Paul Anthony Kelly and Sarah Pidgeon went from relative anonymity to sudden fame playing John F. Kennedy Jr. and Carolyn Bessette-Kennedy, roles that brought Emmy recognition, paparazzi attention and a new understanding of life under scrutinyAyala Or-El|The first time I met Paul Anthony Kelly, it was at a Hulu Mix & Mingle event in Hollywood. Tall, dark-haired and still adjusting to his newfound attention, the 37-year-old star of Love Story: John F. Kennedy Jr. & Carolyn Bessette told me it was the first event of its kind he had ever attended.He was relaxed and unassuming as we talked about what was, remarkably, his first major acting role. “I was a model and went to many auditions throughout the years until I got this role,” he said.GalleryPaul Anthony Kelly. "Perfect for the role"(Photo: Kate Jones)The journey sounded simple when he put it that way. It was anything but.Kelly had spent years modeling while trying to break into acting. By the time the opportunity to portray John F. Kennedy Jr. came along, he was beginning to wonder whether an acting career would ever happen.Just one week before landing the role, he said, he told his wife he was prepared to give up and return to Canada. Then came the email that changed everything.Kelly was invited to audition for Love Story and submitted tapes of two scenes. Months later, he was called back and eventually met Sarah Pidgeon, 30, who had already been cast as Carolyn Bessette. The two performed a chemistry read and later a screen test.The next day, Kelly learned he had the role. He had been chosen from close to 1,000 actors considered to play JFK Jr., turning Love Story into his breakthrough.Even after the series premiered, Kelly appeared stunned by the speed of his transformation. “I still can’t believe it’s me,” he told British Vogue.When I met him again several months later, the circumstances were very different. It was August, on the rooftop of the Chateau Marmont on Sunset Boulevard, and this time we were seated at a dinner celebrating a series that had become one of television’s most talked-about productions.The show had received seven Emmy nominations, including Outstanding Casting and an Outstanding Lead Actress nomination for Pidgeon.Sitting beside me, Pidgeon said she knew almost immediately that Kelly was right for the part. “Just look at him, he looks like John F. Kennedy Jr.,” she said. “It was so clear to me that he was perfect for the role.”Sarah Pidgeon. “When I got the role, the weight of that responsibility was always in the back of my mind”(Photo: Kate Jones)After their screen test, Pidgeon went to producer Ryan Murphy and told him they had found their “Prince of Camelot.” Murphy then gave her an unusual assignment: She would be the one to tell Kelly he had gotten the role.She was delighted.For Pidgeon, being cast as Carolyn was equally surreal. “I was very calm when I got the phone call, but it hit me like a deer caught in headlights,” she said.She was already familiar with Bessette and her public image, but playing a real woman whose appearance, marriage and private life had been subjected to extraordinary scrutiny carried a different kind of weight.“When I got the role, the weight of that responsibility was always in the back of my mind,” Pidgeon said.The series has transformed both actors’ lives. Kelly went from a little-known actor considering abandoning the profession to the face of a high-profile TV series. Pidgeon, too, has entered a new level of public recognition, culminating in her Emmy nomination.Paul Anthony Kelly and Sarah Pidgeon(Photo: Kate Jones)There is an irony neither actor has missed. They portray a couple who were relentlessly pursued by photographers and whose marriage unfolded beneath constant public scrutiny. Now Kelly and Pidgeon are themselves being recognized in public and followed by cameras.While filming in New York, paparazzi sometimes tracked the actors, and Pidgeon said the experience made her increasingly aware of what it means to be watched. “It definitely felt like there was an extra character in the scene whenever we were shooting outside,” she said.They were portraying two people whose private lives had effectively become public property while, in a much smaller way, experiencing their own sudden exposure to public fascination.Does the attention bother you, or do you enjoy being recognized?