Sarah Pidgeon Is Your New Midwest Princess

New York City is in the middle of a history-making cold snap when a smiling Sarah Pidgeon walks in to meet me in the cozy, fireplace-lit lobby of the Marlton Hotel in the West Village. “I really need to get a jacket that covers my butt,” she says, shaking off her layers to reveal a black turtleneck sweater and perfectly effortless Olsen hair tuck.

The actor is almost preternaturally friendly, with a quiet confidence commands attention — and not only because she’s just 2 inches shy of 6 feet tall. She’s so poised, you get the immediate sense that she never misspeaks. Combine that with her classic blue-eyed beauty and her already-impressive resume — including roles in I Know What You Did Last Summer and Tiny Beautiful Things, not to mention that Tony nomination for her Broadway debut in Stereophonic — and it’s easy to see how Ryan Murphy et al knew she was their Carolyn Bessette Kennedy right away.

“I only did each scene once,” Pidgeon says of her L.A. screen test, which, to her, was a sign that she didn’t get the job. “I was like, ‘Oh, they’re not having me do this scene again. How would they be able to trust me with this thing?’” the 29-year-old remembers. She called her agent and manager afterward and told them, “I did everything I wanted to in the audition, but I don’t know.”

On a Saturday morning a few days later, they rang her back with the news. “I’m in a hotel, in my bathroom, when I get the call, and I sit down in the tub. When they tell me, I’m completely silent because it hits me: Oh my God, holy sh*t, I got it. And now I have to do it.”

There are no ordinary roles in the Ryan Murphy universe, but even then, FX’s Love Story, premiering Feb. 12, is something else. The show chronicles the yearslong romance and eventual tragic deaths of American political royalty John F. Kennedy Jr. (played by Paul Anthony Kelly) and his excruciatingly chic wife, a former Calvin Klein publicist, which meant the casting had to be perfect. Just as the couple’s real story captured the minds and hearts — and also opinions, so many opinions — of the nation in real time in the mid-’90s, every decision related to this series, from Pidgeon’s exact shade of blond to her costuming, incited chatter across the Internet. Paparazzi photos of Pidgeon and Kelly filming in New York City last summer were feasts for CBK’s still-loyal admirers.

Pidgeon understands their protectiveness. “Carolyn had so much personality and really had a point of view,” and it shows in the script, Pidgeon assures. “She was not two-dimensional at all. There was a spunk on the page showing her intelligence, her guardedness.”

“I could either be uncomfortable by not speaking up, or embrace the discomfort of what it feels like to advocate for yourself.”

When I ask about whether she has much in common with the woman she portrayed, Pidgeon pauses for a thoughtful beat. “Gosh. People said that Carolyn laughed a lot. I’d like to think that I laugh a lot,” she says. “She’s very jokey, and I like to tell jokes, although I’m sure hers landed a lot more often than mine do.”

If anything, playing a veritable powerhouse like CBK brought out new sides of her personality. While the show’s depictions of ’90s-era NYC nightlife are dreamily enticing — they made me want to throw away my phone and smoke a cigarette in a club somewhere, and I don’t even smoke — the scenes of Carolyn striding down the halls of the Calvin Klein office and voicing her opinion in fittings and model castings may be Love Story’s real treat.

“There was that aura you feel when you look at photos of Carolyn, this enigmatic quality she had in every pore that filled out these clothes.”

“Carolyn was ambitious and smart, and she spoke her mind,” Pidgeon says. “Not only was it her talent and ability to relate to people and make them feel welcome that helped her rise through the ranks in her career, but she was outspoken and quite fearless in that.”

It was inspiring. “In wanting to do this character justice, I had to learn to advocate for her and myself,” she continues. “I’m such a Michigander, and I tend to, I guess, people please. And I came to understand that I could either be uncomfortable by not speaking up, or embrace the discomfort of what it feels like to advocate for yourself. I would like to think a little bit of that rubbed off on me.”

And then, of course, there’s the fashion. Oh, the fashion! Long before “influencer” was a part of the lexicon, CBK was a pinnacle of lifestyle aspiration with her perfectly simple and simply perfect style. “There was that aura you feel when you look at photos of Carolyn, this enigmatic quality she had in every pore that filled out these clothes,” Pidgeon says. “Especially recreating some of those iconic moments, I felt how the pieces changed the way my body moved. Still, I don’t think there was a single outfit I put on that wasn’t comfortable.”

CBK’s hair and makeup, too, prioritized practicality, meaning Pidgeon’s glam was a breeze. “As a matter of fact, Paul sometimes had more time in the chair than I did, because he has tattoos that needed to be covered up. I would just need a blowout and a little makeup.”

Actually, she remembers, there was one getup that wasn’t entirely comfortable. While filming the couple’s iconic wedding scene, production needed a shot from behind Pidgeon as she “glided” down the aisle. But in the long gown and a pair of Manolos, her movement was more glitch-y than glide-y. The quick solution, to keep the height but add some ease, was a pair of platform Ugg boots hidden beneath the hem. “So then I was in these massive shoes just trying to shuffle down the hallway and keep my face from showing it,” she recalls. “The moment is so beautiful and serene, magical and exquisite — and meanwhile I’m focused on trying not to have an aneurysm just walking.”

Pidgeon’s absolute favorite pieces were the Yohji Yamamotos — a cream pencil skirt, a button-down top with delicate boning. “I don’t know if Carolyn was aware of it, but Yamamoto talked about his garments being armor for women, and she wore a lot of Yamamoto in her public outings with JFK Jr.,” she says. “It was interesting to think about, considering her relation to the public eye and her lack of anonymity as she got into this relationship.”

The role left a mark on Pidgeon’s personal style, too. She used to avoid heels, figuring she was tall enough, but after donning Manolos for all those months, she shows up to our hang in a pair of ankle boots she scored on set that give her at least another inch and a half. With the help of stylist Emma Jade Morrison, she’s also been rocking a lot of Chanel — her Love Story premiere look was a geometric gown with blue ostrich feathers, fresh off December’s Métiers D’Art runway — but most of the time, “Sarah wears a lot of jeans and, right now, long underwear,” Pidgeon says, gesturing at her outfit.

“For so much of my life, I’ve been waiting to book trips because I don’t know when I’m going to get a job.”

She is the rare person who can joke about themselves in the third person and not sound remotely cringe. Chalk it up to that Midwestern charm. In conversation, her childhood in Michigan is a frequent topic; at one point, she alludes to learning to ski on manmade “mountains” atop old landfills, and I make a mental note to look up what on Earth she could be talking about — yup, it’s a real thing. She’s newly obsessed with knitting and has an endearing tendency to take any opportunity to say something nice about someone. Take her co-star: “I can’t speak highly enough about Paul Anthony Kelly,” she gushes. “He’s just the most kind, generous, fun, goofy, smart, and lovable person to work opposite for six months. I couldn’t have picked a better guy, and he brought just such wonderful energy to JFK Jr. He was such a rock for me for this whole experience.”

She’s also extremely tight with her family — as a matter of fact, she’s going to go meet up with them as soon as we finish here. Though her older sister and brother-in-law recently traded New York for Dubai, Pidgeon always had a place to crash in the city in their spare bedroom, and her mom is currently in town for the premiere, bunking up in Pidgeon’s one-bedroom Brooklyn apartment. “She’s a great roommate,” Pidgeon says. “She brought me coffee in bed this morning.”

Now that she’s on the other side of a press cycle, she’s ready to get back to normal life, which includes fulfilling her New Year’s resolution: planning a girls trip. “I feel like so much of my life, I’ve been waiting to book trips because I don’t know when I’m going to get a job,” she says. “But hey, if you want a job, you buy a plane ticket.”

“Well, thank you for having me out for a glass of pinot noir,” she says, bundling back up in her own kind of armor to brave the tundra outside. “I haven’t wanted to buy a pair of mittens since I figure I should be able to knit them, but they’re difficult because of the thumb.” She pulls on a store-bought pair. Thankfully, “my mom brought me these from Michigan.”

Top image credit: Prada clothing and shoes