Background

Paulson was born on December 17, 1974, in Tampa, Florida, the daughter of Catharine Gordon (née Dolcater) and Douglas Lyle Paulson II. She spent her early life living in South Tampa until her parents' divorce when she was five years old. After her parents' separation, Paulson relocated with her mother and sister to Maine, then to New York City.

Her mother worked as a waitress, and Paulson lived in Queens and Gramercy Park, before settling in Park Slope, Brooklyn. She recalled of this period: "My mom was 27 years old (when we moved). She didn't know a single person in New York City. She got a job at Sardi's Restaurant... She was so brave to be basically a debutante in Tampa, Florida, having a cotillion and a coming out ball—and she picked up and brought her two kids to the greatest city in the world, not knowing anyone. My mom's kind of my hero that way."

Throughout her childhood, Paulson spent her summers in Florida staying with her father, who was an executive at a Tampa door manufacturing company.

Education

Sarah Paulson attended P.S. 29 in Brooklyn. Then she attended the famed Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School, well known for its performing arts programs, as well as the American Academy of Dramatic Arts.

Career

Sarah Paulson made her professional debut in an off-Broadway production when she was only 12 years old. Soon after high school, she landed a guest spot on the hit crime drama Law & Order. Another early role was in the television movie Friends at Last with Kathleen Turner. Paulson was impressed with Turner. More TV and film work soon followed, including the short-lived horror series American Gothic and the 1999 drama The Other Sister with Juliette Lewis and Diane Keaton.

Paulson had a minor recurring role in the HBO series Deadwood (2005–2006), and was a focal character in an episode of the FX series Nip/Tuck. She starred as the main character in the NBC series Leap of Faith. She was then cast in the period comedy Down with Love (2003) in a central role, portraying the friend and editor of a writer (portrayed by Renee Zellweger).

In 2005 Paulson starred opposite Jessica Lange and Josh Lucas in a revival of Tennessee Williams’ play The Glass Menagerie. She also had a small role in the western series Deadwood that same year. Paulson’s next major TV project was Aaron Sorkin’s Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip. She played a devoutly Christian comedian on the series, which gave viewers a fictional look inside the making of a comedy show.

Paulson went on to star with Bobby Cannavale in the 2009 short-lived series Cupid. While that show failed to find an audience, she soon had a hit on her hands with American Horror Story in 2011. During the series’ first season, Paulson played a psychic medium. She has continued to tackle other interesting characters, including playing conjoined twins, in subsequent seasons of the show. Created by Ryan Murphy and Brad Falchuk, the series tackles a different story each season. Paulson has received three Emmy Award nominations for her work on American Horror Story.

While on American Horror Story, Paulson has tackled several other projects. She received an Emmy Award nomination for her work on the HBO miniseries Game Change in 2012. On the big screen, Paulson appeared in the 2012 drama Mud with Matthew McConaughey. She also had a supporting role in the 2013 historical biography 12 Years a Slave. In 12 Years a Slave, a critically acclaimed film starring Chiwetel Ejiofor, Paulson played Mistress Epps, wife of a slave owner played by Michael Fassbender.

Paulson took on another well-received supporting role in 2015’s Carol. The film, based on a novel by Patricia Highsmith, follows a relationship between Carol, an older married woman (Cate Blanchett), and a young woman named Therese (Rooney Mara) during the 1950s. Paulson plays a former lover and friend of Carol’s in the critically acclaimed film.

In 2016 she took on another TV project, the highly anticipated miniseries American Crime Story: People v. O.J. Simpson. Paulson plays prosecutor Marcia Clark in the miniseries, and to prepare for the role she had dinner with the real-life lawyer her character is based on. She told Clark during their meeting that “I want you to know how much I revere your mind and the sacrifices you made for your family, all while having the white hot spotlight in your face,” according to an article in Variety.

For her critically acclaimed portrayal of Clark, Paulson won the 2016 Emmy Award for Best Lead Actress in a Limited Series or Movie, her first Emmy win. The actress, who attended the Emmy awards ceremony with Clark, addressed her real-life counterpart in her acceptance speech. Paulson also won a Golden Globe award for her portrayal of Marcia Clark.

Soon after audiences saw Paulson back on the big screen in the real-life based political drama The Post (2017), playing the wife of Tom Hanks' character Ben Bradlee. The actress also starred in the comedy heist Ocean's 8 (2018), opposite Sandra Bullock and Cate Blanchett.

In 2019, Paulson starred as Dr. Ellie Staple in the superhero thriller film Glass. She will next be seen in the drama film The Goldfinch and the horror thriller film Run. In January 2019, it was announced that Paulson will star as Nurse Ratched in the upcoming Netflix drama series Ratched.

Achievements

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  From her acting career, Paulson has accumulated three Golden Globe Award nominations and seven Primetime Emmy Award nominations, receiving one of each for her role in The People v. O. J. Simpson: American Crime Story in 2016. Her work is mainly recognized in television, for series such as American Horror Story, Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip, and Game Change. In 2013, Paulson co-starred in the multiple Academy Award-winning film 12 Years a Slave, for which she was nominated for the Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture.
  
  She has received numerous accolades, including a Primetime Emmy Award and a Golden Globe Award. In 2017, Time named her one of the 100 most influential people in the world.
  
  

Works

More photos

• movie

  • The Other Sister 1999
  • Held Up 1999
  • What Women Want 2000
  • Bug 2002
  • Down With Love 2003
  • Serenity 2005
  • Mud 2012
  • 12 Years a Slave 2013
  • Carol 2015
  • The Runner 2015
  • Rebel in the Rye 2017
  • The Post 2017
  • Ocean's 8 2018
  • Glass 2019

• TV series

  • American Horror Story: Asylum 2012
  • American Horror Story: Coven 2013
  • American Horror Story: Freak Show 2014
  • American Horror Story: Hotel 2015
  • American Crime Story Season 1 2016
  • American Horror Story: Roanoke 2016
  • American Horror Story: Cult 2017
  • American Horror Story Season 8 2018

Religion

Her religion is Christianity.

Views

Sarah Paulson has supported a number of causes including bringing clean water to the Adi Kliew Community in Ethiopia, Heifer International, Planned Parenthood and Unicef, among others.

Quotations: "Looking back is a way to sharpen the focus on the things you want to change in your life. I think there's something about nostalgia that really puts a fine point on the here-and-now, and that can be incredibly fascinating and interesting and engaging for the mind."

"I'm not interested in a character's goodness. I'm interested in what makes them human."

"I love the idea of people walking away with the idea of hope and possibility."

"To me, most of life kind of lives in the grey and I don't just mean morally. I just mean kind of everything. If things were black and white it would be a lot clearer as to what to do all the time."

"To not have any hope is where things start to get really bleak. Things are possible. The impossible can be possible."

"My choices in life have been unconventional, and that's my business. But I do want to live responsibly and truthfully without hiding."

"My sister's a big karaoke person, and she's never been able to get me to do it."

Personality

Sarah Paulson is bisexual.

Paulson was ranked one of the best dressed women in 2018 by fashion website Net-a-Porter.

She suffers from trypophobia (fear of holes), especially bees, honeycombs, sponges, etc. Clusters of holes bother her most.

Paulson is good friends with Jessica Lange, Amanda Peet and Elizabeth Reaser.

Physical Characteristics: Paulson was diagnosed with melanoma on her back when she was 25. The growth was later removed before the cancer could spread.

She has two tattoos.

Height - 5 Feet 5 Inches (168 cm)

Weight - 60 kg (132 lbs)

Body Measurement - 34-24-34

Hair Color - Blonde

Eye Color - Light Brown

Interests

• Writers

  Rilke on Love and Other Difficulties, By Rainer Maria Rilke

• Sport & Clubs

  Fitness

• Music & Bands

  Fleetwood Mac

Connections

Paulson was in a relationship with actress Cherry Jones from 2004 to 2009. Addressing her sexuality in a 2013 interview with Broadway.com, Paulson said "the situation is fluid for me." Before her relationship with Jones, she had only dated men, including then-fiancé playwright Tracy Letts. She would later comment: "If my life choices had to be predicated based on what was expected of me from a community on either side, that's going to make me feel really straitjacketed, and I don't want to feel that."

Since early 2015, Paulson has been in a relationship with actress Holland Taylor. Paulson lives in Los Angeles.

Father:

Douglas Lyle Paulson II

Mother:

Catharine Paulson

Sister:

Liz Paulson

Sister:

Rachel Paulson

Partner:

Cherry Jones

(born November 21, 1956)

She is an American actress. A five-time Tony Award nominee for her work on Broadway, she won the Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play for the 1995 revival of The Heiress and for the 2005 original production of Doubt.

Partner:

Holland Taylor

(born January 14, 1943)

She is an American actress and playwright. She won the 1999 Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series for her role as Judge Roberta Kittleson on the ABC drama The Practice (1998–2003). She is also known for her role as Evelyn Harper on the CBS sitcom Two and a Half Men (2003–2015).

colleague:

Sandra Bullock

(born July 26, 1964)

She is an American actress, producer, and philanthropist. She was the highest paid actress in the world in 2010 and 2014.

Friend:

Jessica Lange

(born April 20, 1949)

She is an American actress.

Friend:

Amanda Peet

(born January 11, 1972)

She is an American actress.

Friend:

Elizabeth Reaser

(born June 15, 1975)

She is an American film, television, and stage actress.

References

• Diva Magazine (Sarah Paulson Cover, March 2016)
• VARIETY Magazine September 21, 2016 SARAH PAULSON The People v O J Simpson EMMY