Beanie Feldstein says she would “probably [have done] the exact same thing” as Monica Lewinsky at the time of her relationship with Bill Clinton.
Feldstein portrays the former White House intern in Impeachment: American Crime Story, the anthology show’s forthcoming third season.
In a new interview with W Magazine, Feldstein said she and Lewinsky – who is a producer on the show and has met Feldstein in person – “are cut from the same cloth in so many ways”.
“We’re both Jewish girls from LA who listen to show tunes on the treadmill!” she added. “But still, I never felt less in my comfort place than when I was playing Monica. Obviously, I’m queer, so I don’t know if I’d flirt with the president, but who knows?”
Feldstein continued: “When Clinton shined his light on you, there was no better feeling in the world. It wouldn’t matter if you were male, female, non-binary, queer. When that man put his spotlight on you, the world fell away.
“And if I was 22 and the most powerful person in the world focused his high beams on me, I would probably do the exact same thing as Monica.”
Clinton’s relationship with Lewinsky led to an inquiry by independent counsel Ken Starr, which itself led to Clinton’s impeachment by the House of Representatives in 1998. The US Senate acquitted Clinton in February 1999, and Clinton remained in the White House until the end of his second term in 2001.
Impeachment: American Crime Story will start airing in the US on 7 September on FX. A UK air date has yet to be confirmed, but the show’s first two seasons were broadcast on BBC Two shortly after airing in the US.
