{"id":2933,"date":"2026-06-04T16:30:00","date_gmt":"2026-06-04T16:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newsmag.live\/2026\/06\/04\/constance-zimmer-on-love-story-personal-grief-and-why-hollywood-needs-more-women-over-50\/"},"modified":"2026-06-04T16:30:00","modified_gmt":"2026-06-04T16:30:00","slug":"constance-zimmer-on-love-story-personal-grief-and-why-hollywood-needs-more-women-over-50","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsmag.live\/ja\/2026\/06\/04\/constance-zimmer-on-love-story-personal-grief-and-why-hollywood-needs-more-women-over-50\/","title":{"rendered":"Constance Zimmer on \u2018Love Story,\u2019 Personal Grief and Why Hollywood Needs More Women Over 50"},"content":{"rendered":"
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\tLooking at Constance Zimmer<\/a>\u2019s acting credits over the past three decades, you might assume the actress, who has had roles in HBO\u2019s Entourage<\/em>, Netflix\u2019s House of Cards<\/em> and Lifetime\u2019s UnREAL<\/em>, only picks series she knows will be cultural and ratings hits. But that\u2019s not quite how she does it.<\/p>\n

\t\u201cWhen I did UnREAL<\/em>, I had never even read the script,\u201d Zimmer admits of the drama in which she starred as the conscienceless boss of Shiri Appleby\u2019s young, impressionable reality TV producer. \u201cI was just told what the character was going to be and how we were going to collaborate to create this woman that I had never been given the opportunity to portray. And I went with that.\u201d \t<\/p>\n

\tWhen the role of Ann Messina Freeman, the mother of Carolyn Bessette (Sarah Pidgeon) and Lauren Bessette (Sydney Lemmon) in FX<\/a>\u2019s Love Story<\/a><\/em><\/a>, came to her, Zimmer did at least read the script for the character, but it only took one scene \u2014 and her admiration for the real-life John F. Kennedy Jr. and his partner, whose romance is at the center of the series created by Connor Hines and executive produced by Ryan Murphy \u2014 to get on board.<\/p>\n

\t\u201cWhen I read the wedding speech, I said, \u2018If\u202fthis is all I do in this show, it\u2019ll be worth it,\u2019\u202f\u201d the actress recalls. \u201cI\u2019ve always chosen the shows I\u2019ve been on based on the characters I get to play because that\u2019s all I have control over.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\t \t\t\t\t\tZimmer with Paul Anthony Kelly, who plays John F. Kennedy Jr. in the FX series.<\/span> \t\t \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tFX<\/cite> \t\t\t\t\t \t<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

\tZimmer certainly chose right again this time. Love Story <\/em>captivated audiences with its \u201990s nostalgia<\/a>, becoming the most watched limited series ever on Hulu and Disney+. Though she only appeared in three episodes, her character\u2019s impact lingered, particularly when it came to evoking the mother\u2019s shattering reaction to losing her two daughters and John<\/a>, who\u2019s played by Paul Anthony Kelly, in the finale, \u201cSearch and Recovery.\u201d \t<\/p>\n

\t\u201cThat Love Story <\/em>was able to show more of the Bessette side was a wonderful thing to be a part of,\u201d says Zimmer. \u201cIt was really sad, but it felt very cathartic for people who didn\u2019t know them, for people who knew them, for all of us that watched their story unfold in real time.\u201d<\/p>\n

\tAfter filming for the show wrapped in November, Zimmer lost her own mother, adding an unexpected relatability to her portrayal of Ann as a viewer.<\/p>\n

\t\u201cWhen I was watching the show, I had a whole new grief that I was unpacking and that I still unpack every day,\u201d she says. \u201cI cried all over again for the shocking loss of my mom. It became cathartic for me, watching myself and dealing with grief and being able to allow myself to feel it all.\u201d<\/p>\n

\tOne especially touching moment in the finale<\/a>, which focuses on the aftermath of the trio\u2019s deaths, features Grace Gummer\u2019s Caroline Kennedy and Ann bonding over their shared loss. Having worked with Gummer on season two of Aaron Sorkin\u2019s The Newsroom <\/em>in 2013 helped put Zimmer at ease while filming the taxing scenes.<\/p>\n

\t\u201cAfter every take, we would both look at each other and just say, \u2018Thank God for you,\u2019 because you needed to have two actors in that scene who were ready to fully live those emotions with absolutely no judgment and no filter,\u201d she says. \u201cI don\u2019t know if I could have done it without somebody who has the grace of Grace Gummer.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\t \t\t\t\t\tConstance Zimmer as Ann Messina Freeman in Love Story.<\/em><\/span> \t\t \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tFX<\/cite> \t\t\t\t\t \t<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p><\/div>\n

\tLooking back on her portrayal in Love Story<\/em>, the 55-year-old, whose screen credits also include Boston Legal<\/em>, Grey\u2019s Anatomy <\/em>and Shameless<\/em>, says it\u2019s her half century of lived experience that best prepared her for the role. It\u2019s also why she believes Hollywood still needs more stories centered on women of a particular age.\u00a0 \t<\/p>\n

\t\u201cThere are not enough. We need to see more women, specifically over 50, who find their strength in the wisdom that they\u2019ve learned through their lifetime,\u201d Zimmer says. \u201cTo be able to put that into a role, it\u2019s not a coincidence.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\t\u201cI don\u2019t think I could have delivered a performance like that five years ago, I\u2019ll be honest,\u201d she continues, \u201cand that is because just in the past five years, the experience, the understanding, the growth that I have had really comes with age. We need more powerful women over 45 \u2014 I would like to say over 50 \u2014 showing the empowerment and strength that comes with aging. That is not a bad thing. That is an incredible thing.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\tThis story first appeared in a June stand-alone issue of The Hollywood Reporter magazine. To receive the magazine, click here to subscribe<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Logo text Looking at Constance Zimmer\u2019s acting credits over the past three decades, you might assume the actress, who has had roles in HBO\u2019s Entourage, Netflix\u2019s House of Cards and Lifetime\u2019s UnREAL, only picks series she knows will be cultural and ratings hits. But that\u2019s not quite how she does it. \u201cWhen I did UnREAL, I had never even read the script,\u201d Zimmer admits of the drama in which she starred as the conscienceless boss of Shiri Appleby\u2019s young, impressionable reality TV producer. \u201cI was just told what the character was going to be and how we were going to collaborate to create this woman that I had never been […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2934,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[190,1742,1589,1590,1743,2,1599,85,335],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2933","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-awards","category-constance-zimmer","category-emmy-awards","category-emmys-2026","category-fx","category-hollywood","category-love-story","category-tv","category-tv-features"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsmag.live\/ja\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2933","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsmag.live\/ja\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsmag.live\/ja\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsmag.live\/ja\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsmag.live\/ja\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2933"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/newsmag.live\/ja\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2933\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsmag.live\/ja\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2934"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsmag.live\/ja\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2933"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsmag.live\/ja\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2933"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsmag.live\/ja\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2933"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}