As an actress, Sarah Paulson isn't afraid to roll up her sleeves and get down and dirty with a gritty role. Even before we had ever seen her on our TVs, she was cutting her teeth on Broadway and off-Broadway stages in tough roles such as Laura in Tennessee Williams' The Glass Menagerie and Meg Magrath in Beth Henley's Crimes of the Heart. She's never been one to shy away from a dark or twisted story, so it's no wonder Ryan Murphy has tapped her as a lead actress and creative partner for so many projects in the last decade.
His stories are full of grotesque and damaged characters and his projects focus on exploring these characters' psyches' against a backdrop of horror, suspense, gore, and grit. With Murphy and others, Sarah Paulson has played some dynamic and controversial characters, always with a deep and powerful interpretation of these characters' dreams and desires, but none so much as her roles on American Horror Story. Here are 10 facts about Sarah Paulson's most controversial roles on the show.
10 She's Not Afraid Of The Supernatural
From the very first season of American Horror Story, Sarah Paulson has been playing characters with supernatural connections and sensitivities. In Murder House, she appeared as Billie Dean, a medium who warns at the coming of the Antichrist, a subtle nod to the subject matter of AHS Season 8: Apocalypse.
9 She Can Handle Terrifying Torture Scenes
In AHS: Asylum, journalist Lana Winters travels to Briarcliff Manor to interview a prolific serial killer. Lana is tortured, taken hostage, and forced to undergo conversion therapy due to her being a lesbian. Having been in same-sex relationships (with Cherry Jones from 2004 to 2009 and with Holland Taylor currently), Sarah Paulson may have felt a personal connection to this character that allowed her to go deep as Lana.
8 She Discovered Her Love For Snakes
In AHS: Coven, Sarah Paulson portrays Cordelia, a buttoned up schoolteacher who struggles with infertility and begins to dabble in the dark arts as a means to conceive. A steamy sex scene features Cordelia in bed with her husband, and they use snakes to carry out an infertility ritual. Sarah says in an interview that, though she had to have some tequila prior to shooting to quell her fear, she ended up falling in love with the snakes and even wants one of her own.
7 Her Vocal Chords Get A Workout
In every season of American Horror Story, sooner or later you're gonna hear Sarah Paulson cry. Or scream, or weep, or wail. Not many can master the art of the guttural scream like Sarah Paulson, and perhaps that's why she's been a fixture of the show for so many seasons.
6 She Seamlessly Played Siamese Twins
In AHS: Freak Show, Sarah Paulson had a new challenge: she'd be playing conjoined twins Bette and Dot who end up in the circus after Bette murders their parents. To pull off the effect, Sarah wore costumes specially outfitted with a duplicate cast of her head, and used an earpiece through which she could hear the other character's lines so that she could react to them. She says every scene took 12-15 hours to film, proving she is up for the challenge of any controversial role, no matter the cost.
5 She's Confronted Addiction In Her Roles
Just the name of her character in AHS: Hotel is controversial: Hypodermic Sally. Sarah Paulson is up to the task of playing this drug addict ghost who frequently appears with track marks on her arms and watering eyes. To portray Sally accurately, Sarah had to research heroin addiction and also endow Sally with another addiction as well: an addiction to having feelings, which gives the character an even more complex angle.
4 She Explored The Aftermath Of The 2016 Election
Some may find this too extreme, but AHS is famous for taking on real scenarios and imagining them taken to the extreme for dramatic effect. Sarah Paulson's Cult character, Ally, developed phobias as a result of Trump's election in 2016, which have devastating consequences at the end of the season. Sarah has spoken about what it was like to film an election-themed season during the Trump presidency, an exploration to which more conservative viewers may have taken offense.
3 She Got On The Other Side Of The Camera For Her Directorial Debut
It must get boring for Sarah Paulson to be able to portray deeply troubled and controversial characters so flawlessly, because she decided to try her hand at directing for an episode in AHS: Apocalypse, "Return to Murder House." She spoke candidly on Jimmy Kimmel about the overwhelming but rewarding experience she had directing the episode, leaving viewers wondering when she might be returning to the director's chair.
2 Her Real Fears Were Incorporated Into The Show
In an interview with Ellen DeGeneres, Sarah Paulson spoke about sharing her real-life phobias with Ryan Murphy and explained how he wrote them into the show. Her fear of bees, clowns, and heights have all been injected into the show, particularly in AHS: Cult so that she is actually having an authentically fearful experience when she plays characters who face their fears.
1 For The First Time, She Will Not Play A Lead Role In 'AHS' Installment, '1984'
Though she's played a role in all eight of the previous seasons, Sarah Paulson will be stepping away from American Horror Story during its ninth season, American Horror Story: 1984 - or at least stepping away from playing a bigger role. We will see her as a smaller character this season as she makes room in her schedule for other projects.
