This “love story” started with a love note.
“Love Story” star Dree Hemingway, who plays Daryl Hannah on the show, said she tried to contact Hannah before the “Splash” actress’ harsh criticism of the Hulu series.
In an essay published in the New York Times last week, Hanna slammed “Love Story,” which revolves around the real-life romance between John F. Kennedy Jr. and Carolyn Bessette.
Hannah dated Kennedy Jr. on and off from 1988 to 1994, and the breakup of their relationship was played out in “Love Story.”
In an interview with Nylon magazine published on March 4, Hemingway said that even before she was cast in the role, he wrote her a “love note” telling her how much he admired her.
Hemingway told Hannah, “I really fell in love with her as a person.”
“It was really a note, it wasn’t like, ‘Hey, I want to meet you, I want to talk,'” she clarified. “I was just like, ‘It’s been such an honor in my life to be able to play you and study you.'”
Hemingway, 38, said he didn’t want to “intrude on Hannah in any way” or pressure her to talk to him, and was not concerned about the fact that Hannah never responded.
“I also think[she]needs some time to herself,” she mused. “The show has just started. I’m sure there’s a lot to digest.”
Hemingway admitted that “Love Story” was not completely accurate.
“What I really want to stress is that this is an adaptation,” she stressed. “We are not portraying her accurately or what happened. There is fiction in all of this.”
“I think that’s probably difficult when it’s someone you love and are in a relationship with,” she continued. “So I think it’s great to honor that and her.”
Hemingway said he has seen mixed reviews about how to play Hannah.
“But it’s good that people are talking. I think that’s all we really want,” she said.
“Work is about you doing your job and putting your energy into it, and it goes into the ether and gets edited and comes out. At the end of the day, it’s up to the universe and the people.”
Hannah slammed her portrayal on the show in an essay for the New York Times.
“I have long believed that when we engage with distortion, it often amplifies it. However, the recent television series that exploited the tragedy involving John F. Kennedy Jr. and Carolyn Bessette featured a character using my name and introducing her as me,” she wrote.
“The choice to portray her as irritable, self-centered, whining and inadequate was no accident,” she continued.
Hannah, 65, claimed that Ryan Murphy’s series was not “a near-accurate representation of my life, my actions and my relationship with John.”
“I have never used cocaine or hosted a cocaine-fueled party in my life,” she wrote. “I have never pressured anyone into marriage. I have never desecrated an heirloom or trespassed on anyone’s personal memorial. I have never planted a story in the press. I have never compared the death of Jacqueline Onassis to the death of a dog.”
Kennedy’s cousin Douglas Kennedy agreed, telling Page Six exclusively that the Love Story about Hannah was “unfortunate” and completely fabricated.
“Daryl Hannah was great,” he told us. “Every time I met her, she was very sweet and had (John’s) best interests at heart. I think that’s a misconception.”
