Parting Shot
Sarah Paulson
SARAH PAULSON HAS THE UNIQUE GIFT OF MAKING COMPLICATED, and often murderous, women relatable. “It’s my job as an actor to not judge the character I’m playing.” Rather, she hopes to bring the audience along on the journey, “even if they know it’s morally questionable or downright criminal.” That’s what she does as Diane Sherman in Run (Hulu, November 20). Paulson thinks audiences crave seeing nontraditional characters take center stage right now. “They want to see more narratives that represent their life more accurately. Not that this movie would do that, because then you might have some real trouble in your home life [laughs].” Next year, Paulson plays Linda Tripp, the whistleblower in the Clinton-lewinsky scandal. “I don’t know that this will be a radical shift in terms of the way people think about her. But I didn’t think about that when I played Marcia [Clark] either.” Paulson won an Emmy for her portrayal of the O.J. Simpson murder trial prosecutor. “I felt like if I just played the truth of it, that it would be what it would be. And I feel the same way about Linda.”
Run is the latest in a long line of films about complicated mother/ daughter relationships. What drew you to the project?
I got to work with a budding filmmaker [Aneesh Chaganty] whose work was really compelling to me. Also, a movie that was predominantly a relationship-driven story between a mother and a daughter.
How do you find something relatable in characters like Diane Sherman and Nurse Ratched?
If I’m going to say “yes,” I’ve got to find some way to align myself internally with some of the choices. Not that I want to go around murdering.
You’re playing Linda Tripp in Ryan Murphy’s American Crime Story. What’s it like to play such a memorable figure of the ’90s?
Nerve-wracking. So few people understand or remember that she was a human being, not just this monster. It’s going to be an interesting thing to calibrate. People’s expectations of wanting to hate her right out of the gate and then maybe being confronted with their own thoughts.
You’re a big Real Housewives fan. What is it about the Housewives?
There’s something about being a voyeur and watching people behave in unconscious ways. And then being aware that they’re going to have to watch it back and confront how they’ve behaved. Something almost scientific about it.
“I think it’s my job as an actor to not judge the character I’m playing.”