Grace Gummer says 'Love Story' finale left her emotionally drained

Grace Gummer was ready to sign on for a different TV project – until Ryan Murphy picked up the phone.

The actress, who portrays Caroline Kennedy in Love Story: John F. Kennedy Jr. & Carolyn Bessette, revealed that she nearly passed on the series before the famed producer stepped in with a direct pitch that changed everything.

“He called me and was like, ‘What is this other show you’re doing? Why don’t you do our show? I promise, it’s going to be amazing,’” Grace recalled in a recent interview.

Apparently, that was all it took.

“He’s very, very direct; he knows what he wants, and he’s decisive and smart as hell. So I trust him.”

Considering Gummer has already worked with Murphy across multiple projects, including American Horror Story and All’s Fair, the trust factor was already there.

But while landing the role was easy, filming the season finale was anything but.

The emotional episode centers on Caroline Kennedy learning that John F. Kennedy Jr., Carolyn Bessette, and Lauren Bessette died in a plane crash – a scene that pushed Gummer to her limits.

“You have to sort of search within yourself in a very deep way, emotionally,” she said, explaining how she prepared. “Technicality is really important to me as an actor.”

Then came the hard part.

“Secondly, I really let myself go,” she shared. “There’s nothing I left behind, physically or emotionally.”

The scene required ten takes, and by the eighth, Gummer admitted she was running on fumes.

“He said, ‘Just go again. Go again. I know you have it in you,’” she said of director Anthony Hemingway. “By the eighth take, I was like, ‘I actually don’t know how many more of these I can put myself through,’ but I think we ended up using one of the last takes.”

Turns out, Murphy’s phone call led her straight into one of the toughest performances of her career.