Sarah Pidgeon is paying no mind to critics of her costumes on the upcoming series American Love Story.
The actress’ portrayal of Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy has been met with backlash ahead of the show’s premiere. “I want to love this, but so much is missing the mark in the wardrobe department. THE WARDROBE IS A MAIN CHARACTER IN THIS STORY,” stylist Liz Teich commented underneath Instagram footage from the show’s screen tests on June 18. “As a stylist and someone who has tried to emulate CBK since the 90s, this breaks my heart. Please step it up in production.”
Bessette-Kennedy’s former hair colorist, Brad Johns, reacted to the color of Pidgeon’s blonde wig in an interview with Vogue last month, stating, “No one would believe that Carolyn in the ’90s would ever have that color from me. It’s too 2024.”
As fans continue to express their disappointment over Bessette-Kennedy’s look on the show, Pidgeon told E! News that viewers should wait to watch the series before making their final judgments.
“I can’t wait for them to see it,” she told the outlet in an interview published on Monday, July 7.
Jose Perez / Bauer-Griffin / GC Images
Pidgeon went on to share her excitement for the series, which will follow Bessette-Kennedy and John F. Kennedy Jr.‘s love story from their marriage to their tragic deaths in a 1999 plane crash. “We’re just getting started,” she shared. “It’s been so exciting. I feel very honored to take on this role and learn about such an incredible woman who’s endured for close to 25 years now.”
She added, “It feels very special. I feel very grateful.”
The cast also includes Paul Kelly as JFK Jr., Naomi Watts as Jackie Kennedy, Grace Gummer as Caroline Kennedy, Sydney Lemmon as Lauren Bessette, and Alessandro Nivola as Calvin Klein.
The show’s cocreator and executive producer, Ryan Murphy, previously spoke out against the backlash surrounding Pidgeon’s show look. “They’re doing to our Carolyn, what they did to the real-life Carolyn. It’s not fair,” he told Variety last month, noting that he hired a 10-person “style advisory board” to help craft Bessette-Kennedy’s wardrobe.
JFK Jr.’s nephew, Jack Schlossberg, revealed in a June 18 Instagram video that the Kennedy family was not consulted about the upcoming series. “The right to privacy, which includes the ability to control your own name, image and likeness, doesn’t survive death in the state of New York,” he told his followers. “And for that matter, he’s considered a public figure. So there’s not much we can do.”
He continued, “I hope that those making the shows about him take seriously what he stood for in his life, all that he achieved in it, and that they donate some of the profits. … For the record, I think admiration for my Uncle John is great. What I don’t think is great is profiting off of it in a grotesque way. Thanks.”
American Love Story, Series Premiere, 2026, FX
This story originally appeared on TV Insider
