Beanie Feldstein

The ‘Impeachment: American Crime Story’ star on playing Monica Lewinsky and reconsidering Hillary

- TESSA STUART

If there is an archetypal role for Beanie Feldstein, it’s the best friend. The 28-year-old became famous for her performances in two portraits of female friendship: Greta Gerwig’s Lady Bird, and Olivia Wilde’s Booksmart. “I’m still doing that here,” Feldstein says of her role as Monica Lewinsky in FX’s Impeachment: American Crime Story (premiering September 3rd). “It’s just the single most painful side — the most infamous, disgusting act of betrayal between two female friends of all time.” Feldstein stars opposite Sarah Paulson’s Linda Tripp, Lewinsky’s co-worker at the Pentagon who secretly recorded conversations in which the former intern revealed her affair with President Bill Clinton. Slated to begin filming in March 2020, the Covid- delayed series didn’t get underway until last November. So Feldstein put the spare time toward another political pursuit: “All I would do is prepare, read about Monica, and then phone bank.”

Monica Lewinsky was just 22 when her affair with Bill Clinton began, not that much older than your Lady Bird and Booksmart characters. Yet she seems worlds away from them. How was your approach different?