Retelling history

Director Jon Cassar shares his thoughts on making a challenging  show.

Why a series on the Kennedys…that would be faced with plenty of opposition?
I was asked to do The Kennedys by producer Joel Surnow and writer Steven Kronish, both of whom I had worked with for many years. There was already opposition to the project, so I was already aware that it would be controversial. but the story was so new, fresh and personal that I wanted to do it anyway.

What kind of obstacles did you face in terms of research and execution?
It’s a difficult story to tell because of the size of the Kennedy family and their stories which intertwine with American history over five decades. But Stevens’ script concentrated on select family members to tell a more concise story. Our biggest obstacle was the intense scrutiny by the History Channel who were very diligent about historical accuracy and insisted on many re-writes.

If the stories are based in history, why the controversy of inaccuracy?
Steven has been a follower of the Kennedy story for many years and based the script on books from his private collection, which was verified in multiple books. We filled in the blanks for conversations between Jack and Jackie in the White House, based on the reported state of their relationship by the people close to them.

How easy/hard was it to cast for the characters? Why actress Katie Holmes for Jackie Kennedy?
Casting was a challenge because the Kennedys are well-known personalities. We decided early on that we would cast actors who embodied who the Kennedys were as people rather than just look-alikes. If actors can truly find the soul of a character, then hair, makeup and wardrobe can do the rest. Katie was the perfect choice because she had many of Jackie’s qualities - involved in the fashion world, a working mom trying to give her child a normal upbringing while being hounded by the paparazzi and being married to a powerful man.

Have you used real footage in the film from video archives?
Yes, we used real footage of the events that surrounded the Kennedy story but did our own versions of newsreels and TV telecasts with our actors.

Why just an eight-part series, not longer?
There was enough material for many more episodes in the Kennedy saga, but we had to find one story, to keep it entertaining as opposed to it feeling like a documentary. And that one story was the beautiful yet tragic love story between Jack and Jackie.