The queens of heist
> Sarah Paulson talks about being part of an all-female crew of criminals in Ocean’s 8.
Were you familiar with the three previous films by Steven Soderbergh? “Yes, I had seen every one of them – and I had also seen the original 1960 Ocean’s 11 starring Frank Sinatra. I found them all to be endlessly entertaining and incredibly fun.
“It just seemed like the actors were all having the best time, and so we as an audience were having the best time.
“I thought if Ocean’s 8 had that kind of magic, we would be in good shape.”
Did you work with Ross and Milch to shape the character of Tammy, or was it already on the page for you? “What [the two] did with Tammy was really interesting. Tammy has children and other responsibilities. She was once heavily into this game, and then opted out to raise a family.
“But when Debbie approaches Tammy and asks if she’d like back in, the adrenaline rush is just too exciting for her to pass up.”
What skill set does Tammy bring to the team? “She’s the fence – a gobetween for stolen goods. Tammy is running a small side business in her garage, which her family doesn’t know about.
“It’s her way of keeping a toe in a world that she found incredibly thrilling, exciting and dangerous.
“And when Debbie whispers in her ear the amount of money she’d be netting after the heist, it’s just too good an offer to refuse.”
Did you do research into that line of work? “I read a few books about being a fence. But this isn’t the kind of deep, dark psychological thriller where I’d have to immerse myself in the underbelly of fencing and the world of white collar crime.
“I enjoyed myself with my castmates and let the script dictate how this should go.”
What was the dynamic like, once you all did come together on set? “More than one person has asked me if we had any fights, which was shocking to me because I thought, why would that be the first thing people would assume would happen if you put eight women in a room together?
“Some people were taking bets on who would be the last person out of the trailer and how long everyone was going to take to arrive on set.
“Actually, we were always ready while they were still lighting on set. We also had a great time in the morning, getting ready together.
“It was like a real party, but a party with substantive people with great senses of humour. It was like being at the greatest dinner gathering of all time.”
What do you think it is about ambitious heist stories that makes us root for the people behind it? “I think Ocean’s 8 is a fantasy. Sometimes, you just really need an opportunity to kick back and let yourself be taken on this journey, which makes you forget about your troubles for a while and immerses you in another world where people are having a good time and doing something a little bit dangerous and a little bit naughty, but with a great deal of humour and heart.
“That’s the extraordinary thing about having a moviegoing experience like this: you can transport yourself somewhere glamorous and fun, and watch a bunch of people work well
together.” Hedgehog