Sarah Pidgeon Cast As Carolyn Bessette In FX’s ‘American Love Story’ About JFK Jr. Romance

American Love Story has found its female lead. The first installment of the FX anthology series, which chronicles the whirlwind courtship and marriage of John F. Kennedy Jr. and Carolyn Bessette, has tapped Sarah Pidgeon (The Wilds, Tiny Beautiful Things) as Bessette.

The casting of JFK Jr. is still underway, with several actors set to test for the role in the coming weeks. Reps for FX and series producer 20th Television declined comment.

American Love Story, the latest offshoot in FX/20th TV’s American Crime Story franchise, is a scripted anthology series of sweeping true love stories that captured the world’s attention.

In the first season, focused on JFK Jr. and Carolyn Bessette, what started out as a beautiful union for the young couple, widely regarded as American royalty, began to fray under the stress of the relentless microscope and navel gaze of tabloid media. The pressures of their careers and rumored family discord ended with their tragic deaths when his private plane crashed into the ocean on a hazy summer night off the coast of Massachusetts.

Bessette (Pidgeon) was a publicist for Calvin Klein when she met JFK Jr. in 1992. The series will also prominently feature JFK Jr.’s mother Jackie O and sister Caroline.

American Love Story is executive produced by Ryan Murphy, Brad Simpson, Nina Jacobson, D.V. DiVencentis and Connor Hines.

Pidgeon was part of the main casts of Prime Video’s The Wilds and Hulu’s Tiny Beautiful Things. She made her Broadway debut last year in Stereophonic. Pidgeon is repped by Gersh, Anonymous Content and Jackoway Austen Tyerman.