Sarah Catharine Paulson
17 December 1974 , Tampa, Florida, USA
I was constantly, always and forever, trying to perform the musical Annie for anyone who would listen, and I have a terrible singing voice. It was the first thing that made me think I wanted to be an actress.
Today is 39th birthday of the lovely and extraordinarily talented Sarah Paulson. Paulson has been appearing in many movies and TV productions for years now, delivering excellent work, but it's only now with the success of American Horror Story that she is finally having hear big break.
Paulson has been excellent in movies like Martha Marcy May Marlene, Game Change and Mud. For me she was a true spotlight thief in 12 Years a Slave - yet it seems that it's her performance that won't get deserved accolades during this Oscar season.
Sarah starred in one of my all time favorite shows - Deadwood. Now she has appeared in all three seasons of American Horror Story - Murder House, in which she played feisty medium, Asylum, where she was tortured and ambitious journalist Lana Winters and Coven, where she plays Cordelia Foxx, headmistress of the Academy for young witches.
Paulson brings so much to her character - some of them like Billie Dean (Murder House) only need to show up in few scenes to be completely unforgettable. She has such amazing charisma and she gives the women she plays many layers - as awful as her character is in 12 Years a Slave you can see that part of her rage and cruelty comes from her rejection and broken heart.
But Sarah's best performance by far and one of my all time favorites performances is her work in Asylum - her Lana Winters goes through horrific journey and Paulson strikes all the right notes in her performance. Hope, ambition, vulnerability, fear, compassion, determination. She makes her Lana so complex and so iconic.
5 favorite films:
- Deadwood
- Mud
- 12 Years a Slave
- American Horror Story: Coven
- Game Change
5 favorite performances:
- American Horror Story: Asylum
- 12 Years a Slave
- Game Change
- Nip/Tuck
- American Horror Story: Coven
8 fun facts:
- Partnered with Broadway actress Cherry Jones.(2005 - 2009) They split amicably in 2009.
- Studied acting at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York City.
- Made her professional debut at 12 in an Off-Broadway play.
- Jessica Lange was her favorite actress while growing up, and she appeared with Lange in a revival of Tennessee Williams' The Glass Menagerie in 2005.
- Portrayed a young Ellis Grey, Meredith Grey's mother, in flashback scenes of a 2010 episode of Grey's Anatomy.
- While on the The Late Show with David Letterman, she admitted that she's a hypochondriac and gets anxious while flying.
- Does impressions, including those of Holly Hunter, Kathleen Turner and a dolphin.
- In an interview with Hollywood.TV, she said the secret of success in Hollywood is to "not take any of it too seriously," and admitted that she stays grounded thanks to therapy.
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| American Horror Story: Coven |
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| 12 Years a Slave |
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| American Horror Story: Murder House |
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| Nip/Tuck |
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| Deadwood |
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| American Horror Story: Coven |
Great post! Paulson has been turning in some awesome work lately. I agree that she was great in 12 Years a Slave, and that she'll sadly get overlooked. She was just so cold.
ReplyDeleteThank you! I really hope she continues to get more interesting roles like this one.
DeleteShe had one of the most subtly powerful performances in 12 Years...especially being juxtaposed next to the loose canon character Fassy played! Great post!
ReplyDeleteShe was so terrific, for me her role there was the best out of the cast.
DeleteDefinitely underrated. I like her work in Game Change, Martha Marcy May Marlene, and 12 Years a Slave. She's come a long way since some of the work she's been in weren't very good like The Other Sister and the excruciatingly unwatchable The Spirit which she was really wasted in as it looked like she was the only one trying not to give in to the stupidity of that awful movie.
ReplyDeleteOh, The Spirit sucked but at least she looked gorgeous in it.
DeleteI LOVE her. She is seriously one of the most underrated actresses out there and it’s a shame she lost the Emmy in her category this year for her work in Asylum. I first got hooked on her in MMMM and she’s one of the big reasons I want to go back and check out Deadwood. Also she was psychotically amazing in 12 Years A Slave.
ReplyDeleteShe really should have won that Emmy :( Deadwood is so fantastic, it's my all time favorite show.
DeleteI've only recently seen her in Mud then 12 Years A Slave. I agree w/ you she was excellent in the latter, but somehow her performance is overlooked. Glad you recognized her though, you've got a keen eye as always, Sati!
ReplyDeleteOh, I've been a fan of hers for years :)
Deleteyes, i love her! she brings it in every role. my favorite remains AHS: Asylum.
ReplyDeleteShe reallly did iconic work there.
DeleteAwesome post! I love Sarah - she is entirely underrated and I'd be happy AHS went on for 50 seasons if she was in all of them. :D
ReplyDeleteThank you! Me too, also it would be so great if she got to play the villain in AHS
DeleteI remember she had such a tiny role in Serenity. Tiny. But it was a BIG role and she did it perfectly. Since then I made sure I remembered her name!
ReplyDeleteI never saw this one but I heard good things about this and Firefly.
DeleteI love what you did to her big profile photo :) I also loved her in 12 Years A Slave. Don't really see her much in TV series. Nice appreciation post!
ReplyDeleteOh, that is a lucky tumblr find, actually :) I hope she gets to be in more high profile movies.
DeleteI forgot she was in both 12 Years a Slave AND Mud this year. I agree that she deserves more recognition for her performance in 12 Years. At least she got a SAG ensemble nod, which she could win. :)
ReplyDeleteI think American Hustle may win that but it would be great if she got on that stage!
DeleteGreat post! I'd love if she pulled out an Oscar nom for 12 Years a Slave. Such a cold and powerful performance there.
ReplyDeleteThanks! She was my favorite in the cast there.
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