FX’s Love Story: John F. Kennedy Jr. & Carolyn Bessette might end up being Ryan Murphy’s most successful production. It’s already broken streaming viewership records for FX/Hulu, and the show has definitely become a huge cultural moment. Sarah Pidgeon and Paul Anthony Kelly are going to come out of Love Story as major, in-demand stars as well – I will be so mad if Paul doesn’t become a huge movie star after this. Somewhat hilariously, I think Love Story’s massive success is partially due to the fact that Murphy had very little to do with the scripts or direction. He oversaw the casting and executive-produced it, of course, but calmer, less exploitative hands took care of the actual story, the scripts and the vibe. Credit should go to Love Story creator Connor Hines, who wrote or co-wrote most of the scripts.
Well, Vanity Fair had exclusive coverage on a party hosted by Ryan Murphy for the Love Story team – it’s a lovely little piece, with cute photos of the cast hanging out and decompressing. Within that piece, they asked Connor Hines if he had any ideas for how to follow up on Love Story’s success. This is what he said:
“It’s exactly as I pictured it in my mind when I was writing it,” said Love Story creator Connor Hines about the finished product. When asked if he’d be interested in taking on another couple for his next project, he paused and said, “Maybe Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton. They have the right intensity.” Sounds like another hit.
First of all, I pitched this for the next season of Love Story! I was trying to distract Ryan Murphy from thinking about doing Feud: Angelina Jolie versus Jennifer Aniston, and I was like, hey, the next Love Story should be “Liz & Dick.” I know the book they should use as source material too – Sam Kashner’s Furious Love, which was published in 2011. Furious Love is considered by many to be the definitive account of Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton’s years-spanning love affair, marriage, divorce, re-marriage and re-divorce. The story of Liz & Dick is so f–king epic, I actually don’t know how they would fit it all into nine or ten episodes, actually. I genuinely hope this happens, and I want to see who they would cast. I strongly suspect that Welsh actor Matthew Rhys would get a call for Burton, but who on earth could play Liz Taylor?
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red, WENN.com/Wenn/Avalon, Cover Images.
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- Elizabeth Taylor, Richard Burton circa 1962,Image: 327316498, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: WENN does not claim any ownership including but not limited to Copyright or License in the attached material. Fees charged by WENN are for WENN's services only, and do not, nor are they intended to, convey to the user any ownership of Copyright or License in the material. By publishing this material you expressly agree to indemnify and to hold WENN and its directors, shareholders and employees harmless from any loss, claims, damages, demands, expenses (including legal fees), or any causes of action or allegation against WENN arising out of or connected in any way with publication of the material., Model Release: no, Credit line: – / Wenn / Avalon
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- Elizabeth Taylor on location in the small resort of Siagaro on the Spanish Costa Brava. 25th August 1959,Image: 503904515, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: , Model Release: no, Credit line: STARSTOCK/Photoshot / Avalon
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- CLEOPATRA (1963) RICHARD BURTON, ELIZABETH TAYLOR CLEP 020CP RICHARD BURTON, ELIZABETH TAYLOR When: 01 Jan 1963 Credit: Cover Images **Editorial Use Only**
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- ELIZABETH TAYLOR (PORTRAIT) WITH RICHARD BURTON EZT 105 GN RICHARD BURTON, ELIZABETH TAYLOR When: 30 Nov 1969 Credit: Cover Images **Editorial Use Only**
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- Elizabeth Taylor British actress.Ref:PHPS084213. Date:09.05.1960 COMPULSORY CREDIT: Starstock/Photoshot
Tom Hardy for Burton. He has that magnetic energy!
Love story was great with up and coming stars. And next generation actresses. Jack lemmon granddaughter and Meryl Streep daughter. The only slip ups was Jackie dancing to music from Camelot. And how darryl hannah was written in the script. Good for Daryl for speaking up. I like the idea of a series about taylor and burton.
Liz deserves better than a Ryan Murphy caricature. Ick. A really interesting movie/series could be made about them both individually or as a couple, but not by the Murphy crew. She was too complex a character for him to tackle. His projects lean toward basic and exploitation.
Kaiser — you totally called it! I like the suggestions of Matthew Rhys and Tom Hardy for Richard. Maybe Jennifer Tilly for older Liz?
Anyway, i’m looking forward to this one. I don’t know the full story on them.
I am so on board in this! Liz Taylor and Richard Burton was epic.
And I hope we can see some jewellery p0r!
Just another sign of the apocalypse.
Matthew Rhys would be perfect as Burton as would Michael Sheen (another Welshman). As for Elizabeth, thats a hard one – I saw the mini series where Helena Bonham Carter played her and she was amazing in it.
I might be in the minority here but I watched one episode of Love Story and couldn’t carry on. It was dreadful! I really hated the Carolyn Bessette character and Naomi Watts as Jackie was just silly. They all played up their characters stereotypes so as to make them completely unrealistic.
As TN Democrat says above the Liz Taylor and Richard Burton story deserves so much more than Ryan Murphy garbage.
Same. I thought it sucked.
It probably won’t be worse than the Liz and Dick Lindsay Lohan debacle. The good thing about Elizabteh Taylor and Richard Burton is that they are so epic and grandiose that no one telling of their story can ever contain them. People will try to tell their story over and over again–just like Marilyn. No one will ever get it right. Not a hack like Murphy. It will be another TV train wreck, but at least this time, most of the principal characters are no longer alive and the children of both Taylor and Burton are grown and have seen their parents caricatured before.
Lindsay Lohan would like a word.
I agree that Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton would be great. And Furious Love is an excellent book. The only problem is who they would cast as Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton. The series would cover 25 years, ending with Burton’s death. The actors would have to age from their thirties to their fifties.
I feel like Angelina Jolie would play the hell out of Liz’s character – AJ has been through some $*&^ and has the depth and the charisma.
I don’t know that I could watch that. Maybe a documentary. And I don’t know if I could sit through that drunk bastard verbally bashing and belittling Liz. I think a documentary would be able to truthfully portray the beginning and derailing of that story. A LOT of booze involved in that dysfunctional mess. I’m sorry, but my mind immediately went to some appearances of Elizabeth and Richard back in the day, and he was VILE to her. Vile. That’s not love. That’s abuse, and I don’t want to watch it. I don’t think anyone could portray her: she was an iconic beauty with a totally unique voice. She was lovely. Why not do a great and honest documentary and show the current generation what was going on in the past. I don’t like him. I’m not saying she didn’t have some stuff going on herself, but she got sober and helped so many people. As far as JFK Jr., he was also one of a kind. Gorgeous, and when I looked at him, I saw his mother and her father, Black Jack Bovier, and his father. Those genes were strong.
My seventh grade English teacher met Elizabeth and Richard at a party. He said she was more intelligent, but he was the better actor. I must have been star-crazed even at 13 to remember that.
i love their story too much for the likes of murphy. is that sour of me? maybe it would be awesome and, as mentioned, we’d get a cavalcade of museum-worthy jewelry. plus, sign me up for gorgeous welsh people.
i get that there’s a physical departure, but i am getting the angelina throughline for liz energetically and emotionally. she had so much gravity to her, you had that sense even at her most petty or most closed or most deliberately shallow, there were worlds inside her and they were captivating.
I remember Lindsay Lohan TV movie on Elizabeth… it was not her best work. She also trashed Elizabeth Taylor’s private movie trailer. That was rented to the production company. The owner was pissed!
Ryan is Ryan he is more interested in the high drama and embellishments than the truth. But he is good at music, clothes and jewelry. And to be nice, he did take all the criticism with Carolyn and John and they went back and reshot some scenes.
I have always been enchanted by Elizabeth Taylor she had quite the life. And I would rob souls to give to the Devil to have had those sparling blue eyes and heavy eyelashes. (They were never violet they were tinted in magazines to create the myth).
If he does it, I will watch it.