NEED TO KNOW
Paul Anthony Kelly is channeling one of the most iconic American heartthrobs.
During the New York City premiere of Ryan Murphy’s new FX show Love Story: John F. Kennedy Jr. & Carolyn Bessette, the actor tells PEOPLE that one of the best parts about playing the son of President John F. Kennedy and first lady Jackie Kennedy was getting to recreate his “amazing” hairstyle.
“I mean, the hair is … John hair,” Kelly quips. “He’s the guy with the hair, it was awesome.”
Beyond the timeless hairdo and his ability to pull off a three-piece suit, Kelly explains that training to match JFK Jr.’s fit physique was also “the perfect excuse to work on my body.”
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“I mean, it was great,” he adds.
Meanwhile, Sarah Pidgeon, who portrays style icon Carolyn Bessette in the series, underwent a hair transformation of her own when she swapped out her typical brunette locks for a toffee shade with chunky highlights.
However, Bessette’s former hair colorist, Brad Johns, wasn’t the biggest fan of the choice.
“No one would believe that Carolyn in the ’90s would ever have that color from me,” he told Vogue in June. “It’s too 2024.”
Johns, who began working with Bessette in 1996, went on to quip, “Carolyn had beautiful hair. She was breathtaking and so hysterical. When she sees that color, she’s going to be swirling in heaven.”
Even so, both Kelly and Pidgeon are spitting images of JFK Jr. and Bessette as they relive the couple’s whirlwind romance that captured the spotlight and became a national obsession.
After all, a new trailer for the series — the first installment of Murphy’s Love Story anthology — describes JFK Jr. as America’s “most eligible bachelor” after the nation watched the son of an assassinated president grow into a striking young man.
FX
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Meanwhile, Bessette was a confident and independent woman who rose through the ranks at Calvin Klein and quickly became a trusted executive to the designer himself.
Once the two are formally introduced, JFK Jr. cannot resist seeking out the beautiful fashion executive at her place of work — and thus the courtship begins. As Bessette fits him for a new suit, their connection is palpable in the recreated moment in the trailer.
But before long, Bessette begins to learn what the life of American royalty entails, from making headlines on the front page of a newspaper to attending dinners with the most prominent people in the country, she realizes just how much their lives would have to change if they wish to be together.
“It’s not a question of if I want to spend the rest of my life with you,” Bessette told JFK Jr. in the trailer. “It’s a question of if I’m cut out to be Mrs. JFK Jr.”
FX’s Love Story: John F. Kennedy Jr. & Carolyn Bessette premieres with three episodes on February 12 on the FX linear channel and Hulu, after which one new episode of the nine-episode series will be released each subsequent Thursday.
