Decades after their untimely deaths, the romance between John F. Kennedy Jr. and Carolyn Bessette Kennedy remains an American obsession. FX’s Love Story: John F. Kennedy Jr. & Carolyn Bessette, a nine-part series created by Connor Hines and executive produced by Ryan Murphy, premiered Thursday on FX and Hulu, revisiting their whirlwind courtship, high-profile marriage and the intense scrutiny that overshadowed their lives, despite them being likened to British royalty.
What is Love Story: John F. Kennedy Jr. & Carolyn Bessette about?
The official trailer, which was released Feb. 2, showed Bessette (Sarah Pidgeon) as an executive for Calvin Klein and living a simple life before meeting JFK Jr. (Paul Anthony Kelly), son of former president John F. Kennedy and Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis. The handsome, single bachelor remained in the spotlight not only because of his famous family name but also as a former assistant district attorney in Manhattan before later becoming a journalist and publisher.
During their relationship and marriage, they became media favorites as paparazzi followed nearly every moment of their daily lives. While they were dubbed one of America’s most fascinating couples, they also had both individual and shared struggles in their careers, in their marriage and in maintaining an image while being subjected to public scrutiny.
“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,” according to FX’s official description of the show.
Details of the first three episodes of the FX series
The series was inspired by Elizabeth Beller’s book Once Upon a Time: The Captivating Life of Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy, a New York Times, Los Angeles Times and USA Today best-seller based on Bessette’s life and how in her 33 years of life, she was thrust into the spotlight and met with constant “misogyny and cruelty” during her relationship with JFK Jr., according to FX Networks and Amazon’s description of the book.
The first episode starts on July 16, 1999, the day of the fatal plane crash that claimed the lives of the couple and Bessette’s sister, Lauren Bessette (Sydney Lemmon). As the plane takes off, the show flashes back to 1992 when JFK Jr. and Bessette first met, according to Time. While they initially met at a Calvin Klein party that year, they did not actually date until years later.
The first three episodes, which are available on FX and Hulu, also focus on the time after the couple first met, when JFK Jr. had an on-and-off relationship with actor Daryl Hannah (Dree Hemingway) and Kennedy-Onassis reportedly did not approve of her. However, one of Hannah’s family members disagreed of those claims, stating that Kennedy-Onassis was warm and welcoming of her, per Time. In Episode 3, the family matriarch dies and JFK Jr. ends his relationship with Hannah.
Inside JFK Jr. and Carolyn Bessette’s life before their deaths
The couple began dating in 1994, JFK Jr. proposed more than a year later in 1995 and the couple wed seven months later on Sept. 21, 1996. Since then, they were under public scrutiny as tabloids reported on their every move, including their spats that were made public. For Bessette, being in the public eye was unfamiliar and she struggled to deal with it.
Three years later, on July 16, 1999, JFK Jr., Bessette and Lauren died when the plane JFK Jr. was piloting as they were flying to a wedding in Hyannis Port, Massachusetts, crashed into the Atlantic. Their bodies were recovered several days later, on July 21, and they were honored with a burial at sea and a private Manhattan funeral. Later that year, the Bessette family filed a wrongful death suit against Kennedy’s estate, which was settled in 2001, biography.com reported.
“Love Story: John F. Kennedy Jr. & Carolyn Bessette charts the complex and heartbreaking journey of a couple whose private love became a national obsession,” the show’s description reads.