For Grace Gummer, the apple doesn\u2019t fall far from the tree.<\/p>\n
FX\u2019s anthology drama \u201cLove Story\u201d may center on the cultural mythology of John F. Kennedy Jr. and Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy, and their tragic deaths in July 1999. But by the end of its nine-episode arc, it\u2019s Grace Gummer\u2019s stoic and revelatory turn as Caroline Kennedy, John\u2019s sister, that breaks your heart, giving the miniseries its beating pulse and summoning its most ardent Emmy-worthy entry of the cast.<\/p>\n
More from Variety<\/p>\n
When your mother is Meryl Streep, perhaps we should expect nothing less.<\/p>\n
Streep\u2019s career is the stuff of industry legend. Three Academy Awards, eight Golden Globes, four Primetime Emmys, and even a Presidential Medal of Freedom. She holds the record for the most Academy Award and Golden Globe nominations of any performer in history \u2014 21 and 34, respectively \u2014 across a career spanning more than 64 films and 18 television projects (and counting). Gummer, 39, may have not inherited her mother\u2019s name in Hollywood, but she\u2019s earning her own. And in \u201cLove Story,\u201d she shows that specific bloodline is entirely otherworldly.<\/p>\n
Gummer\u2019s Caroline is a woman perpetually composed in public and shattered in private. She carries the weight of American royalty without ever letting it topple her. It is a performance of discipline and incredible restraint, two qualities that are frequently undervalued in TV awards conversations.<\/p>\n
The most devastating single episode and scene in the \u201cLove Story: John F. Kennedy Jr. and Carolyn Bessette\u201d finale arrives with a conversation between two women in mourning, inside an apartment that once held a familial promise. Constance Zimmer\u2019s Ann Freeman \u2014 Carolyn\u2019s mother \u2014 faces Gummer\u2019s Caroline and delivers a line that cuts. \u201cShe said she didn\u2019t recognize who she had become. And now that person will be immortalized forever. I only wish she had lived long enough to be remembered for something else.\u201d<\/p>\n
Gummer doesn\u2019t flinch and simply absorbs, before responding: \u201cThe only thing he\u2019ll be remembered for is what he could have become.\u201d In fewer than 30 words, she encapsulates decades of Kennedy grief, the burden of promises cut short, and the specific loneliness of mourning a person, when everyone else sees a \u201clegend.\u201d<\/p>\n
Surprisingly, the matriarchs of \u201cLove Story\u201d collectively form the show\u2019s emotional architecture, and the series is at its best when it focuses on them.<\/p>\n
Zimmer\u2019s turn in that scene deserves its own recognition. She brings a mother\u2019s raw anguish to a character who exists largely on the margins of the series. This is a testament to what a skilled character actor can accomplish with limited screen time. Similarly, veteran Jessica Harper brings a lived-in dignity to Ethel Kennedy, and Naomi Watts commands every scene she occupies as Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis with a regal and heartbreaking embodiment of the famed widow. All ladies could see their names appear on an Emmy nomination list.<\/p>\n
Series creator Connor Hines, who penned the finale, and director Anthony Hemingway resist the urge to exploit the crash itself (thank God). Their final moments are rendered with Kennedy seemingly losing control of the aircraft, and Carolyn offering reassurance with a simple line, \u201cJohn, just breathe.\u201d That, in itself, becomes the best and most heartfelt display of the couple thanks to leads Sarah Pidgeon and Paul Anthony Kelly\u2019s committed turns.<\/p>\n
\u201cLove Story\u201d is the fifth installment in Ryan Murphy\u2019s American Story franchise. His track record in the Emmy space has been fairly consistent, beginning with his \u201cThe People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story,\u201d which took home nine Emmy Awards and recalibrated what scripted true crime could achieve on television. This outing could be embraced similarly depending on how the competition shakes out.<\/p>\n
The Emmy conversation for supporting actress (limited) will be crowded (It always is). But Gummer has delivered something genuinely rare with a showcase so carefully controlled that its impact sneaks up on you, and by the time you feel it, it has already changed the shape of how you perceived the character. That has been her mother\u2019s gift, but it is now, entirely also, her own.<\/p>\n
Television Academy, act accordingly, because Grace Gummer obviously is.<\/p>\n
Best of Variety<\/p>\n
Sign up for Variety’s Newsletter<\/a>. For the latest news, follow us on Facebook<\/a>, Twitter<\/a>, and Instagram<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"For Grace Gummer, the apple doesn\u2019t fall far from the tree. FX\u2019s anthology drama \u201cLove Story\u201d may center…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":375586,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[113248,143920,321,168314,93,149868,168219,61,60,113247,113249,54349,7247],"class_list":{"0":"post-375585","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-celebrities","8":"tag-caroline-kennedy","9":"tag-carolyn-bessette-kennedy","10":"tag-celebrities","11":"tag-emmy-nomination","12":"tag-entertainment","13":"tag-ethel-kennedy","14":"tag-grace-gummer","15":"tag-ie","16":"tag-ireland","17":"tag-jacqueline-kennedy-onassis","18":"tag-john-f-kennedy-jr","19":"tag-love-story","20":"tag-meryl-streep"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/375585","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=375585"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/375585\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/375586"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=375585"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=375585"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=375585"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}