“Love Story” Star Dree Hemingway Reacts to Daryl Hannah Condemning Her Portrayal: 'It's a Sensitive Thing'

Benjamin VanHooseMon, March 16, 2026 at 2:51 PM UTC

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Dree Hemingway; Daryl HannahCredit: Chad Salvador/WWD via Getty; Matt Winkelmeyer/Getty -

Dree Hemingway, who portrays a young Daryl Hannah on FX's Love Story: John F. Kennedy Jr. & Carolyn Bessette, reacted to Hannah's essay slamming the show

"I respect her. It's really, it's a sensitive thing to play a real person," said Hemingway

Hannah wrote that Love Story is a "tragedy-exploiting television series" and her depiction is "not even a remotely accurate representation of my life"

Love Story actress Dree Hemingway is sharing her reaction to Daryl Hannah criticizing the hit show and its depiction of her.

At the 2026 Vanity Fair Oscars afterparty in Los Angeles on Sunday, March 15, Entertainment Tonight asked Hemingway, who plays a '90s-era Hannah in Love Story, for her thoughts on the Splash actress' New York Times essay, in which she slammed the series.

"I respect her," said Hemingway, 38. "It's really, it's a sensitive thing to play a real person. I mean, all I can speak to is me as an actress. But I love her. I love her."

The actress, who is the great-granddaughter of writer Ernest Hemingway, added that she is "honored" to be part of the "incredible" Ryan Murphy series, which has broken streaming records for Hulu.

Love Story, the first installment of the FX anthology series depicting iconic American romances, tracks Carolyn Bessette and John F. Kennedy Jr.'s whirlwind relationship, with Sarah Pidgeon and Paul Anthony Kelly in the lead roles. Bessette and Kennedy died in a plane crash on July 16, 1999.

Dree Hemingway and Paul Anthony Kelly in "Love Story: John F. Kennedy Jr. & Carolyn Bessette"Credit: FX

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In her op-ed published by The New York Times on March 6, Hannah, who had an on-off relationship with Kennedy, called Love Story a "tragedy-exploiting television series."

Hannah, 65, wrote that the show "features a character using my name and presents her as me. The choice to portray her as irritating, self-absorbed, whiny and inappropriate was no accident." She added that since the show premiered, she has "received many hostile and even threatening messages from viewers who seem to believe the portrayal is factual."

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Elsewhere in the essay, Hannah wrote, "The character 'Daryl Hannah' portrayed in the series is not even a remotely accurate representation of my life, my conduct or my relationship with John. The actions and behaviors attributed to me are untrue."

John F. Kennedy Jr. and Daryl Hannah in 1994Credit: Shutterstock

Each episode of Love Story begins with a disclaimer onscreen: "This story is inspired by actual events. Certain depictions of people and events have been dramatized or fictionalized for storytelling purposes."

Prior to Hannah's scathing essay, Hemingway told Nylon that she reached out to Hannah by writing her a letter, though she did not hear 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. How much I really just fell in love with her as a human being,” Hemingway said, referring to a conversation she previously had with The Hollywood Reporter.

"I watched interviews and that feeling of really spending time with somebody you’ve never spent time with, but researching,” she said. “That was really the note, and just not like, ‘Hey, I want to meet you or talk to you.’ Just, like, ‘It was really an honor of my lifetime to be able to portray you and research you.’ ”

Hemingway added, “What I really want to emphasize is that this is a dramatization. We are not exactly portraying her or how something went down. There’s a fiction involved in all of this. With any person that you loved and you were dating, I’m sure it’s a hard thing. So I think that it’s nice to respect that and her."

Love Story is now streaming on Hulu, with new episodes airing Thursdays at 9 p.m. ET on FX and streaming next day on Hulu.

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