Yahoo Lifestyle Ryan Murphy’s ‘American Love Story’ Casts Sarah Pidgeon as JFK Jr.’s Wife Carolyn Bessette
“American Love Story” at FX has found its first cast member.
Variety has learned from sources that Sarah Pidgeon has been cast in one of the lead roles for the upcoming anthology series, which was originally announced in 2021. As previously reported, the first season of the series will focus on John F. Kennedy Jr. and Carolyn Bessette. Pidgeon will star as Bessette.
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Reps for 20th Television and FX declined to comment.
Bessette was raised in New York and Connecticut. After a brief modeling career, she went on to rise through the ranks at Calvin Klein, eventually working as director of publicity and dealing with the brand’s celebrity clients in New York. She began dating Kennedy in 1994 and the two were married in 1996. They were the subject of intense media scrutiny during their time together, with their lives frequently featured in the tabloids.
Pidgeon is perhaps best known for her starring role in the Amazon Prime Video series “The Wilds,” which aired for two seasons between 2020 and 2022. Most recently in TV, she starred in the Hulu limited series “Tiny Beautiful Things” alongside Kathryn Hahn. In film, she has starred in both “The Friend” and “Lazarus” and will next be seen in the fourth film in the “I Know What You Did Last Summer” franchise.
She is repped by Gersh, Anonymous Content, and Jackoway Austen Tyerman.
“American Love Story” is the next installment in the “American Story” franchise at FX. In addition to the long-running anthology series “American Horror Story” and its companion “American Horror Stories,” the premium cabler has thus far aired three seasons of “American Crime Story” as well as one season of “American Sports Story.” The latter show aired its first season in 2024, which focused on Aaron Hernandez.
Ryan Murphy serves as an executive producer on “American Love Story” along with Brad Simpson and Nina Jacobson of Color Force, DV Divencentis, and Connor Hines. 20th Television, where Murphy is under an overall deal, is the studio.
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