{"id":111521,"date":"2024-07-13T21:06:17","date_gmt":"2024-07-13T21:06:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/entertainment.runfyers.com\/index.php\/2024\/07\/13\/faye-dunaway-started-crying-revealing-sons-adoption-in-documentary\/"},"modified":"2024-07-13T21:06:17","modified_gmt":"2024-07-13T21:06:17","slug":"faye-dunaway-started-crying-revealing-sons-adoption-in-documentary","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/entertainment.runfyers.com\/index.php\/2024\/07\/13\/faye-dunaway-started-crying-revealing-sons-adoption-in-documentary\/","title":{"rendered":"Faye Dunaway ‘Started Crying’ Revealing Son’s Adoption in Documentary"},"content":{"rendered":"


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\n Faye Dunaway<\/span> Silver Screen Collection\/Getty Images<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Faye Dunaway<\/strong>, now 83 and somewhat reclusive, revisits her exceptional rise to fame and subsequent decline in a new documentary \u2014 which also confronts her complicated reputation and reveals previously unknown details about her private life off camera.<\/p>\n

Dunaway was one of the busiest and most celebrated actresses of the late 1960s and 1970s, with classic performances in films like Bonnie and Clyde<\/em>, Chinatown<\/em>, Three Days of the Condor<\/em> and Network<\/em>, which won her a Best Actress Oscar. But her reputation and fortunes shifted thanks to a much-parodied turn as Joan Crawford<\/strong> in 1981\u2019s Mommie Dearest<\/em> and persistent rumors of her being \u201cdifficult\u201d<\/a> and demanding on sets. As she grew older, Dunaway continued to work, but she didn\u2019t get the same substantial roles and acclaim as peers such as Meryl Streep<\/strong> or Jane Fonda<\/strong> nor has she seen a later-in-life renaissance like Jessica Lange<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Faye<\/em>, premiering Saturday, July 13 on HBO at 8 p.m. ET, features rare, emotional sitdowns with Dunaway. Filmmaker Laurent Bouzerau<\/strong>\u2018s movie features extensive interviews with the actress, her son Liam O\u2019Neill<\/strong> (one of the documentary producers), Sharon Stone<\/strong><\/a>, her Mommie Dearest<\/em> costar Mara Hobel<\/strong>, Barfly<\/em> costar Mickey Rourke<\/strong>, ex-boyfriend Jerry Schatzberg<\/strong> and others. For the first time ever, a vulnerable Dunaway shares the circumstances of Liam\u2019s birth and her diagnosis of bipolar disorder.<\/p>\n

Us Weekly<\/em> spoke with Bouzereau about collaborating with the Hollywood legend, and getting her to open up in a way she never has before.<\/p>\n

You\u2019ve devoted your career to making behind-the-scenes docs about classic films. How did this documentary come to be?<\/strong>
I\u2019ve grown up on these movies, that whole era of the \u201870s, where the greatest movies were being made and the greatest filmmakers were born. And in parallel to that, I had a friendship with [Faye Dunaway\u2019s] son. And at one point we had discussed doing a documentary on his dad, [photographer] Terry O\u2019Neill<\/strong>, who sadly passed away. And then one day, during a casual conversation, Liam asked, \u201cWhat do you think about doing a documentary on my mom?\u201d And I said, she\u2019ll never say yes. [laughs]<\/p>\n

She and I started talking, and slowly, she started getting comfortable. Faye is curious, extremely smart and extremely aware. She was intrigued by the possibility. It also coincides with her acceptance of her condition and being medicated for it. She was researching the medical aspect of things and reading books. She wanted to share her story. It was very cathartic for her.<\/p>\n

Yes, her bipolar disorder was a huge revelation. Was there any hesitation on her end to share that?<\/strong>
No, she is the one who pushed that forward as something to talk about. But she also said she didn\u2019t want to be the poster child for it, because she feels very privileged. She\u2019s had great doctors.<\/p>\n

This was the first time she really spoke about Liam\u2019s adoption, right?<\/strong>
Yes. That\u2019s something she didn\u2019t even talk about in her autobiography, she never talked about the circumstances of it. There was something really touching about her relationship with her son. The first day of filming we got onto the subject of motherhood. I said, \u201cTell me about your experience of being a mom.\u201d And she said, \u201cThat\u2019s nobody\u2019s business.\u201d<\/p>\n

And the next day we\u2019re filming, and suddenly she stops and she says, \u201cI guess I have to talk about Liam\u2019s adoption.\u201d I said, \u201cFaye, this is entirely up to you.\u201d And she started crying. We all started crying. And she delivered a beautiful speech about what was happening in her life at the time, and why they adopted Liam and how it happened. She\u2019s very protective of him, and I think that was part of the reason why she didn\u2019t want to talk about it. That was the hardest thing for her to talk about, and one that she had absolutely never talked to anybody about.<\/p>\n

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\n Faye Dunaway<\/span> Courtesy of HBO<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

What were your own assumptions about Faye going into this? She\u2019s been plagued with the \u201cdifficult woman\u201d label but remains hugely respected among actors.<\/strong>
From a movie standpoint, she\u2019s one of the last great, pure actors. She was like clay and literally built herself. The roles she embodied were so challenging that they had to affect her, you know? There is definitely a difference between her and whomever she played, but there\u2019s a little bit of those characters in her \u2014 or else how could she conjure that type of performance? But a lot of actresses of her generation became the victims of sexism: once they passed a certain age, it was over in terms of the kind of roles they could get.<\/p>\n

Do you have a vision for her comeback? Is there a director or project you see for her in 2024?<\/strong>
That\u2019s a fun question. I could see her in a Ryan Murphy<\/strong> series<\/a>. He has created some fantastic roles [for older women]. I could see her doing a character in a great British series or a great French series. She could also work with Luca Guadagnino<\/strong> [Challengers<\/em>, Call Me By Your Name<\/em>].<\/p>\n

Besides Liam\u2019s adoption, were there any other topics you tried to discuss, and you got some resistance from Faye<\/em>?<\/strong>
I was a little apprehensive about Mommie Dearest<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Why?<\/strong>
When you achieve the level of perfection in a role like in Network<\/em> or Chinatown<\/em> and Bonnie and Clyde<\/em> or Laura Mars<\/em>, and you are constantly reminded of a film that plagued your career \u2026 That was not a good experience and, in my eyes, not a good film. I think it\u2019s a great performance. I blame the director, who was not in control of the film or in control of the performance. For someone like her, she does not want to ever be reminded of this. Because it\u2019s a PTSD experience, a scar. And she wants to be remembered for roles that she feels were great cinema. Who could you blame? I was sitting with her at Cannes, and several journalists came in and said, \u201cMy favorite film was Mommie Dearest<\/em>.\u201d That\u2019s annoying. So she gets a bad rap for rejecting the film and for not wanting to celebrate the cheesiness of it. We\u2019re talking about someone who did Tennessee Williams<\/strong> on stage.<\/p>\n

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\"Faye<\/div>

\n Faye Dunaway<\/span> Gotham\/GC Images<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

You got Mara Hobel, who played young Christina Crawford in Mommie Dearest<\/em>, to speak for the film. She became emotional \u2014 for her, that was a magical, positive experience, making a film with Faye Dunaway, and she was upset that Faye has disavowed it. Did Faye have a reaction to Mara\u2019s interview?<\/strong>
I told Faye immediately, and she was so pleased. And she said, \u201cI was so afraid of hurting her during those really tough scenes of child abuse, I was just so afraid that that it would scar her. I\u2019m so pleased that she doesn\u2019t hold it against me.\u201d<\/p>\n

Faye has worked with so many famous actors and directors. Was there anyone you wanted to interview that you couldn\u2019t get?<\/strong>
There were people we couldn\u2019t get, but no one because they didn\u2019t want to. Documentary filmmaking is super tough. Strict budgets. Tight deadlines. You\u2019re trying to get talent and they\u2019re not available, and they keep canceling.<\/p>\n

Who were a few of the big ones that got away?<\/strong>
Yeah, Jack Nicholson<\/strong>. [Gia<\/em> costar] Angelina Jolie<\/strong>. Charlize Theron<\/strong>, who starred with her in The Yards<\/em>.<\/p>\n

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