{"id":52303,"date":"2024-05-29T20:00:50","date_gmt":"2024-05-29T18:00:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.radiotimes.com\/?p=2047914"},"modified":"2024-05-29T21:27:38","modified_gmt":"2024-05-29T19:27:38","slug":"faye-dunaway-on-her-candid-new-documentary-bonnie-and-clyde-and-chinatown","status":"publish","type":"rss_feed","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/radiotimes\/rss_feed\/faye-dunaway-on-her-candid-new-documentary-bonnie-and-clyde-and-chinatown\/","title":{"rendered":"Faye Dunaway on her candid new documentary, Bonnie and Clyde and Chinatown"},"content":{"rendered":"

Faye Dunaway sits down for a roundtable in Cannes to preview her upcoming documentary and talk about her career-defining roles. <\/p>

By Adam Davidson\n \t\t<\/p>

Published: Wednesday, 29 May 2024 at 18:00 PM<\/p>

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New feature documentary Faye provides an intimate portrait of one of Hollywood\u2019s most iconic leading ladies of the 20th century as the actress looks back at the roles that defined her career.<\/p>\n

The Hollywood icon was born Dorothy Faye Dunaway in Florida in 1941. When pursuing an acting career, she decided to leave behind \u2018Dorothy Faye\u2019 and take on Hollywood as Faye Dunaway.<\/p>\n

Dunaway asserts that Dorothy Faye has always remained with her and is still how she feels inside but wanted a public persona for this challenging profession.<\/p>\n

\u201cFaye Dunaway is the public persona. She is the actress and what I put out there in the world,\u201d said Dunaway. \u201cThe real self is not part of the public thing, the real self feeds the public thing and nourishes it. It is still there and cooking away and it\u2019s part of what I feel myself but Faye Dunaway is almost like a shell.\u201d<\/p>\n

The actress started her long and illustrious career in the 1960s with various Broadway productions. However, it wasn\u2019t until her breakout role in Bonnie and Clyde that she became a Hollywood star.<\/p>\n

The 1967 crime drama starring Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway as the titular outlaws was an incredibly influential movie in Hollywood history and became controversial for its graphic depiction of violence.<\/p>\n

\"Faye\n<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture>\n<\/div>
Faye Dunaway as Bonnie Parker in Bonnie and Clyde.<\/span><\/figcaption> Warner Bros International Television Distribution<\/i><\/span><\/div>\n

The movie was indicative of the changing landscape of Hollywood but Dunaway admitted that \u201cnobody knew how successful\u201d it would be and that she didn\u2019t feel the significance of the movie at the time because she was simply \u201cjust doing her job as an actress\u201d.<\/p>\n

Dunaway received a nomination for Best Actress for this performance and her career went from strength to strength, including roles in The Thomas Crown Affair and Chinatown.<\/p>\n

Roman Polanski\u2019s neo-noir thriller is widely considered one of the greatest movies and is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year.<\/p>\n

The documentary delves into behind-the-scenes stories from Chinatown that reflect the fractious relationship between Polanski and Dunaway, as she admitted that \u201cthere was lots of tension on the set\u201d.<\/p>\n

In her autobiography, Looking for Gatsby<\/a>, Dunaway said: \u201cRoman was very much an autocrat, always forcing things. It ranged from the physical to the mental. He was very domineering and abrasive and made it clear he wanted to manipulate the performance. That approach has never worked with me.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Jack\n<\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/source><\/picture>\n<\/div>
Faye Dunaway with Jack Nicholson, James Hong and Roman Polanski filming Chinatown.<\/span><\/figcaption> Fairchild Archive\/WWD\/Penske Media via Getty Images<\/i><\/span><\/div>\n

Dunaway has a fierce reputation in Hollywood as someone who is difficult to work with. However, the actress believes that it is necessary as she strives for perfection in her performances.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s part of the craft. You have to do it as well as you can and pay attention to every detail, that\u2019s what makes it good and what makes it work,\u201d said Dunaway. \u201cThat\u2019s what I learned to do from [Elia] Kazan and [Sidney] Lumet as I was growing into the craft. You have to be a perfectionist and every detail is important.\u201d<\/p>\n

Following Chinatown, Faye Dunaway was quickly becoming one of the most recognisable stars in Hollywood and achieved a big level of fame. Dunaway enjoyed the celebrity status to a certain extent but admitted she prefers to be more private.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t like being so public. It\u2019s a champagne bubbly existence sometimes so it can be a little bit dangerous and you have to not get carried away by it.\u201d<\/p>

Dunaway has played a number of strong and independent women throughout her career, most notably Diana Christensen in Network \u2013 for which she won Best Actress in 1977.<\/p>\n

The actress said that she felt compelled to take the role because \u201cit was very important at that time\u201d and that \u201cpeople didn\u2019t want her to play that character\u201d but decided it was necessary to do so.<\/p>\n

Diana Christensen was a cut-throat programming chief for UBS Evening News and reflected the changing gender politics of the era as she held a position of power in a male-dominated industry.<\/p>\n

Dunaway believes that her portrayal of strong female leads might have had an indirect influence on the MeToo movement as her characters gave women a voice.<\/p>\n

The release of movies like Network and Bonnie and Clyde coincided with the second-wave feminism that occurred throughout the US in the \u201960s and \u201970s. During this movement, women were given more of a voice and the traditional depiction of women in Hollywood was subverted.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe characters I have played, the independent woman and the woman who has a life of her own, have been right in there with the movement. [I was] indirectly involved with my work,\u201d said Dunaway.<\/p>\n

Read more:<\/strong><\/p>\n