Love Story: John F. Kennedy Jr & Carolyn Bessette gets a lot of things right—those effortless ’90s costumes, Sarah Pidgeon’s note-perfect portrayal of the eternal style icon, the show’s glorious reimagining of the New York City of decades past… But, one thing it unquestionably doesn’t do justice to is Daryl Hannah.
The star of Blade Runner, Splash, and Steel Magnolias, the Hollywood mainstay dated JFK Jr. for several years before the eligible bachelor met his wife-to-be. But, instead of depicting this earlier relationship as formative and complicated, the show flattens Hannah—played by the stunning (and underserved) Dree Hemingway—into a whiny and clueless “other woman.” In reality, she was, by all accounts, nothing of the sort—a determined young actor who made her screen debut aged just 17, in Brian De Palma’s 1978 horror The Fury; graduated to leading lady status in her 20s; and became the toast of the town, continuing to act, write, direct, and produce.
In her honor, we present the best throwback photos from the first phase of her career, which show the wild-haired, razor-sharp, and strikingly beautiful Hannah as she actually was.