For Kelly, the role was the opportunity of a lifetime. The 37-year-old Canadian was relatively unknown before snagging the part – building her career as a model.
“I was probably thinking about hanging up the old hat,” he said. “And then when I decided, ‘Yeah, whatever,’ that’s when it happened.”
Stepping into such iconic roles was no easy feat. Unlike other biographical subjects, for example, Bessett-Kennedy did not write an autobiography or speak frequently to the media, and her public life was managed as precisely as her clothes. Her image lives on mostly through paparazzi photos – photos sorted and cataloged for generations of fashion fans.
With just over a month to prepare, Kelly said she worked closely with an acting and dialect coach and JFK Jr. was immersed in all things.
“Going to John, I really dove into everything I could watch on YouTube,” he said, adding that he also listened to a rendition of Kennedy’s father’s book, “Profiles in Courage.”
“To play an American prince, it carries some weight,” Kelly added. “When playing a person in real life, you have to take a lot of care and love and honesty into it.”
But like any adaptation of true events, the series has come under some scrutiny.
Before the show’s release last year, John F. Kennedy Jr.’s nephew Jack Schlossberg — who has a large online following and is running for office in New York — slammed its existence.
“Lately, my news feed has been filled with pictures of my uncle, John F. Kennedy Jr., a great man,” Schlossberg said on his Instagram story in June, according to Entertainment Weekly. “For those wondering if his family was ever consulted or had anything to do with the new show being made about him, the answer is no, and there’s really not much we can do.”
“For the record, I think the admiration for my uncle John is wonderful,” he said. “What I don’t think is great is ironically profiting from it.”
Schlossberg’s mother, Caroline Kennedy, is portrayed by Grace Gummer in the show, which includes scenes of the Kennedy grandchildren playing in the New York apartment of Jackie Kennedy Onassis (played by Naomi Watts).
When stills from “American Love Story” were first released, many online expressed disappointment with how Murphy and his team portrayed Bessette.
Criticism has mostly focused on the outfit worn by Sarah Pidgeon as Bessette for the photos. Bessette is a posthumous style icon who worked as an executive for Calvin Klein.
For some, the boxy brown coat, cropped trousers and blank no. The 35 Birkin bag is a departure from Bessett-Kennedy’s signature stuffed-to-the-brim No. 40 designer bag and high-quality minimalist style. Other photos and a test video show Pidgeon in a faux leather jacket, midi silk skirt and Converse.
“The details are important here because she used her image to control the narrative,” Jack Sehnert, vice president of international design at Steve Madden and creator of the Instagram account dedicated to style icon @carolynbessette, told NBC News last year. “He could have scoured eBay for a month or two looking for references and sources to make recreations for Sarah.”
The backlash prompted Murphy to clarify that the first look was shot only for lighting and color tests and did not represent the finalized costumes for any of the characters. In a recent interview with Variety, the camera test images were released ahead of the paparazzi leak and called the release a “mistake.”
Murphy also later responded to Schlossberg’s comments, telling California Gov. Gavin Newsom that “it’s an odd choice to be mad about a relative you don’t remember.”
“The days of civil discourse are over, and it’s very tough,” Murphy said on an episode of Newsom’s podcast. “And you kind of go into the mud or you try and climb over it.”
Disappointment from some fans didn’t seem to deter others from diving into the series, which will air its finale on March 26.
Bessette’s interest in fashion has prompted an upcoming auction, where four pieces from her actual wardrobe are up for grabs.
It was described by fashion auctioneer Lucy Bishop as a “pinch me moment”, John F. Rosemary Terenzio, Kennedy Jr.’s former chief of staff, was gifted pieces for sale by Bessette.
The auction includes a camel Prada coat, which Bessette was photographed walking her dog through the streets of Manhattan on Friday; and Yohji Yamamoto’s black dress, Bessette wore to the White House. Bidding for these items starts at $10,000.
Panna II Garden Indian Restaurant in the East Village, where Kennedy and Bessette had their first date, has seen a boom in business since an episode of the show was filmed there, the restaurant’s owner told NBC News.
“The bookings are more reserved these days,” said Boshir Khan, who attributed the recent increase in customers to the show. “Everybody’s coming up, they want to take pictures … they say, ‘We saw a show about John F. Kennedy Jr.'”
