Producer Ryan Murphy has shared first-look photos of his upcoming American Love Story series, which stars model and actor Paul Kelly as John F. Kennedy Jr. and The Wilds star Sarah Pidgeon as Carolyn Bessette.
The camera test photos, which were teased by Murphy on June 13, feature some of the couple’s iconic ’90s fashion — including JFK Jr.’s ability to pull off both a three-piece suit and a casual open vest-pageboy cap combo, and Bessette’s propensity for sleek leather looks.
American Love Story will focus on the whirlwind romance between JFK Jr. — son of President John F. Kennedy and first lady Jackie Kennedy — and Bessette, a fashion publicist. The couple first met in 1992 when Bessette was working for Calvin Klein and was assigned the task of giving Kennedy a private tour and fitting.
After a two year courtship, the couple married in September 1996 in a private ceremony on Cumberland Island, Ga., with a few members of the famous Kennedy family in attendance.
On July 16, 1999, Kennedy and Bessette died in a plane crash when JFK Jr. was flying his wife, and her sister, Lauren, from New Jersey en route to Martha’s Vineyard.
In addition to Kelly and Pidgeon, American Love Story will star Naomi Watts as Jackie Kennedy, Grace Gummer as Caroline Kennedy, Sydney Lemmon as Lauren Bessette and Alessandro Nivola as Calvin Klein.
The search for an actor who could embody JFK Jr. — a national heartthrob and frequent ’90s cover boy — was reportedly a difficult one, and the casting team ultimately decided to go with a relative Hollywood newcomer to play PEOPLE’s 1988 Sexiest Man Alive.
Kelly, who has previous experience in theater and modeling, reportedly beat out nearly a thousand actors for the role of the Kennedy heir and his new test photos reveal why.
Pidgeon is a Tony nominee for her role in the Broadway musical Stereophonic. She also appeared in streaming series The Wilds and Tiny Beautiful Things, and stars in the upcoming sequel of I Know What You Did Last Summer, which premieres on July 18.
American Love Story is the latest in Murphy’s American Story anthology series, following American Horror Story, American Crime Story and American Sports Story. A release date for the series has yet to be announced.
JFK Jr.’s roller coaster romance with Bessette was documented in the 2024 biography Once Upon a Time: The Captivating Life of Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy by Elizabeth Beller. In an exclusive excerpt shared with PEOPLE last year, the author wrote how a major sticking point of the couple’s early relationship was Kennedy’s reticence to allow Bessette to meet his mother.
“Carolyn became increasingly irked that he wouldn’t introduce her to his mother,” the book reads. “‘I took him to meet my mom,’ Carolyn told a friend.”
Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE’s free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.
Speaking with PEOPLE ahead of the book’s launch in 2024, Beller said that, at the time, JFK Jr. may have been preoccupied with launching his political magazine, George.
“I think it was hard for him to take anything other than his work too seriously at that moment,” Beller said. “If Carolyn met Jackie, I think he knew that that would sort of become a life of its own. And maybe he wasn’t quite ready for that.”
“I know that he did regret it,” Beller continued. “That’s one of the things that he said to several friends, one of his main regrets was not introducing the two of them.”
Read the full article here
