Ryan Murphy is addressing the backlash from the Kennedy family surrounding his new show American Love Story.
The upcoming series, follows John Kennedy Jr., played by Paul Kelly, and Carolyn Bessette‘s, played by Sarah Pidgeon, whirlwind romance. The couple passed away in a plane crash in 1999 when she was 33 and he was 38. They were the subject of lots of media scrutiny when their romance began, through their deaths.
When the show first started filming last month, JFK Jr.‘s nephew Jack Kennedy Schlossberg fiercely criticized the series and ripped into Ryan for not consulting with the Kennedy family first.
While appearing on the This is Gavin Newsom podcast, Ryan said that he found Jack‘s criticism “very strange.”
Keep reading to find out more…“I thought it was an odd choice to be mad about your relative that you really don’t remember,” Ryan said.
He then pointed out there have been 88 movies and TV shows about the Kennedys, none of which have been authorized by the family.
“I never even thought they wanted to do that,” Ryan said. “Ours is based on a book that’s very sympathetic to both people with Paul and Sarah playing their hearts out.”
The Emmy winner went on to say that the Kennedy family has not read the scripts yet, but emphasized that the series is “not a takedown.”
When Ryan first shared the photos of Paul and Sarah in costume as JFK Jr. and Carolyn, he faced a lot of criticism about the color of Sarah‘s hair, which initially was a wig, and the wardrobe styling.
Ryan said that they all took the criticism seriously and decided it was best to dye Sarah‘s hair blonde, which he says was an improvement.
“We rolled up our sleeves and we listened to people and corrected it,” Ryan said. “And I like doing that.”
If you missed it, Naomi Watts was just recently seen on set as Jackie Kennedy Onassis for the first time.
Source: justjared.com