, I wanted too

much for myself.

I should have set it up

and got a good director

and I would act in it.

But, I wanted too

much at that time.

So, it was a mistake.

Eventually, you decided to

move back to New York City.

What is it about New York?

Well, it's always been my city.

You know? I mean, I remember

when I first hit New York

as a young Southern

girl, you know,

and standing off that curb and

putting your hand up for a taxi

and the pace of it.

You can't duplicate

that anywhere.

And LA is much more laid back.

I like the energy of New York.

So, that's why I moved back.

My mom hadn't worked

for a period of time,

and she really wanted

to get back into it

cause acting was her passion.

And my mom has always

loved the theater.

That's, like, her first passion.

So, I presented the

play "Tea at Five,"

where my mom would be

playing Katharine Hepburn.

And at first, she was

very excited to do it.

I felt like I needed to do it

for the experience

back on the stage,

but I didn't feel

I was right for it

because Katharine

Hepburn's New England,

and I'm from the South,

and so such a

different sensibility

that I was worried about my

being able to really play it.

And it began to make me

more and more irritated.

And I, I'm pretty

sure... I know,

that was the bipolar kicking in.

It was one of those things

where she didn't wanna quit,

but, at the same time,

she didn't wanna do it.

Slowly, as the shows went on,

she started losing her temper.

She started acting out.

Her demons kind of

got a hold of her

and she was fired from

it, and they cancelled it,

and it just... That was that.

The erratic behavior.

That's down to these

biological, physical realities.

It's the sensitivity, and

it's something that...

is just a part of my makeup.

Thank God that

there is medication

and there's...

there are studies

and there are doctors

who deal with this.

And I've been able

to benefit from that.

But, the medication is crucial,

and without it, you fall

back into, you know,

what is there psychologically

and biologically.

For me, I've dealt with

that so much over my life.

I mean, even now, I

can pick up the phone,

and if she's just a

little bit off, I'm like,

"Have you taken your medicine

today?" And she's like,

"Oh, I don't know. Lemme

check. Oh, no, I haven't."

Now, for me, it's like

pinpoint accuracy.

I'm much happier now.

I feel better about things,

and I, I think the

better you feel,

the more you're gonna be able

to do work that is meaningful.

I actually see Faye

Dunaway from time to time

because we work out

at the same gym.

So, I have seen her lately.

She works hard.

She looks great.

She really does take seriously

taking care of herself

and looking, frankly, quite

magnificent at her age.

Which is why I think

that there's still more

that this legendary

actress has to offer.

Since I was very young,

we always went to Cannes.

We went every single

year. My mom loves Cannes.

She loves France. She

loves the French people.

And she becomes like a whole different

person when she's over there.

A lot happier, full of life,

and she was almost shocked

when they wanted her to

be the face of Cannes.

It was the greatest

honor for her

just because she just

loves going over there.

This is my festival

that I always go to

learn filmmaking,

and to have my face

there is very humbling,

and it's very much an honor,

and I'm very grateful.

Jerry Schatzberg

took that picture

and with the big banner

up over the Palais,

it was a great thing that

Cannes did that year for him

and for me.

It was very nice.

I come to see the films.

It's the best films in the

world at a given moment.

The funny thing about my mom

is no matter how bad things get,

when the lights and

the camera come on,

there's no questioning it.

You know, I think she feels

like she's in her 30s again.

They were showing

"Bonnie and Clyde"

in Cannes in one of those

retrospective thing.

And seeing it again,

"Bonnie and Clyde"

was just as exciting and amazing

as when you saw it

for the first time.

So, at the end of it,

when the lights go up,

she turns to her son,

Liam, and she said, "So?

Now, you're proud

of your mother?"

And he said, "I'm always

proud of you, Mom."

That was really

touching, honestly.

When someone gets sick

or is unable to take

care of themselves,

it falls upon someone

who's close to them

in order to help them.

And when she has

her fits of mania,

or her depression,

or her bipolar,

it comes out in this mood.

You see it. It's almost

like "Mommie Dearest."

She just has that energy.

I fought worse monsters than

you for years in Hollywood!

I know how to win the hard way!

When she goes into, like,

our lawyer's office,

it switches to "Network,"

where she's like,

"I know what I'm talking

about, this is how it's done."

I'll be in LA until Saturday,

and I'd like to get it rolling.

And I think you have to

ask yourself this question:

If she wasn't in so much pain,

would she have been that

good? Which then, in turn,

wouldn't have made her be

able to touch people acting.

You gotta take the good with the

bad. You know? That's just life.

- Here he is!

- Hi! Hi! How are you doing?

Hang on. Gotta

hold him properly.

My favorite thing in my life

is my son. It's

always been him first.

And my grandson.

Those are my refuge.

Those are the things

that I hang on to and cling to

more than anything.

Also, in closing, my, my son.

I'd like to thank him.

Liam, you're the best.

And thank you all.

She started off

as a normal person

trying to be famous,

and is ending as a famous

person trying to be normal.

I'm definitely Faye Dunaway.

That's who I am.

And the Dorothy Faye is in

the background somewhere.

That's the child

persona that was there.

I certainly kind of like that.

The Faye Dunaway is the

surface, I suppose. The shell.

But, still, my deepest

soul is Dorothy Faye.