Ryan Murphy on how Paul Anthony Kelly was cast as JFK Jr. in ‘LOVE STORY’:
« Countless times a day now, I am
repeatedly asked "How did you find this guy?" The answer I give is "we didn't find him...he found us.” We had been casting for several months. I believe nearly a thousand actors had auditioned. Several big names were interested, but we were aligned: we wanted the actor playing JFK Jr. to be a discovery. That seemed correct, and fresh to us. It also, until the end, proved almost impossible.
Less than a month before production, we had still not found our JFK Jr. Sarah Pidgeon was instantly cast as Carolyn Bessette, she was that good. But on the horizon...no JFK Jr. Internally, we talked about pushing production and in the end I would have done that. It was so important to get this casting right. At one point we discussed maybe NOT making the show, because we just could not find the right actor for this role and none of us wanted to settle.
Finally, in a bit of desperation, Brad Simpson and I asked to see all the auditions and all the head shots of everyone and anyone who had
auditioned. Brad and I sat in a room for hours and when I got to Paul's audition, I paused. It was a grainy self tape Paul had made in Portland. "Him,” I said. "Why haven't we seen HIM?". Brad and I and Courtney and Nicole were united. Let's fly him in and see what he can do.
Two days later, Paul Kelly walked onto the lot. And then into the room with the producers and director Max Winkler and I. I remember he brought his elderly rescue dog with him, which was instantly endearing. Paul had what I call an IT factor: total charisma, totally winning. He was kind. He was just so happy to be there. Max gave him some direction, with each attempt he was better and better. What I loved about Paul was he just cared about TRYING to be better. Paul had been in the audition game for ten years at this point. He cared about the process, not the end result. And then came the screen-test.
What was evident to me early on was that whoever got the role of JFK Jr. had to be Sarah Pidgeon's choice. I wanted her to have agency. So onto the soundstage we went. Paul seemed sort of gobsmacked that he was here. Max and I went in to give him a first adjustment. When I was walking back to the director's station, I noticed - to my amazement - that fifteen women had magically appeared out of nowhere and were riveted to what Paul was doing on the monitor. He looked like JFK Jr. And he could act it. And he had star appeal. And he radiated goodness and optimism and leadership - essential.
One more take, then I approached Sarah. "What do you think?” “It's Paul,” she said. “Go tell him he has the part,” I said. She laughed and said “Really? I get to do it?”
And so she walked up to Paul on that soundstage and told him he was the one. I don't know what he said to Sarah or what Sarah said to him because it was a private moment, but I remember Paul being shocked and then smiling that smile.
To me, Paul Anthony Kelly is an inspiration to all actors, who work tirelessly for years, feel unseen, unwanted. Keep trying. Do your best, even against insurmountable odds. One day, all this work you do will be worth it. All you need is one “yes” after a lifetime of "no's" for your life to change.
I love you Paul Anthony Kelly. »
I know timelines are full of reactions right now. For anyone looking to move past performative debate and get informed or engaged, I’m sharing a thread of resources about what’s happened and how people are organizing.
Keith Porter, Renee Good & Alex Pretti were murdered by the U.S. government.
We don’t just need to Abolish ICE.
We need to arrest the ICE agents who murdered them.
Allowing their killers to get away with murder will only embolden ICE & the U.S. government to keep murdering us.