Newbie Snags JFK Jr. Role
While living in Manhattan in the late '90s, actor Kristoffer Polaha often saw JFK Jr. rollerblading and bicycling about town. Little did he know the Kennedy scion would die so young — and that he'd end up playing the guy in a TV movie! Yes kids, this Sunday he stars in the latest Kennedy telepic, America's Prince: The John F. Kennedy Jr. Story (8 pm/ET on TBS). How surreal is that?
"In reality," Polaha tells TV Guide Online, "that's how New Yorkers knew him, from seeing him rollerblading in Washington Square Park. One day my mom and I were in a cab, and I pointed him out to her. She flipped out and almost wet herself!"
Imitating Kennedy's urban athleticism in the middle of NYC traffic wasn't easy. "We did a day of filming there," he recalls, "and I rode eight miles through city streets, with a camera crew following me in a van. Around Fifth Avenue and 88th Street, I had to stop. My thighs were wrecked. I got my workout!"
America's Prince marks a big break for Polaha, whose previous credits include guest spots on Angel, Birds of Prey and Roswell. The handsome newcomer — who co-stars with Jacqueline Bisset and Portia De Rossi — denies that it's just another soapy Kennedy-sploitation film, as critics have charged. "The script is done tastefully," he insists. "We see the reality of who this person was, but none of the dirty laundry. They show his bad temper and that he got along well with women, but it's more of a love letter and homage to his life than a tell all."
