It’s the month of love — and that means Love Story is soon approaching.
On Monday morning, Love Story: John F. Kennedy Jr. & Carolyn Bessette, the FX series from executive producer Ryan Murphy, released a trailer (below) which sees its stars — newcomer Paul Anthony Kelly as John F. Kennedy Jr. and Tony-nominee Sarah Pidgeon as Carolyn Bessette Kennedy — meet and fall in love.
But that doesn’t come without their challenges, especially from the non-stop media attention the couple received and photographers who would wait outside their apartment at all times. “There’s your world. And then there’s mine,” Carolyn says to JFK Jr. “It’s not a question of if I want to spend the rest of my life with you. It’s a question of if I’m cut out to be Mrs. JFK Jr.”
The trailer also shows Carolyn working at Calvin Klein in the ’90s, adding to her timeless style in real life. However, when first-look images were released last summer, Carolyn’s style, in particular, received backlash from people online, who called it “fast fashion.” Carolyn’s former hair colorist, Brad Johns, in real life, told Vogue in June that her hair color was “totally wrong.”
Here is the show’s synopsis: “It was a love story that captured the attention of the nation: John F. Kennedy Jr. was the closest thing to American royalty. The country watched him grow from a boy to a beloved bachelor and media sensation. Bessette was a star in her own right. Fiercely independent and with a singular style, she rose from being a sales assistant to an executive at Calvin Klein and became a trusted confidante of its eponymous founder. John and Carolyn’s connection was immediate, electric and undeniable. As their love story unfolded on a national stage, the intense fame and media attention that came along with it threatened to rip them apart.”
The series is inspired by Elizabeth Beller’s book Once Upon a Time: The Captivating Life of Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy. JFK Jr., Carolyn, and her sister Lauren Bessette died in a plane crash on July 16, 1999.
The cast rounds out with Grace Gummer as Caroline Kennedy, Naomi Watts as Jackie Kennedy Onassis, Alessandro Nivola as Calvin Klein, Leila George as Kelly Klein, Sydney Lemmon as Lauren Bessette and Constance Zimmer as Ann Marie Messina.
Love Story was created by Connor Hines and executive produced by Murphy, Nina Jacobson, Brad Simpson, Connor Hines, Eric Kovtun, Nissa Diederich, Scott Robertson, Monica Levinson, Kim Rosenstock, D.V. DeVincentis and Tanase Popa. Max Winkler directed the pilot and serves as an executive producer.
The series premieres with the first three episodes on FX Feb. 12 at 6 p.m. PT/9 p.m. ET and streaming on Hulu at 9 p.m. ET and on Disney+ internationally. Following premiere week, episodes of the nine-episode series drop weekly.
