Sarah Paulson Just Wants a Seat at the Table
Since winning an Emmy in 2016 for her iconic portrayal of Marcia Clark in Ryan Murphy’s The People v. O. J. Simpson: American Crime Story, Sarah Paulson has quietly turned Hollywood on its head-and hit a midcareer surge. It isn’t simply that she’s prolific; Paulson, 43, brings measured layers of grace and diligence to every role. The projects she’s chosen of late run the gamut: from light action fare like this summer’s Ocean’s 8, where Paulson joined a band of unlikely female heist artists including Rihanna and Cate Blanchett; to the apocalypse-themed American Horror Story, season eight (an episode of which she directed); to Netflix’s dystopian thriller Bird Box (out in December), in which Paulson once again shares screen time with friend and Ocean’s 8 castmate Sandra Bullock. Though she considers television her comfort zone, her forays into film continue apace with starring roles in M. Night Shyamalan’s buzzy Unbreakable and the Split sequel, Glass. Besides reactivating America’s obsession with true crime and scandal, The People v. O. J. gave Paulson the momentum necessary to pivot from being a workhorse in the industry for nearly 25 years to entering the zeitgeist. She’s since become impossible to overlook, and even harder not to love.
On confronting the sexism that Marcia Clark faced:
“People forgot that Marcia Clark was a living, breathing person with a heartbeat and two children and a divorce she was going through. As a woman, she was supposed to show up in some outfit that would be perceived as soft and appealing, when she was actually trying someone for a double homicide. I myself had ideas about Marcia Clark that had been fed to me [by the media]. I realized, Wow, I got this so wrong back then.”
On ageism in Hollywood:
“Interest in me sparked when I was in my very late thirties. I have absolute terror and fear that someone’s gonna go, ‘You turned 45. Bye-bye.’ I hope I don’t get told to go back to bed. I have a lot more to do and say. But there’s this notion that women fall apart after 45. It’s been perpetuated by Hollywood by not putting the stories of women over certain ages front and center. They’re dictating what they think is interesting, and we are consuming it and deciding that what they’re telling us is true.”
On the public’s fascination with her relationship with Holland Taylor:
“I didn’t choose to fall in love with the person I fell in love with. But I think why it’s interesting to people is that on paper, it’s unconventional. For a person who might find themselves in a situation that they fear will be misperceived or judged, maybe they could see me living my life in a way that is authentic to me-just trying to be as real as possible. If that inspires anybody else, that can’t be a bad thing.”
On equal representation:
“This movement can be misconstrued as ‘Hey, men, get out of the way.’ I just want a seat at the table where they’re all sitting, and have been for so long. I want a cushion-a cushy seat-and a sense that I have value and I’m allowed to stay. I have been very lucky because a lot of my sense of empowerment has come from working with Ryan Murphy. It’s a bit of an anomaly to have found my voice because of this one particular man. But it’s also a way of saying this can happen. You don’t need to push any gender out of the way to find your spot.”
On female friendship:
“Back when I was a young person [watching television], forming opinions about what women were like together, there was a lot of cattiness. A lot about clothing and fights over shoes. I had a screwed-up thought process about [female friendship]. I had to confront it on the set of Ocean’s 8. It was the first time a lot of us had been in a movie with seven other women. I thought, ‘Why are you going into this with the expectation that this isn’t going to go well?’ People were worried: ‘Who’s gonna take too long to come out of the makeup trailer?’ They never waited a single day for any of us. We were always ready. But I did have to ask myself, ‘Where did I come up with this idea that women can’t work together and support each other?’ I now have a new map in my body, molecularly, from the experience.”
On balancing her personal and professional life:
“I don’t have children; I’m not married. But I have a lot of intimate relationships-my nieces and nephews, and a wonderful circle of friends. I don’t see them enough. This idea that you can have it all is another thing to be challenged. Somebody once said to me, ‘You can have anything you want, but you can’t have everything.’ You can’t be awake and asleep, or here and also at home. You have to make choices. But I’ve gotta strike while the iron’s hot. Right now, people are calling. They may stop really soon. So I want to make hay while the sun shines. That’s a lot of things I just did there...iron, hay. But you know, the window is open. I’m just trying to muscle it open as long as I can and get it as wide as possible.”
This article originally appeared in the November 2018 issue of ELLE.
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