I realized we could finally tell this epic story over the course of five or six hours. Then about two years ago Christine came back to me and said, “That Halston book is available again.” I sort of recoiled at the idea of going back into it, but then she said, “What do you think of doing it as a limited series?” And it just clicked for me. I would read in the papers that other people had optioned the material, and in the meantime I was continuing to work and really honing my craft. In hindsight, it’s too big a story to fit into a 90-minute movie.
#Who plays liza minelli in halston crack
At first we tried to make it a feature film, but we couldn’t crack the story. I brought Gaines’ book Simply Halston to Christine and we optioned it. I had read a book about Halston by Vanity Fair writer Stephen Gaines and thought it was a very rich, very American story about this man’s remarkable riseĪnd fall, it was shocking to me that he was stripped of his name and identity. Christine is the kind of producer you want on your side as a director, she’s fierce and loyal.
#Who plays liza minelli in halston movie
Can you walk us through that journey?ĭANIEL MINAHAN: I had worked with Christine Vachon of Killer Films on a 1996 movie I co-wrote called I SHOT ANDY WARHOL and the first feature I wrote and directed in 2001, SERIES 7: THE CONTENDERS. This series has been 20 years in the making.
MAKING HALSTON: IN CONVERSATION WITH DANIEL MINAHAN The Emmy Award-winning executive producer and director of HALSTON talks about his 20-year journey making this show, Ewan McGregor’s incredible commitment to the role, and why this story is more timely than ever. Minahan also serves as the series director. The series is Executive Produced by Ryan Murphy, Ian Brennan, Alexis Martin Woodall, Daniel Minahan, Ewan McGregor, Eric Kovtun, Sharr White, and Christine Vachon and Pamela Koffler of Killer Films. The limited series HALSTON follows the legendary fashion designer (Ewan McGregor), as he leverages his single, invented name into a worldwide fashion empire that’s synonymous with luxury, sex, status and fame, literally defining the era he lives in, 1970’s and ‘80’s New York - until a hostile takeover forces him to battle for control of his most precious asset… the name Halston itself. Like she was walking down the street with Jack Haley, her husband, and they'd run into Martin Scorsese, who she's now having an affair with, and Marty attacked her for also having an affair with Baryshnikov. They divorced in April 1979 (perhaps not surprisingly), and The Guardian has since reported that they were “friends rather than lovers.” According to that same article, Minnelli was well-known for having affairs as Andy Warhol noted in his diary in 1978, “Her life's very complicated now. Sadly, Minnelli and Haley’s marriage only lasted a few years. Garland and Oz were definitely at the forefront of her mind, though: per The Evening News, she had planned to wear a black pantsuit and red slipper replicas to her reception the following night, and she’d invited several of her mother’s friends to attend. As the Netflix series has it, the bride’s iconic yellow pantsuit was meant to conjure the yellow brick road from her mother’s most famous movie, but it’s unclear if that’s actually true. (Naturally, the Tin Man’s son marrying Dorothy’s daughter was big news at the time). Haley Jr.’s father, Jack Haley, starred the Tin Man in The Wizard of Oz alongside Minnelli’s mother, Judy Garland. Minnelli was apparently an hour late to her own wedding at El Montecito Presbyterian Church in California the ceremony was small and intimate, with only eight people in attendance. So here’s what you should know about Minnelli’s big day. (She had previously been married to Peter Allen, but that union ended in divorce in 1974). True to life, the series depicts Minnelli saying her vows a butter-yellow suit.īut as the show centers on Halston, it skips over the details of Minnelli’s personal life, including her second marriage to Haley - the director of That’s Entertainment! and the Academy Awards in 1970, 1974, and 1979. The ensemble is one of the many looks recreated in Halston, Netflix’s limited series about the late, trailblazing designer.
For her 1974 wedding to producer Jack Haley Jr., Liza Minnelli worked with Halston - a dear friend of hers - to create a memorable outfit: a buttercup yellow pantsuit.