As hard as it is to believe, it has been 60 years since United States President John F. Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas, Texas, on November 22, 1963, a day that just about Americans who were alive at the time would never forget. That being said, with more than a half-century having passed, finding and securing updated eyewitness accounts from those on the ground that fateful afternoon presented a huge obstacle that the producers of the 2023 TV series JFK: One Day in America had to overcome.
In an interview prior to the release of the National Geographic Channel project, CinemaBlend spoke with producers David Glover and Charlotte Rodrigues, as well as director Ella Wright, about the three-part docuseries. We discussed the decision to avoid conspiracy theories, and the challenges the creative team faced when getting all the eyewitness testimony.
Those who have watched JFK: One Day in America, or at least checked out the official trailer, were probably quick to notice that most of the people interviewed, such as former Secret Service Agent Clint Hill are all understandably advanced in age, which producer David Glover said caused some “initial worry.” He elaborated, saying:
A lot of them are in their sort of 90s, sometimes late 90s, and there was, I suppose, initially a worry about how good would their recall be? How emotional would they be about it? How would they work as documentary subjects?
As the team spent more time with the eyewitnesses, Glover (who was also behind the September 11th documentary, 9/11: One Day in America) discovered that his initial worries over the subjects’ memory clarity were needlessly considered, as those interviewed did indeed maintain vivid memories of that day even 60 years later. The producer was also aware that this may be the last time one or more of these witnesses would be sharing their stories on such a large stage, which added another sense of urgency and intensity to the project. As he put it:
We were definitely aware that it was potentially the last chance to collect this testimony and hear from these people, but I think they were too. I think that they realize this might be the last time they have a chance to tell their story and their connection to this story. And so I think that both those things gave it a kind of intensity, which is kind of part of the strength of the show.
When preparing for the interviews, director Ella Wright wasn’t sure how the back-and-forth would go, nor if the witnesses would still be able to speak informatively about the long-gone events. But she was as stunned as the rest when the memories and stories started flowing soon into the filming process.
We were just completely bowled over by their testimony and how emotionally connected they still were to those events. Not only at the time, but how they continue to impact them.
Another logical aspect tied to age issues that came up during the doc's pre-production was the ever-shrinking pool of witnesses from the day of the JFK assassination. But despite not having the widest variety of people involved, producer Charlotte Rodrigues said those who agreed to share their stories did so with a high amount of detail, essentially putting them right back into the mindsets they were in on November 22, 1963. According to the producer:
It was quite remarkable how they totally transported themselves back and were able to give such powerful and very strong testimony and recount their experience in such a detailed way. And that was the aim of the series very much, was to sort of allow the audience to sort of relive it through their, through their eyes in a very emotional and visceral way.
This is especially true for Clint Hill, the former Secret Service agent assigned as First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy on the day of her husband’s assassination. He seems to still carry the pain and guilt from that day with him after all these years, but here's hoping speaking about it here takes some of that burden away.
JFK: One Day in America is currently streaming for anyone with a Disney+ subscription or a Hulu subscription. But before you watch, there are a few things to know about the series.
