Ever since the news broke that Ryan Murphy would be getting his hands on the John F. Kennedy Jr. and Carolyn Bessette Kennedy story for a new FX anthology series, American Love Story, everyone (or everyone who’s deeply invested in high-budget political-romance-biopics, so maybe just…me?) has been wondering who the prolific TV creator would possibly find to embody the effortless charm and perennial ’90s chic of Bessette-Kennedy herself. Now, it seems we finally have an answer, as Deadline is reporting that The Wilds star Sarah Pidgeon has been cast in what is undoubtedly the role of a lifetime.
Pidgeon definitely appears to have the dramaturgical chops necessary to bring Murphy’s interpretation of Bessette-Kennedy to life; after all, she has a BFA from the prestigious Carnegie Mellon School of Drama, she got rave reviews in 2022 for her performance as a young Kathryn Hahn (talk about dream roles!) in the Hulu series Tiny Beautiful Things, and her Broadway run as Diana in the hit David Adjmi play Stereophonic earned her a Tony nomination last year.
Resume details aside, while one hates to hitch an actress’s castability to something as random and mutable as her appearance, Pidgeon also has exactly the pensive, porcelain-skinned, vaguely patrician beauty necessary to make a credible CBK. Also, I’m pleasantly surprised that the powers that be at FX didn’t automatically cast a blonde in the part. (After all, wigs exist! As does hair dye!)
Now, only one question remains: Who will play JFK Jr.? If it’s Evan Peters, everybody drink!
