Ryan Murphy's New Show Casts The Role of Carolyn Bessette Kennedy
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Famed '90s couple John F. Kennedy Jr. and Carolyn Bessette Kennedy are the newest cultural icons to get the Ryan Murphy treatment.
FX announced in 2021 that it is developing two new series with the American Horror Story creator, ahead of the premiere of Impeachment: American Crime Story. Per Deadline, the two new limited anthology series will expand Murphy's American Story banner, which has covered sensational cultural moments throughout history, including the O.J. Simpson murder trial and the murder of fashion magnate Gianni Versace.
One of the series, called American Love Story, is a scripted anthology series of 'sweeping true love stories that captured the world's attention,' per Deadline. Its first season will depict the courtship and marriage of JFK Jr. and Carolyn Bessette. The son of President John F. Kennedy and the fashion publicist married in 1996, and the golden couple's relationship captivated America until the pair's untimely death in a 1999 plane crash.
A plot synopsis of the series reads, 'What started out as a beautiful union for the young couple, widely regarded as American royalty, began to fray under the stress of the relentless microscope and navel gaze of tabloid media. The pressures of their careers and rumored family discord ended with their tragic deaths when his private plane crashed into the ocean on a hazy summer night off the coast of Massachusetts.'
The series has now found its first cast member. Actor Sarah Pidgeon, best known for her starring role in the Amazon Prime Video series 'The Wilds,' has been cast as Bessette, per Variety. The casting for JFK Jr. has yet to be announced.
As if Murphy isn't busy enough, FX also announced the tentative subject of American Crime Story's fourth season, pending scheduling delays. Per Variety, Studio 54: American Crime Story will follow the club's founders Steve Rubell and Ian Schrager, who were convicted of tax fraud in 1979.
Watch this space for all updates on American Love Story.
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It's so hard now where you're asking writers, especially if networks aren't paying for writers to go to set, 'Can you pay for yourself to fly to New York?' It just makes it so hard to be able to educate people in the way that I feel like I was privileged enough to be educated. What are we going to do about that? Gemmill: Mistakes get made. The best part about the whole business is it's collaborative. But when you're separated by thousands of miles, sometimes there's a disconnect. Before we wrap, please tell me what you're watching. Jen, we were talking about 'The Valley' earlier. Rogen: Oh, I watch 'The Valley' too. It's amazing. Do you watch 'The Valley' aftershow? It's almost as good as 'The Valley.' Statsky: I'm really worried about Jax. Rogen: We watch reality television. I see the blank looks on everybody's face. Statsky: We're in comedy. Mazin: I can't believe how scared I was when you were talking, and then how good I felt when you're like, 'It's a reality show.' 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Rogen: I find that I watch reality TV because when I watch all of your shows, I find them intellectually challenging. They make me self-conscious, or they make me inspired or something, which is not how I want to feel necessarily after a long day at work just watching something. And so reality TV makes me feel none of those things. It in no way reminds me of what I've done all day. Mazin: If you make me dissociate, I'm watching. Statsky: You're going to love it. But once you start watching, Jax owns a bar in Studio City. We can all go. We can reunite. Mazin: I've gone to that bar. Rogen: You been to Jax's? Mazin: Yes, I've been to that bar. Statsky: Wait, hold on. But everyone else in that bar was there because they watched the reality show. Why were you there? LeFranc: Out of context, I'm so invested in all this. Rogen: You've got to watch it. ... Nothing I will ever make is as good as 'The Valley.'
