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Topics: Entertainment, Hulu, TV
Sarah Halle Corey
Has there ever been anyone as effortlessly glamorous as Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy? Genuine question because I’m truly struggling to come up with another answer. She was the epitome of ’90s cool and understated elegance, and it didn’t hurt that she was married to the equivalent of American royalty, John F. Kennedy Jr. (aka JFK’s son). So, of course, it’s about time Ryan Murphy made a show about her.
Ryan’s basically building an entire ’90s history class syllabus with his many TV series. From Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story to the O.J. Simpson and Monica Lewinsky stories in American Crime Story, he’s nearly covered the whole decade. But, now Ryan’s launching (yet another) series with American Love Story, and there’s no better couple to kick off the series than the iconic JFK Jr. and Carolyn Bessette. They had what many people thought of as the storybook romance of the ’90s until they tragically died in a plane crash in 1999.
Now, I’ll be honest; it seems like a pretty difficult task to recreate all of Carolyn’s icon status. And some sneak peek photos of Paul Kelly and Sarah Pidgeon as the iconic couple… well, they leave a little something to be desired. Let’s just say the costumes are giving discount rather than designer. But, I certainly haven’t lost hope for this series; I’m still on board for Ryan’s take on love. Here’s everything to know about Ryan Murphy’s American Love Story.
The first season of American Love Story will follow John and Carolyn’s romance from their meet-cute in 1992 through to their wedding in 1996 to their tragic end in 1999. They met while Carolyn was working for Calvin Klein, and she was assigned to assist the former First Son with VIP private fittings. So Carolyn’s working life in New York will factor into the plot, as well as John’s famous family, Jackie O and Caroline Kennedy. I’m expecting my brain to go into ’90s nostalgia overdrive.
In addition to Paul Kelly as John and Sarah Pidgeon as Carolyn, Naomi Watts is playing John’s legendary mom, Jackie O.
Grace Gummer (Meryl Streep’s daughter!) will play John’s sister, Caroline, Sydney Lemmon will play Carolyn’s sister, Lauren, and Alessandro Nivola will play Carolyn’s boss, Calvin Klein himself.
American Love Story will be released on FX Valentine’s Day week 2026 – just in time to celebrate love.