The actress previously wrote a scathing essay about how she was represented on the series.

Love Story producers answer Daryl Hannah’s criticism of her portrayal

The actress previously wrote a scathing essay about how she was represented on the series.

By Derek Lawrence

Derek Lawrence

Derek Lawrence is a former associate editor at **. He left EW in 2022.

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March 27, 2026 3:18 p.m. ET

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Daryl Hannah; Dree Hemingway on 'Love Story.'. Credit:

Bennett Raglin/WireImage; Eric Liebowitz/FX

The *Love Story *producers are responding to what Daryl Hannah has called "not even a remotely accurate representation of my life, my conduct or my relationship with John [F. Kennedy Jr.]"

The actress recently wrote a scathing essay about how the FX series has inaccurately characterized her as a villainous "adversary" to the romance between her ex-boyfriend, JFK Jr., and Carolyn Bessette. In a post-finale conversation, producer Brad Simpson addressed Hannah's complaints.

"From the beginning, this was going to be John and Carolyn’s story, and we put a lot of research and rigor into all the people and moments in the series that ultimately shaped their relationship," he told *Variety*. "We read a lot of biographies and journalistic accounts. Anytime you’re dealing with characters that are based on real people, there are big emotions and sensibilities, I think it’s tough for anybody to see themselves represented."

Simpson contended that they led with "empathy and love" in their depictions of Hannah and the other figures in the Kennedy orbit. "We love all our characters," he continued. "We know this is a real tragedy that affected real people. But our intent was to celebrate the people around John and Caroline."

Hannah and John F. Kennedy, Jr. arrive at the wedding of his cousin Edward Kennedy, Jr. in Rhode Island.

Brooks Kraft LLC/Sygma via Getty

*Love Story* chronicles the relationship between JFK Jr. (Paul Anthony Kelly) and Bessette (Sarah Pidgeon), with Dree Hemingway playing Hannah, who dated JFK Jr. for years before their split in 1994 and his subsequent marriage to Bessette in 1996. The early *Love Story *episodes find JFK Jr. and Hannah drifting apart, while also featuring Hannah doing cocaine and crashing his mother's funeral.

"The actions and behaviors attributed to me are untrue," Hannah wrote in the *New York Times*. "Many people believe what they see on TV and do not distinguish between dramatization and documented fact — and the impact is not abstract. In a digital era, entertainment often becomes collective memory. Real names are not fictional tools. They belong to real lives."

JFK Jr.'s cousin Douglas Kennedy called it "unfortunate" that *Love Story* depicted Hannah in a negative light. "Daryl Hannah was great," he said. "Whenever I saw her, she was very sweet and had [John's] best interests at heart. I think that's a misrepresentation."

Caught up in the reaction to *Love Story*'s version of Hannah is Hemingway, who says she wrote to the *Wall Street* star, but never heard back.

"It was really just a love note to her saying how much I admired her, how much I've admired her as an actress and a woman, prior to even being cast as Daryl," Hemingway said. "Just, like, 'It was really an honor of my lifetime to be able to portray you and research you.'"

For more on Thursday's *Love Story* finale, read *EW*'s recap.

Original Article on Source

Source: “EW TV”