It’s the hardness around her lips, the glassy feel of her eyes, and the way her eye makeup smudges when she holds back tears.
When Constance Zimmer breaks down in tears in the final episode of FX’s “Love Story: John F. Kennedy Jr. and Carolyn Bessette,” every inch of her face oozes the painful mix of sadness and anger that often accompanies grief.
In Episode 9, “Search and Recovery,” Zimmer’s Anne Marie Messina is on the rise as she deals with the brutal loss of her two daughters in the plane crash that also killed JFK Jr. Zimmer worked hard to convey Anne’s inner frustrations, including the oppressive effects of fame and notoriety surrounding the Kennedy family, one of the central themes of “Love Story.”
“I’ve never put more of myself and my own trauma and grief into a character to make it feel this raw,” Zimmer told Variety. “I didn’t care about what I looked like. All I cared about was giving people who deal with grief every day a place to cry. I really wanted to give that to people. I felt like that was something we all needed.”
The most powerful eight-minute scene is when Anne unexpectedly encounters Caroline Kennedy (Grace Gummer) at Kennedy Jr. and Bessette’s apartment after a tragic accident. Ann is furious and begins to tell Caroline how shocking it is that Lauren, in particular, has been reduced to a footnote in the whole tragedy.
In the episode, written by Connor Hines and Elizabeth Beller and directed by Anthony Hemingway, Caroline cautiously offers, “Maybe it’s best for me to go.” Anne replied, “I’m not done yet. I’m not going to get fired again.” Her tone was as she sat Caroline at the end of the long wooden dining table.
Zimmer emphasized that he took on the role out of respect for the family caught up in the violent death. She also saw Anne as a rare opportunity to portray a woman of a certain age who defies stereotypes.
“I felt like this was going to be a woman who wasn’t at all afraid to let someone understand her grief, and I was really committed to that,” Zimmer says.
The actress didn’t have much background material on Anne, who worked as an elementary school teacher in Connecticut and died in 2007 at age 67.
“All I cared about was embodying her essence. All I read about her was that she’s an incredibly caring person, and that’s something I felt like I really, really needed to get right,” Zimmer says. “I was representing a common person, someone who wasn’t interested in fame. She just wanted to make sure her kids were okay. And when they weren’t okay, it was devastating.”
Ms. Zimmer is pleased with the strong feedback she has received from several people who knew Anne, including former students. Zimmer, an experienced actor with dozens of guest roles as well as series regulars on everything from CBS’s Joan of Arcadia to Lifetime’s Unreal, has been overwhelmed by the critical acclaim Love Story has received.
She knew from her extensive experience on set that the series was very good, but she wasn’t sure if it would find an audience. She never expected it to spark a wave of 1990s nostalgia and mania among the Alpha generation to learn more about the Bessette sisters.
“Everyone who worked on this show really cared, which rarely happens. They really cared about creating the characters and getting everyone right,” Zimmer says. “From the moment we stepped on set, we all knew how much this story meant to so many different people around the world. The fact that this film is surrounded by so much incredible love is like the greatest gift to all of us who worked on it.”
