PAULSON’S MERRY MEMORIES
At Steppenwolf luncheon, actress shares laughs with ex- fiance Tracy Letts
It was clearly a chummy reunion of close acting colleagues as acclaimed star Sarah Paulson— the first performer to win all five major TV awards in one year ( Emmy, Golden Globe, Critics Choice, People’s Choice and Screen Actors Guild Award)— was the honoree at Steppenwolf Theatre’s ninth annual “Women in the Arts” luncheon.
The Monday event at the Radisson Blu Aqua Hotel featured Paulson’s onetime fiance Tracy Letts serving as the program host, leading the actress in a jovial Q& A about her highly successful career. Clearly Letts and Paulson ( who met when she starred in a New York production of his play “Killer Joe”) have remained dear friends.
The same is true for Letts’ wife, Carrie Coon, a co- star to both actors in “The Post.” ( Coon was seen being congratulated by many guests at the luncheon on the recent revelation she is 31 weeks pregnant with her and Letts’ first child.)
Letts noted that while Paulson did find acting work early on, her greatest success has come in more recent years. She credited “American Horror Story” creator Ryan Murphy with a lot of that.
“Thanks to Ryan and the nature of that show, things really changed for me,” said Paulson. “I think because both the audience and the decision makers in the industry got to see me play such a wild, different variety of characters, it opened doors for me to do so much more.”
Paulson also revealed she is not afraid to go after characters that may not be the most appealing — like her deeply racist Mistress Epps in “12 Years a Slave,” a film that went on to win the best picture Oscar. “A couple of my very famous actress friends said they were afraid to go for that role because of what their fans would think of them for playing her. I never think of things like that. If it’s an interesting acting challenge, I’ll go for it,” added Paulson.
Noting that her being a perfectionist has finally gotten the better of her, the actress also revealed she has never watched more than a few clips of her Emmy- winning role on “The People v. O. J. Simpson” on “American Crime Story,” and “I haven’t watched anything I’ve done since then— and likely won’t going forward.”
Among the crowd of 350 seen enjoying the Paulson event were Helen Zell, Cari Sacks, Mary Dempsey, Peg Lombardo, Greg Cameron, Alice Sabl, Christie Hefner, Donna LaPietra, Elizabeth Cole, Jacky Ferro, Christine Dudley, M. J. Witt, Caryn Harris, Judy Rice and Steppenwolf ensemble members Audrey Francis, Caroline Neff and AmyMorton, who introduced a special video of Paulson’s career highlights.
ForKruger, one fine Chicago day
DianeKruger said, “I can’t believe that I only have been to Chicago once— anditwas like 15 years ago!”
Calling to talk about her film “In the Fade” ( opening Friday), the actress known for “Inglourious Basterds” and TV’s “The Bridge” explained, “I was filming one of my first movies, ‘ Wicker Park.’ Not only was it a very long day, but all of my scenes were shot outside — and it was in the middle of a wintertime.
“Now, I’m from Germany, so I know all about cold— but that was a cold I had never known before,” the actress said with a laugh. “But the warmth of the film crew and all the people I met in Chicago more than made up for it. Plus there were a couple of people who knew I was German, and they wanted to practice their German with me. That was sweet.”
“In the Fade” won the best actress award for Kruger at the Cannes Film Festival last spring— and it already has won best foreign film at both the Critics Choice Awards and the Golden Globes. Likely to be nominated Tuesday for the best foreign film Oscar, it’s Kruger’s first feature made in her native German.
In the film, Kruger’s character loses both her Kurdish Turkish husband and their son in a terrorist bombing.
“A friend in New York got me in touch with a self- help group for survivors. They allowed me to sit in with them six months before I started filming. In the beginning I was asking a lot of questions and then, very quickly, I realized that I needed to shut up and just sit there and listen to their stories— and did so for months. Their stories and grief haunted me, and made me realize it was a real responsibility. I had to become a voice for these women, for the people who are left behind.”