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Sarah Paulson's career was supposed to take off a lot earlier than it. While the failure of her very first studio movie was surely a blow to her ego and her trajectory to stardom, there's no doubt that she's a massive star today.
Much of that is owed to her role in Studio on The Sunset Strip and her collaborations with her pal Ryan Murphy. Most notable among those collaborations were her controversial American Horror Story roles and her even more provocative role in American Crime Story.
But acting opposite Renée Zellweger, Ewan McGregor, and David Hyde Pierce in Peyton Reed's Down With Love was what was supposed to make her a success in the business. However, despite a good script and an even better cast fresh off a series of hits (Chicago, Moulin Rouge!, and Frasier, respectively) the movie was absolutely destroyed at the box office by a sequel to a beloved franchise.
Why Sarah Paulson's Down With Love Bombed At The Box Office
Sarah Paulson can thank Keanu Reeves, Carrie-Anne Moss, and Laurence Fishburne for Down With Love absolutely bombing at the box office. After all, it came out in 2003 on the same weekend at The Matrix Reloaded, the sequel to the groundbreaking and beloved sci-fi blockbuster.
"I remember it was my first time ever traveling to New York to promote the movie at the Tribeca Film Festival on the plane with [director] Peyton [Reed]," Sarah Paulson said in an interview with Vulture.
"He said, 'Oh, there’s a review that’s out in the Film Comment that’s really strong.' I just remember the premiere and staying at the Ritz-Carlton and doing these press-junket days that I’d never experienced anything like. Then with a thud, the paper lands the next day, and it’s like, 'Nobody cares about this movie.'"
Still, Sarah claimed to love the idea that the movie was a hit amongst those who actually saw it.
"I don’t think it was trying to convert people who didn’t understand what everyone was going for. That’s kind of a thing I love about rediscovering the movie years later. That’s a real testament to Peyton, as well, and I guess the studio let him do that too, because that doesn’t always happen."
How Sarah Paulson Feels About Having Her Career Delayed
Despite loving the movie, there's no doubt that Sarah was upset that The Matrix Reloaded delayed her chance at stardom. This was, after all, supposed to be a big break for her. It was her very first studio movie and she had a meaty role alongside some of the most successful actors at the time.
"I did have that sort of young person’s notion that I was going to be set from here, that I was in this movie with these people, and it felt very affirming to get a job like that at that time, because I spent many years not working at all," Sarah admitted.
"Anything you spend a lot of time working on and making and putting your heart and soul into, you, of course, have a tremendous amount of hopes and wishes pinned to it. Of course, you do. I can’t even remember what I did after it, but I don’t think I worked for a minute."
Still, according to Sarah, there was something to learn from the experience.
"It was, in retrospect, a very good experience for me to have that the movie was not a box-office success. It was the beginning of many experiences I’ve had where you go, 'Well, that didn’t quite go the way I planned.' But I have a different response to it now. It doesn’t feel quite as crushing. It sort of feels par for the course and means that I’m actually really doing it, because not everything can be for everyone."
Following the initial screening, Ewan McGregor even thought it was going to be Sarah's big break.
"I remember after a screening that they had done, we came out and Ewan looked at me and he went, 'Oh man, can’t wait to see what happens for you.' And he made this sound like a rocket ship and he put his hand in the air, like it was going up. And I was like, 'Really?' And he was like, 'I think so.' Lo and behold, I didn’t work for who knows how long and the movie wasn’t well-received. But I still got to have that memory of Ewan McGregor making that sound in front of my face. It was very heartening and meant a lot to me at the time. But it just took a couple decades for that to happen."
