Biography

Daughter of Robert F. Kennedy and Ethel Kennedy.

Rory's wedding to Mark Bailey was the destination of cousin John Kennedy Jr.'s plane when it crashed on July 16, 1999, over Aquinnah, Massachusetts.

Was born six months after her father was assassinated.

Youngest of 11 children

Kept her maiden name in marriage.

I was attracted to filmmaking in college because of my love of storytelling. You can have such an impact and reach a broader audience than conventional journalism.

I've always been interested in Vietnam, feel it's a seminal event in our nation's history, and have explored it over the years - but I hadn't been interested in doing a documentary about it. I felt there had been a lot done about Vietnam, and didn't know if I could add anything new to the discussion.

You need to think, when you get involved in wars, how you're going to get out of them.

I'm not sure I would make a direct connection between having press attention as a young person and being interested in the media as an older person. I came to it more organically, coming from a family of Irish Catholic storytellers. Storytelling is a pastime and important part of my family's history and culture.

I think it can be really powerful, and one of the reasons I love making films is I do feel they can reach beyond the statistics and the numbers and the complexities of a particular issue and really highlight the humanity in a way that an article or newspaper story might not be able to do.