Dree Hemingway has responded to Daryl Hannah's scathing critique of Ryan Murphy's FX series Love Story, expressing deep respect for the actress she portrays. Hemingway told Entertainment Tonight she understands Hannah's reaction, calling it "a sensitive thing to play somebody, a real person."
"I respect her," Hemingway said. "All I can speak to is me as an actress. But, I love her. I love her" — sentiments she previously shared in a personal letter to Hannah.
Hemingway plays Hannah in the limited series that dramatizes the romance between John F. Kennedy Jr. (Paul Anthony Kelly) and Carolyn Bessette (Sarah Pidgeon), which ended tragically with their 1999 plane crash deaths.
Despite the controversy, Hemingway remains enthusiastic about her role. "I'm just so honored to be a part of this incredible show that has touched so many different walks of life," she told ET. "So, it's exciting! I'm really thriving and I'm really happy."
Dree Hemingway in 'Love Story'. FX
Hannah's criticism came in a March 6 New York Times essay where she broke her usual silence on media portrayals. "I have generally chosen not to respond to media coverage of me," she wrote. "But a recent tragedy-exploiting television series about John F. Kennedy Jr. and Carolyn Bessette features a character using my name and presents her as me."
The Kill Bill star accused the show of deliberately portraying her as "irritating, self-absorbed, whiny and inappropriate" and presenting her as an "adversary" to JFK Jr. and Bessette's romance. She dated Kennedy on and off between 1988 and 1994.
Hannah vehemently denied specific allegations from the series: "I have never used cocaine in my life or hosted cocaine-fueled parties. I have never pressured anyone into marriage. I have never desecrated any family heirloom or intruded upon anyone's private memorial."
She emphasized these weren't just creative liberties but "assertions about conduct — and they are false." Show creator Connor Hines acknowledged no collaboration with the Kennedy family or series subjects to maintain objectivity, but Hannah said this approach has had "real-life consequences."
"In the weeks since the series aired, I have received many hostile and even threatening messages from viewers who seem to believe the portrayal is factual," Hannah revealed. "Many people believe what they see on TV and do not distinguish between dramatization and documented fact."
