Naomi Watts is looking back at her time portraying Jackie Kennedy on FX’s Love Story.
“Despite how much fear I had about playing this iconic part, it was one of those things that you move heaven and earth for, because, it’s Ryan [Murphy],” Watts, 57, exclusively told Us Weekly at the FX series’ For Your Consideration event in Los Angeles on Tuesday, June 2.
Watts went on to recall working with Murphy previously, adding, “I had three really successful experiences with him before, so collaborative, so creatively charged all of that. I usually tend to gravitate towards things that I’m terrified of — sick as that might make me.”
The actress notably starred on Murphy’s mystery-thriller The Watcher in 2022, followed by Feud: Capote vs. The Swans in 2024 and All’s Fair in 2025. While reflecting back on her role as Jackie, Watts explained what “terrified” her the most.
“Let’s think, playing one of the most beloved American icons of all time, one that we know so well, and her voice being so unique and specific,” Watts said. “Yeah, it was just very nerve-wracking.”
Despite being thrilled to take on the part, Watts shared that she had one request: “schedule it around” her vacation with husband Billy Crudup. (The couple first tied the knot in a New York City courthouse in June 2023. They later held a second ceremony in Mexico City for friends and family to attend in June 2024.)
“I had been married the year before, and we kind of saved off our honeymoon,” she recalled to Us. “We had this one date that we had committed to, which was to catch the Orient Express train from Venice to Paris, and it was like this big deal. So I said, ‘I’m not missing that, just if you can schedule it around.’”
Love Story: John F. Kennedy Jr. & Carolyn Bessette premiered in February, following the story of John F. Kennedy Jr. (Paul Anthony Kelly) and Carolyn Bessette (Sarah Pidgeon) romance until their untimely deaths in 1999 in a plane crash. In the show, Watts portrayed JFK Jr.’s mother, Jackie, who died in 1994 after being diagnosed with non-Hodgkins lymphoma.
The cast reunited for Tuesday’s event, with Constance Zimmer (who portrayed Ann Marie Freeman) and Grace Gummer (who played Caroline Kennedy) and others in attendance.
“They’re all so phenomenal [and] on top of their game, and then I’m the newcomer,” Kelly quipped to Us on Tuesday. “I had these wonderful people to play with, and now every time we do these press things, it’s like getting the band back together. Our relationships were all so organic, and it feels like a family. It’s really, really nice.”
Love Story: John F. Kennedy Jr. & Carolyn Bessette is now streaming on Hulu.
