Sophia Soto
If you weren’t already familiar with Sarah Pidgeon’s work, she no doubt made a lasting impression with her performance as Carolyn Bessette in the first installment of Ryan Murphy’s Love Story anthology, inspired by Elizabeth Beller’s book, Once Upon a Time: The Captivating Life of Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy.
While she was focused on honoring the legacy of this real-life person, her own legacy will now forever include Bessette, as this role earned Pidgeon her first Emmy nomination for Outstanding Lead Actress In A Limited Or Anthology Series Or Movie.
“I think there’s no better woman to be associated with. While I will never know her, I learned so much by embodying her, and I feel like, you know, we all have these goals of the type of person we want to become, and I think she had so many qualities that I got to just exist in and try on, and I hope that some of those exist now within me. I think in terms of legacy, there certainly was this — yeah, I guess I keep going back to pressure, just because I think what was really important to me is showcasing this woman that is so much more than someone’s spouse, which I don’t think is how the people that knew her ever saw her. I remember reading something about [how] she would hate to be known for her clothing, and from everything that I’ve understood about her, that makes a lot of sense to me, because I think the clothes only work on her because she was such a full human being. I’m so grateful for the recognition and just to have been able to play this character in this story written by Connor Hines. It was such an incredible gift, and challenge, and opportunity to stretch myself in ways I haven’t before, becoming a real-life historical figure.”
She continued to share, “The time change, that sort of evolution and figuring out how to chart that as an actor, all of the different emotional context she found herself in, developing real chemistry and intimacy with my scene partner, Paul Anthony Kelly, filming in New York. I’ve done a few little day playing things in New York, but filming in the city was its own experience, as well as the length of time that I did and the intensity. I was honored when I got the role. I felt proud, excited, and so nervous every single day. So, I mean, to have been given this opportunity and now for it to have resonated with people is just a great honor. I’m very, very proud.”
The FX limited series showed how deeply being painted as the “antagonist” was affecting Bessette in private moments, diving into her struggles with the media and how isolated she must have felt as she navigated her new life.
“I remember the logline saying, not an ice queen. Despite what the tabloid said, she is everything that I’ve said: sensitive, independent, fiercely loyal, so incredibly kind, funny, whip-smart. That, I think, sort of fueled [me], because I really have so much admiration for her. That sort of frustration that I can only imagine she would feel at that time also frustrated me that people got her so wrong. And I think unlocking those emotions — I mean, we’ve talked about some of the stuff I’ve been in, I really like sort of operating in that, like a pinball machine, when there’s no silence, there’s no stillness. When people are sort of at a crossroads in their life, or it’s such a severe misunderstanding, I find that to be a really exciting place to embody. I think in some ways, it’s almost harder to be happy-go-lucky.”
“Talking about being an advocate for Carolyn, I think that those emotions were fueled by wanting to sort of set the record straight by hopefully our audience really empathizing with Carolyn’s experience. This idea of like, ‘boohoo, she married him,’ and she says in the script, no one knows who they’re marrying,” Pidgeon explained. “The writing was so incredible, and yeah, just that paired with wanting to represent Carolyn as best I could, and get to speak for her when she never did for herself, which I think is actually representative of her being incredibly self-assured. You know, just like, it’s not worth my time talking to these people who are spreading lies about me. But then, being able to actually voice that for an audience, I think, was something that really just motivated all of it.”
Watch Awards Radar’s full video interview with the actress below, where we discuss the significance of the pilot setting up the story’s ending, how she used her costume fittings to understand a younger Carolyn, which part of her preparation she would have liked to document, and much more.
All episodes of Love Story: John F. Kennedy Jr. & Carolyn Bessette are streaming on Hulu.
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