Sarah Pidgeon broke her silence on the “American Love Story” controversy.
The actress, 29, is portraying the late Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy in Ryan Murphy’s forthcoming FX series, and shared her thoughts on the backlash surrounding the show’s wardrobe — with many arguing her clothes looked inexpensive and didn’t do the publicist’s beloved minimalist style justice.
On Monday, at the Los Angeles premiere of “I Know What You Did Last Summer,” Pidgeon addressed the ongoing criticism while speaking with Variety on the red carpet.
“I know how special Carolyn is to me and I understand how widely beloved she is, so this role comes with a lot of responsibility — and I’m not surprised that people have strong opinions about it,” she told the publication.
Pidgeon added, “That’s what makes her such an interesting person. I mean, not only how she dressed, but the woman who worked at Calvin Klein and the person that JFK Jr. fell in love with.
She’s a human being beyond just these pictures. She really resonates with a lot of people, and she certainly does with me.”
The emerging Hollywood star’s platinum hair in the show has also been a topic of conversation amongst the beauty crowd.
Page Six Style chatted with Bessette-Kennedy’s former hairstylist and friend Brad Johns about the series’ take on the late style icon’s locks.
“I love Ryan Murphy. I mean, I live for him. But there must be some kind of glitch with the costume people or the hair people, because it’s not right — it’s all white and burnt,” he revealed.
The expert continued, “Her hair was not white and it wasn’t burnt, and she hated the idea of having ashy hair — which I was totally against, too, and I never did it. But when I saw [the first look], I went, ‘Oh my God, what am I gonna do?’
Carolyn’s hair was darker at the bottom, the mid was medium blond and the front was all brilliant gold pieces.”
He said, “Gold makes women look beautiful. Ash makes you look dead, unless you’re wearing a ton of makeup, and who wears a ton of makeup? It’s just wrong. Everything.”
Murphy himself has also addressed the haters in an interview with Puck’s Lauren Sherman, stating that the test shots that caused an uproar were not indicative of the final looks but rather something rushed to fend off paparazzi before filming.
“I had no idea that people cared as much as they do, but I guess that’s a good thing,” he said.
