The romance between political scion John F. Kennedy Jr. and his wife, Carolyn Bessette, will take center stage in an FX drama series that promises to cast new light on the “undeniable chemistry, whirlwind courtship, and high-profile marriage of one of the most iconic couples of the 20th century.”
Created by famed showrunner Ryan Murphy, the FX series, “Love Story: John F. Kennedy Jr. & Carolyn Bessette,” will chart the ill-fated duo’s relationship from its earliest days in New York City, where they met in 1992 when he was working as an attorney and she held a job as a publicist for fashion label Calvin Klein.
Photos of the show’s stars—Sarah Pidgeon and Paul Kelly—reveal that much of the miniseries was shot in the same neighborhood where the couple was routinely photographed and where they lived together up until 1999, when they died in a horrifying plane crash while traveling to Martha’s Vineyard.
Some reports have suggested that the series, which premieres on FX on Feb. 12 at 9 p.m., will even feature shots of the exterior of the real-life Manhattan apartment building where Kennedy purchased a unit that would serve as their first—and only—marital home.
Anyone who has seen just a handful of the thousands of paparazzi images taken of the couple will no doubt instantly recognize the building’s exterior, which so often featured in the background of photos taken as they were making their way in and out of the property.
The heightened frenzy that surrounded Kennedy and Bessette looks set to play a major role in the FX drama, with previews hinting at the brutal toll the media interest took on their romance.
Initially, the couple’s romance blossomed very much like any other New York City relationship between two young professionals, according to Elizabeth Beller, author of “Once Upon a Time: The Captivating Life of Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy,” on which the FX show is based.
“The early years were kind of not that unusual for two people meeting in New York City and juggling careers. Carolyn was only 26 years old when she was at Calvin Klein. She had a real community of friends and was busy with work,” Beller previously revealed to Entertainment Tonight.
“[Carolyn] was one of these people, especially, you know, new to New York City, who really liked to take advantage of New York to the utmost.”
However, it would be two years before the couple committed to a relationship—and with it, came a frenzy of speculation and public fascination, something that Bessette is understood to have found very difficult to cope with.
While JFK Jr.—the son of former President John F. Kennedy and his wife, Jackie Bouvier—had long grown accustomed to living his life in the public eye, interest in his romance with Carolyn quickly skyrocketed, pushing the couple into a very glaring, and often unwelcome, spotlight.
“That life that she had before, she had a real sense of freedom. She loved to be out and about. She just really loved to be around her friends,” Beller explained.
“She was a huge caretaker and so I think that the fact that the press started to wait outside for her, it just really killed a lot of her joy. She saw fame as the thief of joy, especially when she really got into it, and there was no way to know that they would be under that much duress by the paparazzi.”
Indeed, teaser clips for the FX show show her crumbling under the pressure of the constant attention, telling the political heir that she wasn’t sure she was “cut out to be Mrs. JFK Jr.”
“Everything in my life has changed,” Pidgeon cries at Kelly, before later falling to the floor in tears, yelling: “They won’t leave us alone.”
Despite Bessette’s alleged concerns about what her future as a member of the political dynasty might involve, she did tie the knot with Kennedy—albeit going to great lengths to ensure that their wedding remained as private as possibly.
To keep out any unwanted guests and paparazzi, the couple held their nuptials in a tiny church on Cumberland Island off the coast of Georgia, an unassuming location for such a high-profile couple, whom many had assumed would wed in New York or at the Kennedy family’s famed Hyannis Port compound.
Only 40 people were in attendance at the ceremony, which was held at the First African Baptist Church on Sept. 21, 1996, four years after Kennedy and Bessette met. Among those guests were several members of the Kennedy family, including his sister, Caroline Kennedy, and her husband, Edwin Schlossberg, as well as their three children, who all had roles in the ceremony.
On Bessette’s side, her mother, Ann Messina Freeman, attended with the publicist’s sister, Lisa Ann Bessette.
“Guests had to present a special Indian nickel upon landing on the island or they were quickly escorted off,” attendee Carol Radziwill recalled to the Daily Mail in 2019.
However, by the time the couple returned from their wedding and honeymoon, news about their nuptials had broken—and they returned to their New York City apartment, which was located in the Tribeca neighborhood, to a swarm of paparazzi.
“This is a big change for anyone,” Kennedy is said to have told the waiting members of the press. “For a private citizen, even more so. I just ask [for] any privacy or room you could give her as she makes that adjustment. It would be greatly appreciated.”
However, that did little to quiet the frenzied excitement that continued to hound the couple—attention that reportedly made Bessette more reluctant than ever to even leave their shared home, which Kennedy had purchased for just $700,000 in 1994.
In contrast to their very glamorous public persona, the home—and the life they lived inside it—was reportedly very low-key, offering just two bedrooms and a very industrial aesthetic, which is said to have inspired Kennedy’s nickname for the dwelling: “Home Depot.”
While the couple resided in the top-floor apartment for the entirety of their marriage, reports emerged after their deaths on July 16, 1999, that they had been eyeing up an exit from the city—with the New York Post stating that Kennedy and Bessette had already secured a property in Connecticut, not far from where the latter was raised.
According to the outlet, the house in question, which was located in New Canaan, had been under construction for several months before Bessette and Kennedy died, and had been designed to offer the duo their own personal Camelot, far from the prying eyes of the city.
“The spread has lots of rooms, lots of land, a tennis court, a swimming pool. And it’s in New Canaan, the tony town where Carolyn Bessette Kennedy spent part of her childhood and where her sister Lisa Ann lives,” the report stated.
“Real estate agents put the value at up to $3 million.”
While it’s unclear whether the home that had been conceived for the couple was ever completed, images show that a sizable—and very elegant—dwelling does now sit at that address, which last changed hands for $9 million in 2007.
The couple’s New York City home quietly traded hands in 2000, when it was purchased by actor Ed Burns, who still owns the unit to this day, according to records.