America's own prince charming
By Mike Hughes
Gannett News Service
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| Kristoffer Polaha portrays John F. Kennedy Jr. in the TBS movie "America's Prince."
TBS via Gannett News Service 'America's Prince: The John F. Kennedy Jr. Story' 3, 5, 7 p.m. today TBS |
"My impression was that he had perfect hair," says Polaha.
That's the sort of thing many people noticed first. The movie — "America's Prince: The John F. Kennedy Jr. Story," on cable's TBS — tells of a man with an impressive surface.
People magazine proclaimed him "the sexiest man alive" in 1988. In "The Day John Died" (Avon Books, 2000, $7.50), the basis for Sunday's movie, Christopher Andersen quotes John Perry Barlow, a friend of Kennedy's:
"I am a heterosexual male, and there were times when ... I would sort of be taken aback by how handsome he was. You'd sort of say, 'God, this guy looks perfect.' "
Each morning, Kennedy emerged from his luxury apartment and headed to work. He pedaled past other New Yorkers, including the man who would one day portray him.
"I would see him go past on his bike," recalls Polaha, who was then a New York University theater student. "He was a part of the fabric of New York City."
That handsome, athletic image blended with the lore of being the son of a slain president. For an actor, the trick is getting beneath that.
"He became, to me, a complete and passionate human being," Polaha says.
One persistent image was that Kennedy wasn't overly bright. He had to repeat a year of prep school, and flunked his bar exams twice.
Still, Polaha was impressed with stories of Kennedy.
"He met with Nelson Mandela as a student," Polaha says. "He met with Fidel Castro as a student ... he had intelligence and passion."
Andersen takes a similar view. His book portrays Kennedy as a bright but restless guy who had trouble sitting in a classroom.
Jacqueline Kennedy-Onassis wanted her son to be tough and hardy. As a teen, he went to the Outward Bound wilderness camp one summer and was a wrangler at a ranch the next. Later, he attended an outdoor leadership school in Kenya.
He developed an exuberant, guy-next-door style. Andersen quotes Owen Carragher, a co-worker when Kennedy was an assistant district attorney: "He was just one of us, except with better girlfriends."
Before Kennedy married Carolyn Bessette, his serious girlfriends included actresses (Daryl Hannah, Madonna, Christina Haag and Sarah Jessica Parker), models (Julie Baker, Ashley Richardson) and more. He drew envy.
In his work day, however, he often wasn't following his own interest. "There was a lot of pressure for him to be a lawyer," Polaha says.
Kennedy's longtime passion was to be an actor. In college, he starred in some plays. Reviews were favorable, but his mother was against it.
So Kennedy became an assistant district attorney and then created the glossy political magazine George. He threw his energy into workouts (he held memberships at three private gyms), aviation and his social life.
He talked of someday running for office, but he died (at 38) in a 1999 plane crash.
Polaha can empathize with much of this. Like Kennedy, he grew up comfortably and surprised his parents with his interest in acting.
Now he's starring in "America's Prince," which reruns at 8 and 10 p.m. Friday, noon Jan. 19 and 9 p.m. Jan. 25. The movie also stars Portia de Rossi and Jacqueline Bisset.
"He held no high office, wrote no great books, created no masterpieces, performed no heroic feats," Andersen wrote of Kennedy. "He cured nothing, discovered nothing. He didn't have to. From the beginning, John was America's son."
