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It’s hard to imagine, but FX’s “Love Story: John F. Kennedy Jr. and Carolyn Bessette” almost didn’t happen.
On Saturday night, an intimate tastemaker dinner held at Chateau Marmont’s Penthouse 64 was hosted by Variety
in partnership with FX, and celebrated the show’s seven Emmy nominations. Senior artisans editor Jazz Tangcay introduced executive producer Nina Jacobson who provided the night’s opening remarks.
Jacobson revealed that while they had found their Carolyn Bessette in actress Sarah Pidgeon, the production was three weeks out from shooting and they hadn’t cast an actor to play America’s very own Prince Charming, their JFK Jr.
Jacobson said, “We were honestly thinking maybe we pull the plug because if we couldn’t find him, we couldn’t make this. And this couple that was so iconic — you couldn’t have somebody who didn’t really perfectly fit.”
But then Paul Anthony Kelly came in, and the magic happened. She added, “These two people felt so right together. Sarah was the one who got to tell him that he got the part after they read together.”
The nine-episode series tells the romantic and tragic story of JFK Jr. and Bessette, starting with the day they met. The series also stars Grace Gummer as Caroline Kennedy, Naomi Watts as Jackie O, Alessandro Nivola as Calvin Klein and Constance Zimmer as Ann Marie Messina, Bessette’s mother.
Joining Jacobson at Saturday’s event were Kelly, Pidgeon, Zimmer and the show’s casting directors Courtney Bright and Nicole Daniels.
Jacobson talked about the show’s success and why she felt it resonated with audiences. “I think the show tapped into a longing for a time when we shared more things, when the culture, for better or for worse, was a shared experience,” she said. “I feel very lucky to have been able to see these actors do their incredible spell of creating empathy for people who they never knew themselves and who many people only got to know through them.”
She added, “Our incredible cast brought these characters to life and brought a level of complexity that I think you could never hope to imagine for characters who had been so often reduced to character caricatures.”
Zimmer landed her second Emmy nomination for the supporting actress in a limited series for her portrayal of Carolyn’s mother, Ann-Marie. During dinner, Zimmer revealed, “This is the first character I’ve played that I haven’t been able to let go of because I really felt her struggle.”
In the show, Zimmer’s character questions the high-profile relationship a day before their wedding. She asks Carolyn what John has sacrificed for her in comparison to all that she has given up for him. During their wedding, Ann goes off script and expresses her reservations — even as John tries to reassure her.
On tapping into that emotional core, and giving such a heartfelt speech, Zimmer said, “The fact that she was an elementary teacher told me so much that she had so much patience and that she was so ready to always and and give with information and wisdom. You can give that to your children, but to give it to an entire audience at a wedding — that, for me, felt like she thought, ‘This is the only moment I have, and I don’t care what any of these people think about me.'”
It’s hard to believe it now, but after years of modeling and auditioning, Kelly was ready to give up acting. “He was having his own doubts about whether this whole acting thing would ever really take off,” Jacobson said. But when everyone saw him and Pidgeon together, the magic happened. “These two people felt so right together,” Jacobson said. She revealed that it was Pidgeon who got to tell him he had landed the role after they read together.
Kelly also revealed the first scene he shot. In the series, JFK Jr. visits the minimalist Calvin Klein corporate headquarters in Manhattan where Carolyn is working as a publicist. “It was John walking into the Calvin Klein offices.” Kelly admits that’s when everything became a reality for him. He said, “It was the hardest thing I did because it was the first thing I did.”
And “Love Story” has changed his life. Not only did Kelly land on the cover of Variety for Actors on Actors, up next, he’s starring in “The Housemaid’s Secret,” and he’s set to appear in another Ryan Murphy production, “American Horror Story: 13.”
“Thirteen is my lucky number,” Kelly joked.
Pidgeon spoke about how she tapped into playing Carolyn. “I loved when we we had scenes that were scripted using found footage, like their Battery Park scene. I really loved those moments.”
Pidgeon prasied her co-star Zimmer and talked about playing out their relationship. She talked about Ann-Marie and how the woman was a strong presence in Carolyn’s life. “Constance coming in and having that power of she’s very different from my mother, but I know what’s it’s like to be mothered and [to hear] a mother’s advice, a mother’s worry, and seeing Constance take that on, and how she related to Carolyn, I think it actually made my portrayal of Carolyn make a lot more sense.”
Pidgeon went on to say, “She’s always right, and you see that in the story. She’s right about the accident. She’s right about the marriage. Constance is the emotional well that she carries — not only as a person but with that ferocity of love and protection for her daughter.”
In casting the couple, Bright was asked whether she was surprised by Pidgeon and Kelly’s chemistry, saying “I would say I’m not surprised because knowing the two of them, I get it. They’re both wonderful actors.”
Bright also said both Kelly and Pidgeon sought notes and asked what they wanted to see in their performances. Bright answered, “Just make it grounded and natural.”
