How the 'Halston' Cast Compares to the Real Life People They Play

At John F. Kennedy’s 1961 inauguration, Jackie Kennedy arrived in a dome-shaped hat unlike anything the other women at the ceremony were wearing. It was a defining moment for her as a fashion icon, but also for Roy Halston Frowick, who was at the time the hat maker at Bergdorf Goodman. His design exploded with popularity overnight.

Netflix’s new series Halston opens in Bergdorf’s hat shop in 1961, and from there outlines Halston’s rise to prominence in the fashion world. Over the next two decades, Halston’s empire would expand, evolve, and commercialize as he amassed wealth, embraced drugs, and partied at Studio 54. The Ryan Murphy biopic portrays the life of the fashion legend in all its glory and tragedy, along with those in his inner circle, which included Liza Minnelli and Elsa Peretti.

The series is impeccably cast, with Ewan McGregor capturing Halston's determination and struggle to reach the peak of the fashion world. And Krysta Rodriguez, who embodies not only Minnelli's likeness, but also her nuances as a performer and personality. With incredible attention to detail, Murphy's series is a triumph of a period drama—an immaculate recreation of a specific time and place. However brief this Studio 54 era might have been, Halston captures this moment in all its glitz and glamor.

With Halston's debut today, here's how the cast of the Netflix series stacks up against the real-life people they portray.