Love Story: What’s The Truth Behind Ryan Murphy’s JFK Jr Drama?
By
54 minutes ago
Plus: when will all episodes be available to stream?
The man behind American Horror Story, American Crime Story and Monster (not to mention Glee) has turned to something more optimistically titled: Love Story. Like many of the American writer-director-producer extraordinaire’s work, this is a new anthology series, meaning each season will focus on something different. And like American Crime Story and Monster, Love Story is biographical, meaning Murphy is delving into the juicy details of real romances.
The first series centres on America’s most eligible bachelor John F. Kennedy Jr (Paul Anthony Kelly) and Calvin Klein publicist Carolyn Bessette (Sarah Pidgeon) – a whirlwind romance that surprised the entirety of America in the 1990s, especially JFK Jr’s former lovers who never managed to convince him to settle down.
And while critics accuse the nine-part drama of being narrow, even Wikipedia-like in surface level scope, its weekly-released episodes have been a real hit so far. According to Hulu and Disney+, where Love Story is available to stream, the first five episodes have accumulated more than 25 million hours of viewing, making it the most-watched limited series of all time across both platforms. There’s also been a renewed interest in fashion publicist Bessette’s style choices, especially on TikTok, with searches for the real woman reportedly increasing by 9,100 percent, and the hashtag #lovestory generating more than 21 million posts.
So when will we next get to see it, and will there be a second season? Consider this your Love Story hub: we’ve got all the details below.
Love Story TV Series: Plot, Cast, True Story, Release Guide & Season 2 Rumours
The above (plus the trailer) is a pretty comprehensive summary of what’s in store when you tune into Love Story: the real tale of JFK Jr and Carolyn Bessette’s whirlwind romance in the 1990s.
The duo first met in 1992 when JFK Jr, son of the assassinated 35th US president John F Kennedy, was dating actress Daryl Hannah, who is portrayed in the series by Dree Hemingway. But they didn’t begin dating until 1994, when they became a hot commodity for paparazzi – and this sudden thrusting into the public eye is what Love Story is all about, as well as their untimely deaths…
Sarah Pidgeon as Carolyn Bessette & Paul Anthony Kennedy as John F. Kennedy Jr. in Love Story. (FX)
The True Story
Love Story is based on a real story, which can be summarised thus: JFK Jr and Bessette met in 1992 but didn’t start dating until 1994. They moved in together in 1995, before they wed in a secret ceremony on the remote Cumberland Island off the coast of US state Georgia, away from the prying eyes of the press.
After honeymooning in Turkey, they returned to intense media interest back in New York – something Bessette never acclimatised to. After a few years of struggling with life in the public eye, the couple tragically died in a plane crash in 1999 along with Bessette’s older sister Lauren. JFK Jr was piloting the plane, which went down off the west coast of Martha’s Vineyard.
It was the next chapter in the Kennedy curse, a phenomenon that has struck the descendants, relatives, friends and associates of Joseph P. Kennedy Sr. This includes the deaths of Joseph P. Kennedy Jr in a freak aircraft accident in 1944, the assassination of president JFK in 1963, JFK Jr and Bessette’s plane crash, as well as various other plane crashes, fatal illnesses, car crashes, freak accidents, drug overdoses and more.
Sarah Pidgeon as Carolyn Bessette in Love Story. (FX)
The Love Story Cast
The series is led by two relative newcomers: Broadway star Sarah Pidgeon as Bessette and Paul Anthony Kelly as JFK Jr. Grace Gummer joins them as JFK Jr’s older sister Caroline, with Naomi Watts starring as their mother Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis.
The Love Story cast is rounded out by stars portraying real people from the couple’s life, some still living today. They are:
- Alessandro Nivola as Calvin Klein
- Leila George as Kelly Klein
- Sydney Lemmon as Lauren Bessette
- Ben Shenkman as Ed Schlossberg
- Erich Bergen as Anthony Radziwiłł
- Dree Hemingway as Daryl Hannah
- Tonatiuh as Narciso Rodriguez
- Noah Fearnley as Michael Bergin
- Omari K. Chancellor as Gordon Henderson
- Aida Leventaki as Jane
- Michael Nathanson as Michael Berman
- Adam Grupper as Maurice Tempelsman
- Donal Logue as Ted Kennedy
- Constance Zimmer as Ann Messina Freeman
- Jessica Harper as Ethel Skakel Kennedy
- Lily Lester as RoseMarie Terenzio
- Ava Marie Boucher as Tatiana Schlossberg
Paul Anthony Kennedy as John F. Kennedy Jr. in Love Story. (FX)
Episode Release Schedule
Love Story season 1 is made up of nine episodes, releasing weekly on Thursdays after the first three episodes dropped at once. The episode guide is as follows, with some telling episode titles…
- ‘Pilot’ – 12 February 2026
- ‘The Pools Party’ – 12 February 2026
- ‘America’s Widow’ – 12 February 2026
- ‘I Love You’ – 19 February 2026
- ‘Battery Park’ – 26 February 2026
- ‘The Wedding’ – 5 March 2026
- ‘Obsession’ – 12 March 2026
- ‘Exit Strategy’ – 19 March 2026
- ‘Search and Recovery’ – 26 March 2026
Love Story is available to stream on Hulu in the US and internationally on Disney+, including in the UK.
Sarah Pidgeon as Carolyn Bessette in Love Story. (FX)
Will There Be Love Story Season 2?
No official news just yet, but based on Murphy’s track record and the success of Love Story season 1, we are confident a second season is on the cards. Add to the fact that the inaugural series is being framed as the first in an anthology series, we feel like we basically have confirmation.
If Love Story season 2 goes ahead, then it would likely delve into another well-documented true love story, much like American Crime Story delved into the murder trial of OJ Simpson in season 1 followed by the assassination of Gianni Versace in season 2 and the Clinton-Lewinsky scandal in season 3. So who will be the subject?
Fan theories favour the now King Charles and the late Princess Diana, though The Crown has covered this in detail. Others recommend Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton, John Lennon and Yoko Ono, and Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward.
If it gets the greenlight, that’s no sure sign Love Story season 2 will come anytime soon. Murphy is a busy man, and if Feud is anything to go by – with season 1 in 2017 and season 2 in 2024 – we will have a while to wait.
New episodes of Love Story land weekly on Disney+.
