In FX’s Love Story: John F. Kennedy Jr. & Carolyn Bessette, a whirlwind romance begins between one of the most famous men in the world, John F. Kennedy Jr. (Paul Anthony Kelly), and Carolyn Bessette (Sarah Pidgeon), which catapults her into the spotlight before a tragic accident ends their story far too soon.
Awards Buzz spoke with Pidgeon about when, since she was just a few years old when Carolyn died, she first remembered learning about her:
“After social media came on the scene through all the different platforms. She’s on every Pinterest board. She’s been on a lot of mood boards that I’ve seen. Her style has been emulated for so long that I think, as soon as I started putting together that people have style inspirations, Carolyn became a part of my consciousness. But really, until this show, I only knew that she’d worked at Calvin Klein, that she was married to JFK Jr. I knew about the plane, but it was very limited information and, while she is incredibly mysterious and there’s not a ton of information out there about her, I feel like I know so much more than I did when I first put myself down to audition for this.”
She found more than a few qualities of Carolyn’s that, even if she wasn’t sure they share them already, she hopes to emulate:
“I hope that I’m getting closer to them. I think she really inspired me a lot to present myself in different ways, to get closer to this version of a young woman that I want to be. I think it was really inspiring to be able to play someone who really backs themselves and is strongly opinionated, because I think I held a lot of opinions when I was younger. This career is very strange, where there’s a lot of nos and you don’t always understand why you get nos. But it’s not just not getting a job, but I think because you’re putting yourself out there a lot, you can start doubting yourself. I guess I just lost that sort of adolescent quality of being a bit bullheaded. But being able to play her and have that self-confidence and that sharpness is something that I hope I can keep tapping into. What else? Apparently she liked to laugh. I would like to think that I like to laugh. She lived in New York in her twenties. That’s something that we share in common that I feel like that was a pathway in.”
Watch the video above to hear what it’s been like for this show to have such an enthusiastic public reception and whether this role has made her want to play a real person again.
Love Story: John F. Kennedy Jr. & Carolyn Bessette is streaming on Hulu.
