Love Story’s Daryl Hannah Villain Edit Isn’t Just Mean. It’s Lazy Writing

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The new FX drama about John F. Kennedy Jr. and Carolyn Bessette Kennedy portrays Daryl Hannah, JFK Jr.’s former girlfriend, in a surprisingly negative light. The series depicts her as disruptive and self-absorbed, particularly in a harsh scene at Jackie Kennedy’s wake. After months of not speaking to John, she arrives uninvited and makes a flippant remark about a coat check. She then cornered him, complaining that people were asking about their relationship at such a somber event. John understandably expressed his disbelief. Later, while greeting mourners from his apartment terrace, Daryl unexpectedly appeared and grabbed his hand, but he gently dropped it to wave to the crowd.

Though she’s not on screen often, whenever we see this character, she’s usually doing something unlikeable. For example, John walks in one day to find her doing a handstand in their modern living room while friends are doing drugs – a clear signal of how far she’ll go to get what she wants. She also pretty much admits that marrying into the Kennedy family was a way to become rich and famous. She tells John, “I feel like my career is slowing down, so maybe this is the universe making room for us.”

The way Daryl Hannah was portrayed felt unnecessarily mean-spirited to me, and many other critics agreed. One former writer for George magazine questioned why Ryan Murphy seemed to be targeting Hannah, noting that the real John F. Kennedy Jr. was drawn to intelligent, strong women. The strong negative reaction to the character suggests that this depiction isn’t just unkind – it’s also a sign of poor writing.

Hannah has publicly disagreed with how she’s been depicted. In an opinion piece for the New York Times, published on Friday, the actress explained her side of the story.

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. 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. I have never planted any story in the press. I never compared Jacqueline Onassis’ death to a dog’s. It’s appalling to me that I even have to defend myself against a television show. These are not creative embellishments of personality. They are assertions about conduct—and they are false.

Even if the story isn’t completely accurate, Hannah has every right to be upset. While the show briefly suggests John’s behavior contributes to the problem, portraying a real person negatively without their consent is simply unfair. A disclaimer about dramatization might protect the show legally, but it doesn’t excuse the ethical issue.

Viewers of the show have a right to be frustrated. It’s not that Love Story takes liberties with the facts—docudramas always do to some degree—but because the way Daryl Hannah is portrayed is overly simplistic and insulting. It feels like the creators, Hines and Murphy, thought they needed to make Hannah a villain to explain why John F. Kennedy Jr. and Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy’s relationship didn’t work out. As Hannah points out, framing the story as a competition between a “good” Carolyn and a “bad” Daryl Hannah relies on a harmful and outdated idea that women are always pitted against each other. One of the show’s producers, Nina Jacobson, even admitted they needed Daryl to be an obstacle to the couple’s happiness, telling Gold Derby that Daryl “occupies a space where she’s an adversary to what you want narratively in the story.”

The show’s portrayal of Hannah is striking—it suggests she’s primarily defined by a lack of creativity. Relationships end for countless reasons, and it’s rare that one person is simply irredeemably flawed. Even within the story itself, there are hints of more complex explanations the writers could have explored, such as differing life goals, long-distance careers, or Jackie’s reluctance to let go of her son.

Many of television’s most memorable romances have ended with the couples going their separate ways, even when both people were generally good. For example, on Cheers, Sam let Diane pursue her ambitions, even though he still loved her. Similarly, Jimmy and Kim from Better Call Saul broke up because they realized they wanted different things in life, despite their strong connection. And on Insecure, Issa and Lawrence dated other people before ultimately finding their way back to each other. What these shows have in common is their realistic and insightful portrayal of characters. Like people in real life, these characters aren’t simply ‘good’ or ‘evil’ – they’re complex, flawed, and relatable, and they often find love with others who are just as imperfect.

Like many projects from this creator, Love Story prioritizes changing how we understand the past over developing believable characters, and doesn’t consider the harm it causes by simplifying people’s stories. Ironically, while trying to restore the reputation of Carolyn Bessette Kennedy—who was heavily criticized and subjected to negative rumors—the show ends up damaging the reputation of a living woman in much the same way. Ultimately, the show seems to suggest that intense media scrutiny distorts the lives of famous people, and in a way, Love Story has done the same thing to Hannah.

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2026-03-07 05:08