Back in the 1960s, when John F. Kennedy (JFK) was president of the US, there seemed to be a special magic to America, summed up in the lyrics from the 1960s musical Camelot and quoted by the assassinated president’s wife: “Don’t let it be forgot/That there was once a spot/For one brief shining moment/That was known as Camelot!”
Riding the coattails of victory in World War 2, the country’s industrial machine went into overdrive, offering middle-income families the dream of education, healthcare and prosperity. America became the shining city on the hill.
Into that world came two children — unusually young children for a president to have in the White House — and seemingly every moment of their lives was photographed. The world was fascinated by their parents, even more so after JFK was assassinated in 1963 and, later, when his widow Jacqueline, played by Naomi Watts, married one of the wealthiest men of the era, Aristotle Onassis.
As the children grew up, Caroline Kennedy largely eschewed the limelight, but her brother was so handsome and charismatic that he seemed drawn to it like a moth to a flame. The paparazzi chased John F. Kennedy Jr. everywhere. He dated one of the most beautiful and famous actresses of the time, Daryl Hannah, before marrying Carolyn Bessette, the striking blonde Calvin Klein publicist who’d become a style icon in her own right.
When they both died in 1999, after a plane piloted by Kennedy crashed into the Atlantic, their tragedy was devoured by the media. Then, as these things do, it slowly receded into memory.
Why the history lesson? Because FX has resurrected the story of JFK Jr. and Bessette, inspired by Elizabeth Beller’s 2024 biography, Once Upon a Time: The Captivating Life of Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy.
It’s a story some might dismiss as belonging to a bygone era. But give yourself over to these characters and it’s difficult not to be drawn in. It’s a tale of pain: of a boy who could never quite live up to the legend projected onto him, and a woman diminished in the public imagination because of the man she loved.
At its heart is the peeling back of fantasy to reveal the wounded truths of two people who found each other, only to have their love tarnished by a world that wanted them to be something they weren’t.
Don’t let it be forgot/That there was once a spot/For one brief shining moment/That was known as Camelot!
Producer Nina Jacobson explains the enduring fascination with the couple: “They were American royalty; icons. People knew her much more than they knew him, but only visually. She became a posthumous influencer. This distant WASP ideal.”
Those who actually knew Bessette, however, painted a different picture: a self-possessed, funny woman who refused to be consumed by either the Kennedy mystique or the pressure of the paparazzi.
The anthology series, Love Story: John F. Kennedy Jr. & Carolyn Bessette, has received six Emmy nominations, and FX invited a handful of journalists to celebrate the moment at the iconic Chateau Marmont hotel in West Hollywood. As the sun dipped over Los Angeles, the city seemed to acquire its own Camelot magic.
Sarah Pidgeon does an extraordinary job of fleshing out Bessette, provoking sympathy for a woman the world alternately celebrated and denigrated. She slipped onto the hotel’s famous penthouse terrace at sunset wearing a fitted black mini — a throwback to the pared-back simplicity of Calvin Klein at the height of the label’s popularity. The exaggerated width of its spaghetti-strap neckline framed her broad shoulders, while her blonde hair was worn with a hint of a wave rather than the straight platinum tresses favoured by the woman she portrays.
Preparing for the role, the Emmy nominee immersed herself in research and discovered how protective people remain of Bessette.
“I looked at videos to see how she held herself,” she says, straightening and pushing her shoulders back. “She used her hands a lot, reaching to others so they felt like they were the only people in the room.”
Pidgeon confesses: “There was a certain amount of pressure portraying a real person. There’s the legacy and the headlines. She never spoke. There’s the idea of being dragged through the mud, yet being self-possessed enough to know that what was said was so far from her truth that she never defended herself.”
Much of Bessette’s life was documented from the outside, but the series necessarily imagines what happened in private. “We took the liberty of improvising what was said behind closed doors, which allowed people to empathise with her, which she didn’t choose to do for herself.”
At 1.78m, Pidgeon is tall for an actress and admits Bessette’s celebrated minimalism has rubbed off on her. “Her style affected me. She wore classical outfits but, no matter what she wore, she wore the clothes; they didn’t wear her.”
The I Know What You Did Last Summer actress says her favourite moments to film were the scripted scenes from found footage, the couple’s documented argument in Battery Park, and their wedding.
While the Detroit native was cast early, production was just three weeks away and JFK Jr. still hadn’t been found.
Paul Anthony Kelly, who plays him, had been a professional model for a decade. While the producers of Love Story were contemplating delaying production to find their leading man, Kelly was contemplating walking away from the business entirely.
“I told my wife that modelling was keeping the lights on, but I was done,” says the dimpled 37-year-old Canadian.
Then came the callback that changed his life. “It was our anniversary. We were out to dinner and my wife surprised me with a pregnancy test.”
Now the father of seven-month-old daughter, Kelly shyly reveals that he’s already landed his first film role, working with heavyweight director Paul Feig (Bridesmaids, A Simple Favor) on the Sydney Sweeney psychological-thriller sequel The Housemaid’s Secret.
For Love Story, he had only weeks to bulk up enough to approximate JFK Jr.’s legendary physique — and master his distinctive voice.
“I religiously listened to him reading his father’s book, Profiles in Courage. I’d fall asleep listening to it and worked with a dialect coach.”
There was another challenge. “I’m a righty and he was left-handed. I had a short time to master that. Luckily, my wife is left-handed, so I’d ask her to demonstrate things so I could get them right. Throwing a football convincingly with my left hand took work,” he chuckles. “This was my first role and every day was a welcome challenge.”
The hardest moment was the most emotional: portraying Kennedy Jr. as his mother, Jackie, dies. “I got to work with Naomi Watts, who I’ve always admired. But getting to that vulnerable state with 30 people and a camera in your face … ” His eyes widen at the memory. “It was challenging.”
Perhaps that’s the curious pull of Camelot, more than six decades later. We know how the story ends and that the perfection was an illusion. But we keep returning to it — to the beautiful people, the impossible expectations, and the tragedy waiting just outside the frame.
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.