Paul Anthony Kelly, Sarah Pidgeon Discuss 7-Year JFK Jr.-Bessette Romance on 1 Podcast Episode
Updated
Updated · Los Angeles Times · Jun 4
Paul Anthony Kelly, Sarah Pidgeon Discuss 7-Year JFK Jr.-Bessette Romance on 1 Podcast Episode
3 articles · Updated · Los Angeles Times · Jun 4
Summary
Paul Anthony Kelly and Sarah Pidgeon said playing John F. Kennedy Jr. and Carolyn Bessette in “Love Story” forced them to think about privacy, fame and how public scrutiny shaped the couple’s seven-year relationship.
New York filming made that theme tangible: crowds watched street shoots, a recreated Bryant Park argument was flagged on the Citizen app as a “domestic dispute,” and both actors said public recognition since release has been overwhelmingly positive.
Pidgeon said sparse source material on Bessette pushed her toward paparazzi photos, rare video and movement work to show how the “most photographed woman in America” changed physically; Kelly leaned on JFK Jr.’s narration of “Profiles in Courage,” interviews and dialect coaching.
Both actors said the show’s detailed costumes and real-life recreations helped them find the couple’s dynamic, while Pidgeon argued the series aims to humanize two figures often reduced to tabloid images rather than simply revive celebrity obsession.