When the world got word last spring that a new Ryan Murphy–produced Hulu/FX series about the whirlwind romance between eternal style icon Carolyn Bessette and the dashing political scion John F. Kennedy Jr. would soon be heading to screens, many were skeptical. Would this couple, hounded by the paparazzi and scrutinized from every possible angle until they perished in a plane crash in 1999, have their story sensationalized once again? Would this new retelling of their life together do them justice?
Soon after, Murphy shared a first look at his lead actors in costume: ethereal 29-year-old Michigan native Sarah Pidgeon (Tiny Beautiful Things, The Friend, I Know What You Did Last Summer, a Tony nominee for Stereophonic) as Carolyn, and handsome 37-year-old Canadian Paul Anthony Kelly, who would be making his screen debut as John. The jury was still out. Was Carolyn’s wardrobe reproduced correctly? And what about her hair?
Murphy and showrunner Connor Hines took on the feedback—the clothes were tweaked, Pidgeon’s hair color perfected, and every effort made to present the pair as accurately as possible. And now the nine-part series, titled Love Story: John F. Kennedy Jr. Carolyn Bessette, is finally here—and, far from being a salacious regurgitation of tabloid fodder, it is, at its core, a slow-burning, contemplative romance.
Carolyn, as we first meet her, is an ambitious rising star at Calvin Klein, making waves in ’90s New York. When she crosses paths with John at a party, he is transfixed. But obstacles remain—namely, his on-again, off-again girlfriend, movie star Daryl Hannah (Dree Hemingway); his mother, the esteemed Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis (Naomi Watts), who often disapproves of his girlfriends; and Carolyn’s own reluctance to step into the media spotlight, an inevitability if she begins dating the nation’s most eligible bachelor.
Both Pidgeon and Kelly disappear into their characters, bringing an aristocratic poise and elegance, but also warmth and relatability, to this endlessly photographed and continuously talked-about duo. Ahead of the show’s first three episodes landing on February 13, they talk us through navigating real-life paparazzi on their set, the keys to clicking into their characters, and the most crucial style lesson Carolyn imparted.
Vogue: I know the casting process was very different for the two of you—there was one day of reading Carolyns, and thousands of people read for John. But in both cases, what do you think made you stand out?
Paul Anthony Kelly: [Laughs.] We’re very lucky to have been cast. In my case, I sent in a tape, they asked for another tape several months later, and that snowballed into a chemistry read with Sarah, who was already cast. The following day, we did a screen test, and then they told me I had the job on the spot, which was amazing. But I went from thinking I was out of the running in February, and then in May, I had it.
Sarah Pidgeon: For me, it’s hard to think of what I brought to it because I had a much better idea of what I was trying to bring to Carolyn after I learned more about her. My initial tape was based on whatever quick research I could do within the day and a half of getting my audition and putting myself on tape. But also, in the script, she was so three-dimensional. There were two scenes—of their first date and then walking home after. This woman, who’s known primarily, for a lot of people, through still images… she had so much personality. There was also a guardedness and a real sensitivity, which makes it so easy for her to connect to people. But that’s also why she had this trepidation—you could feel it on the page—in terms of fully giving herself over to a stranger.
How much did you both know about them before you came onto the project?
SP: I was familiar with them, but I was quite young in the ’90s—born in 1996, so three when they died. Luckily, there are a lot of books that used interviews with people who knew Carolyn and knew about her time at Calvin Klein. That was really helpful in establishing who this person was because, really, there’s a lot written about her from 1994 and 1995 onward, when there was speculation about her and John dating, and the depiction of her in tabloid culture, but that never really rang true for me. I learned what an exciting, vivacious, and incredibly intelligent woman she actually was, and then it all made sense why these photos of her are so enduring—it’s because there is that energy that lives beneath these clothes. It’s about the woman wearing them.
PK: I was lucky in that John is a very well-documented individual, so I had a lot of material to go back to, review, analyze, and interpret. One of the most helpful things, which I would go back to a lot, is that he narrates his father’s book, Profiles in Courage. I’d listen to that every day before set or in between takes or at lunchtime, just to get into his cadence and flow. He does a proper narration, but you can still hear where he comes from in his vocal pattern—that he’s this cool guy, lackadaisical, and very New York.
I loved the details in both of your performances—sometimes you’d disappear, and I’d just see them. There are certain expressions Carolyn has in her photos, and the way she moved, which I think you captured so beautifully, Sarah. Were there details in her photos that stayed with you?
SP: Thank you for saying that. Something that really stuck out to me was that she has this intensity behind her eyes, and you can see her intelligence. She’s scanning the world and taking it in. That made sense when I read about how she connected with people. She would really make eye contact with people, and she gesticulated… She was a dancer, so that’s how she walked through the world—and also why she was so good at doing that beautiful bun. I like to think that she just put her hair up like that a lot for her dance recitals. Someone described her to me as being like a bowling ball rolling down the streets of New York. I didn’t grow up here, but I live in New York now, and that really resonated with me. I know what it’s like to be pounding the pavement, moving as fast as you can, dodging tourists, and trying to make the next subway.
In terms of her expressions, I would use the CBK: Carolyn Bessette Kennedy: A Life in Fashion book and try to replicate facial expressions, or look at it and think about the essence of what’s captured. Before doing certain scenes, I’d look at certain photos.
And how important were your costumes and accessories? The bike feels like a very important one for John.
PK: His bike, backward baseball cap, wallet chain, backpack—all of that helped me click into the character. When I was actually on the bike, I felt my body settle into it. It made it feel that much more real.
And did going blonde have the same effect on you, Sarah?
SP: The hair is such an extension of Carolyn, and so important in terms of the evolution of her character. You can see it in photos: it became straighter and blonder the more she was in the public eye. It made sense that she wanted a more controlled look. Before she meets John, she’s got this wild hair and it’s not as blonde. She’s messier—she’s like this little puppy [laughs]. And going through that physical evolution myself helped a lot because it makes it all make sense internally.
And in terms of her wardrobe, which looks made you feel the most like her?
SP: Everything Yohji Yamamoto. Those pieces are incredible—they immediately change your body when you wear them. They’re so elegant, beautiful, high-necked, and statuesque, but Yamamoto also said that he likes to think of his clothes as armor for women. That made so much sense in terms of why Carolyn wore those clothes, and that’s how I felt in them, too, when I was shooting these gala and fundraiser scenes. They really did transform me.
What’s the biggest CBK style lesson you’ve learned in this process?
SP: I really think it’s about tailoring. If something fits you, looks clean, and is good quality, you genuinely look pretty good. Obviously, Carolyn wore a lot of Yamamoto and Prada, but she also wore Petit Bateau tops and Levi’s. She always looked so effortlessly great, but you always saw her first. It was about Carolyn, not the clothes. She was what made the clothes look good.
What was the most challenging scene to nail? There’s one where Carolyn and John have a very public argument in the park…
PK: The park scene was definitely challenging.
SP: It was so hot that day, and I was in fleece sweatpants, so that was horrible. But actually, the most challenging—and also exciting and satisfying—was episode eight. In that episode, we have really long scenes—17 pages straight at a time—and the script was being worked on up until the days that we were shooting it. We had a very short amount of time to learn the lines.
PK: But we crushed it [laughs].
SP: It was really cool. It’s just the two of us. At the end of it, we sat down and just went through the entire episode, like, “Let’s sit for 40 minutes and see if we still have the whole episode memorized.”
PK: And we did.
SP: We were so exhausted. Endurance-wise, it was a lot, and it was also toward the end of our shoot, so we were already sort of loopy and fried, but that, in some ways, lent itself well to that episode. It was so intense.
PK: And there were other challenging things about the shoot—filming the paparazzi stuff with a lot of background actors and cameras flashing in your face. It gave us a really good idea of what those two went through on pretty much a daily basis and how to navigate that, which helped bring out a truthful portrayal. But also episode eight, because it was shot like a play, and we had to keep going for it over and over and over again. We had to pull out all the stops.
And you, of course, also had real paparazzi trailing you throughout. What was that like?
SP: It definitely felt like there was an extra character in the scene whenever we were shooting outside. It wasn’t lost on either of us that there were easy parallels to draw between such intense interest in the show and the people we were portraying, and understanding the scrutiny and gossip they faced about their private lives. We’d be the first to say that we were filming a TV show, and Carolyn and John were trying to walk their dog—it’s very, very different—but I could feel my own body and awareness and attitude shift when I saw there was paparazzi or people watching us. It was about translating that to what Carolyn might’ve felt.
PK: It’s just not something I could handle in real life. There’s no way.
The early responses to the show revealed that people are still so fascinated by and protective of Carolyn and John. Why do you think their story has endured?
SP: There was so much interest in them in the ’90s, but also so much was projected onto them. Carolyn, in particular, was intensely protective of her privacy, so there was this air of mystery about them, and people projected a lot of stuff onto them. It was the height of tabloid culture—obviously, there’s parallels with Princess Diana’s story [another public figure hounded by paparazzi who met her untimely end in the ’90s]—and I think we’ve all learned that that approach, of treating these public figures like animals, isn’t kind or healthy. So, nowadays, I think the public are quite protective of them.
In this show, we’re trying to present as truthful as possible an account of what might’ve happened behind closed doors, after events that we know took place in this timeline of their love story. I don’t think we sensationalize anything. We’re being gentle, respectful and careful, and really focusing on the love between them, and the connection that I believe must have been very strong and true because it’s the only reason they would’ve stayed together despite the obstacles and challenges thrown their way, and the media circus they had to endure.
Love Story: John F. Kennedy Jr. Carolyn Bessette premieres with three episodes on FX and Hulu on Thursday, February 12 at 9:00p ET, with one new episode airing on Thursdays thereafter.

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