Oscar-winning actress Faye Dunaway candidly opens up about her ‘painful’ childhood in an emotional new trailer for her upcoming documentary, FAYE, which will air on HBO.
In the two-minute clip, the 83-year-old actress is seen talking on camera about how she was ‘moody’ and ‘depressed’ in the past, and reveals that ‘acting was a way to escape’ from her family experience.
As black and white photographs of the Bonnie and Clyde star as a child flashed up on the screen, Dunaway is heard saying: ‘Faye is the persona, and Dorothy Faye is that little girl from the South,’ referring to her birth name.
‘The acting was a way to escape from my family experience, which was painful,’ she adds, as the trailer cuts to her son, Liam Dunaway O’Neill, who admits: ‘My mom would keep her emotions inside and then let it out.’
Dunaway continues: ‘I was very depressed, moody and I’m still responsible for my actions. I came to understand the reason, use those feelings, they’re who you are. They make you strong, they don’t make you weak.’
Faye Dunaway opens up about her life and career in a new trailer for her upcoming HBO documentary FAYE
The star explains how ‘acting was a way to escape’ from her ‘painful family experience’
The clip is spliced with images from Dunaway’s iconic movies, including Mommie Dearest and Eyes of Laura Mars, as well as present-day footage of her walking among the streets of Manhattan.
One scene shows the mother-of-one sitting down to do her interview for the documentary and she’s heard complaining to the crew, ‘This is the worst seat in the world,’ before applying her own hairspray as someone holds a mirror up for her.
A voiceover is heard saying: ‘She’s difficult, but caring. Before you make judgement, you have to look deeper,’ before fellow actress Sharon Stone appears onscreen and describes Dunaway as ‘an inspiration,’ and a ‘force of nature.’
Another guest speaker in the documentary says: ‘Talk about equality for women. She could be as devastating as any man, and you know what? It was kind of exciting to see that.’
The documentary even touches on Dunaway’s iconic Oscars portrait, which was captured by photography Terry O’Neill at 6am the day after she won the Best Actress Academy Award for her role as Diana Christensen in the 1976 film Network.
The image shows her sitting by a huge swimming pool, still wearing her glamorous gown, while her gold statue and a breakfast tray sits on the table in front of her and various newspapers are strewn across the floor by her feet.
‘I remember the moment, it was an amazing night,’ Dunaway says of the photograph being taken, before adding: ‘Life is hills and valleys. I’ve got an idea in my mind and I was gonna try to achieve it. I’m Faye Dunaway, that’s who I am.’
The upcoming documentary, which premiered at the Cannes Film Festival in May and runs for one hour and 31 minutes, will walk through the highlights of Dunaway’s career including her landmark roles in movies such as Chinatown.
Faye also describes herself as being ‘very depressed’ and ‘moody’ in the past
Faye’s son Liam Dunaway O’Neill and fellow actress Sharon Stone both make appearances in the documentary
Warren Beatty and Faye starred alongside one another in the 1967 movie Bonnie and Clyde
FAYE delves into Dunaway’s history with bipolar disorder and shows how the condition — which can lead sufferers to experience manic states and bouts of depression of varying degrees — may explain some of her more infamous on-set behavior.
Early reviews saw critics praise the film for tacking the eponymous actress’ infamous reputation as a ‘diva,’ which grew over time due to behind-the-scenes feuds with some of her costars and directors.
In one positive review of FAYE, The Hollywood Reporter’s David Rooney praised the film as ‘entertaining’ while noting that Dunaway, who participated and seemingly authorized the film, was willing to expose some of her difficult behavior on set to give a fuller picture of her whirlwind career.
FAYE premieres July 13 on HBO and will be available to stream on Max.
