Dree Hemingway learned that the story of John F. Kennedy Jr. and Carolyn Bessette would be brought to screen the same way as the rest of us: via the internet.
“It was something I remember reading. I read it and I called my manager like, ‘I really want to be a part of that show,’” she says. “And then it’s kind of up to the universe in some way.”
She was soon asked if she wanted to audition for the role of Daryl Hannah, who dated JFK Jr. in the early 1990s before he went on to marry Bessette, for “Love Story: John F. Kennedy Jr. and Carolyn Bessette.”
“I’ve always been a big fan of Daryl’s,” Hemingway says. “From her work as an actress to her philanthropy. She’s a passionate woman, and I think that’s really cool. And then she is very much her own person. Watching ‘Steel Magnolias’ and ‘Splash’ and all of that, that time period of actresses in general I think was such a strong time. It’s when Julia Roberts started her career, and I think it was a turning point for actresses and such a cool time.”
Dree Hemingway as Daryl Hannah in “Love Story: John F. Kennedy Jr. and Carolyn Bessette.”
Courtesy of FX
The 38-year-old actress, who began her career as a model and girl-about-town in New York, has lived in Los Angeles for several years now, but says New York still “has my heart.” So she jumped at the chance to return to the city for several months of filming in the middle of summer.
“Everything was in New York, so it was very authentic to New York City. I think New York City is its own character within this,” she says. “I think the fashion, the music is so incredible. It really just is this perfect combination.”
Hemingway never got to meet Hannah while prepping for the show, but did work closely with a dialect coach to nail her voice, as well as read and watch interviews with the actress.
“It was also really just taking what [show writer and creator] Connor Hines had written and putting it into action,” she says.
Dree Hemingway
Kat Irlin/Courtesy Photo
Hemingway has “always” wanted to be an actress, though she initially went the modeling route.
“I’ve always been a ham for attention,” she says. “I would force my parents to watch performance pieces I would put on and make up on the spot, but let them know that I had made it up way in advance.”
She did theater and ballet as a kid, in addition to acting courses, but when she turned 18 she found herself doubting she was ready to pursue acting professionally.
“I didn’t think I was ready to really submerge myself into acting. I didn’t think I had enough life experience,” she say. “And I think for me in particular, being an actress means drawing on a lot of things from life.”
It only took two years for her to feel like she’d gotten some of that under her belt.
“I was really independent, and I’ve always found watching people and observing to be a really big teacher — and then also knowing your inside bulls–t is very important,” she says.
Dree Hemingway
Kat Irlin/Courtesy Photo
Up next, Hemingway is doing a movie called “The Girl,” based on Samantha Geimer’s memoir of her sexual assault by Roman Polanski, “The Girl: A Life in the Shadow of Roman Polanski.” Newcomer Carolyn Kachen will play Samantha in the fully French production, directed by Marina Ziolkowski, and Hemingway will play Geimer’s mother Susan.
“I seem to be taking on these real-life people kind of situations, but I’m really excited about it. I think that it’s a hard subject, but also I think the script is so beautiful and done in a way that is really delicate,” Hemingway says. “I really like the studying of characters that goes into it. I think there’s so much to pull on and there’s a lot of homework, and I really enjoy the homework of it. There’s something about studying real-life situations that have happened and then creating and imagining into this fictional kind of characterization of things. That is really exciting.”
