Lead: In April 2025, three weeks before cameras were due to roll, FX’s limited series Love Story still lacked an actor to play John F. Kennedy Jr. Producers had already cast Sarah Pidgeon as Carolyn Bessette Kennedy, but finding a convincing JFK Jr. proved unusually difficult. The search and subsequent costume and publicity controversies shaped production as the show readied to premiere on Feb. 12, 2026. The finished series, which reconstructs the couple’s romance and its public pressures, now faces both acclaim and family criticism.
Key takeaways
- Casting crunch: Producers auditioned roughly 13 finalists and scanned talent internationally to fill the role of JFK Jr., targeting white men aged about 25–40.
- Final casting: Former model Paul Anthony Kelly, one of 13 late-stage candidates, won the part after a decision influenced by a hairdresser and chemistry tests with Sarah Pidgeon.
- Premiere timing: FX scheduled the limited series to debut on Feb. 12, 2026, positioning it as a high-profile Valentine’s Day offering.
- Historical facts preserved: The series centers on a couple whose plane crashed on July 16, 1999, and draws on the 2024 biography Once Upon a Time as a credited source.
- Costume rigor: The production revised early outfits after online criticism and ultimately averaged about 12–15 costume changes per episode for Pidgeon’s character to match archival photos.
- Public backlash: Members of the Kennedy family, notably Jack Schlossberg, publicly condemned the unauthorized dramatization, prompting a social-media dispute with producer Ryan Murphy.
- Creative intent: Producers and writers framed the story through Carolyn’s perspective — a “commoner entering the palace” — to explore celebrity, privacy and intimacy.
Background
The idea for Love Story originated with Ryan Murphy’s interest in recent-history drama and a writer, Connor Hines, who pitched a Carolyn-centered approach after researching the Kennedys. FX executives delayed full production until the 2024 biography Once Upon a Time: The Captivating Life of Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy was published, citing the need for a deeper source focused on Carolyn rather than just the family legend.
John F. Kennedy Jr. entered the public eye in childhood and became a 1990s celebrity figure known for his New York social life and a carefully observed physique. Carolyn Bessette, by contrast, remained fiercely private and was often depicted in reductive or hostile tabloid narratives. That contrast — a celebrated son and a guarded fashion-industry professional who married into Camelot — is central to the series’ dramatic premise.
Main event
During casting in April 2025, producers read a wide pool of candidates, including male models and nonprofessionals, looking for someone who fit JFK Jr.’s documented presence. Brad Simpson, an executive producer, described searches that ranged from Australia to England and included on-street auditions; final consideration narrowed to 13 hopefuls. Paul Anthony Kelly, a former model turned actor, emerged after a late-stage recommendation from a hairdresser and chemistry work with Pidgeon.
Filming proceeded through 2025 with intense attention to period detail: Calvin Klein offices, Manhattan club culture, and interiors meant to evoke the couple’s loft. Early costume tests and set photos released during production attracted sharp online commentary. Producers responded by revising wardrobe and bringing in Rudy Mance, a costumer with Condé Nast experience, who cross-checked looks against hundreds of archival images to achieve accuracy.
On set, actors described immersive preparation. Kelly trained early in the mornings to match JFK Jr.’s athletic, restless energy; Pidgeon leaned on the wardrobe to shape Carolyn’s physicality, with oversized coats used intentionally to show diminution across the marriage. An intense eighth episode, set largely in the couple’s loft, became a production highlight, described by cast as feeling like a three-act play that crystallized the pair’s chemistry late in shooting.
Analysis & implications
Love Story sits at the intersection of celebrity biography and prestige television. By telling the narrative primarily through Carolyn’s point of view, the series seeks to reframe a life long defined by images and tabloid shorthand. That creative choice offers viewers a chance to reassess how privacy, gender and fame collided for a woman who attempted to live quietly amid relentless media attention.
The production’s response to early backlash — notably reworking costumes and embracing archival accuracy — signals a broader industry lesson: period pieces about iconic figures invite granular scrutiny, and missteps can dominate coverage before a show is judged on its merits. For FX, the series is also a strategic play in the streaming era, promoted across FX/Hulu on Disney+ as the network leans on big-name creators like Murphy to sustain brand relevance.
Politically and culturally, the timing is sensitive. The Kennedy family has been through recent public trials and tragedies, and mixed responses to the series underscore tensions between storytelling autonomy and families’ expectations. Social-media attacks from figures like Jack Schlossberg illustrate how personal grief and brand protection can erupt into public disputes that reshape reception.
Comparison & data
| Metric | Reported figure |
|---|---|
| Casting finalists for JFK Jr. | 13 |
| Target age range for casting | 25–40 |
| Costume changes per episode (Carolyn) | 12–15 |
| Pivotal on-screen episode | Episode 8 (penultimate) |
| Historic date referenced | Plane crash: July 16, 1999 |
The table summarizes production metrics highlighted by cast and crew. These figures show how granular the team’s method was — from a large late-stage casting pool to meticulous costume counts — and underline why archival fidelity became a repeated production priority.
Reactions & quotes
Producers and network executives defended the show’s intent while family members publicly objected.
“We read male models, random people off the street — any sort of white guy between 25 and 40,”
Brad Simpson, Executive Producer
Simpson used the line to describe how uncommonly specific JFK Jr.’s public image made casting choices. The comment underscores both the practical challenge and the production’s attention to physical detail.
“In my mind, that’s a form of perversion, to be so obsessed with somebody’s sexuality and their love life,”
Jack Schlossberg (via interview)
Schlossberg criticized the series on social media and in press interviews, framing the project as an exploitative look at private lives; producers declined some interview requests in response.
“So many people have written about the Kennedys, but this was really a book about Carolyn,”
Gina Balian, FX Entertainment President
Balian cited the 2024 Carolyn-centered biography as a reason FX moved forward, stressing intent to illuminate a lesser-known perspective within the Kennedy story.
Unconfirmed
- Extent of formal cooperation: It remains unconfirmed whether any members of the Kennedy family granted direct creative input beyond public statements of objection.
- Netflix project details: Public announcements mention a separate Netflix project with Michael Fassbender attached as Joseph P. Kennedy, but the scope and timeline of that series’ production remain subject to studio confirmation.
- Viewership forecasts: No verified audience numbers are yet available for Love Story’s opening window on FX/Hulu/Disney+; ratings and streaming data will be reported after release.
Bottom line
Love Story is both a portrait and a provocation: it aims to restore nuance to Carolyn Bessette’s public image while reexamining John F. Kennedy Jr.’s celebrity through contemporary lenses. The production’s late casting hurdles, costume overhauls and the family’s outspoken objections illustrate the hazards of dramatizing recent, mourned figures.
For viewers, the series will likely prompt renewed debate over where empathetic biography ends and sensationalism begins. For the industry, FX’s high-profile gamble — positioning a sensitive, era-specific drama around Valentine’s Day and treating archival detail as paramount — marks a continued push to fuse prestige storytelling with streaming reach.
Sources
- Variety (Entertainment reporting; primary feature)