“The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story” star Sarah Paulson had to leave the room when clips from the FX miniseries were played for reporters at the Television Critics Association Summer Press Tour on Tuesday.
The actress later explained that she never watches herself on screen, but the show’s portrayal of the verdict in the Simpson trial was especially tough for her to watch.
“I haven’t seen of it, and I just saw a little bit of that verdict,” she said. “It literally made me physically ill. I thought I was going to cry and throw up.”
The Emmy-nominated actress explained that the sense of unease she gets from watching the show comes from sympathy for the woman she was portraying, Marcia Clark. “As goofy and goony and typically actressy as it may sound, I felt very, very connected to her,” she said. “I felt a lot of feeling for her.”
Later in the panel, Paulson said the closing arguments scene was the hardest for her to shoot.
“[There was] almost this fantastical idea that if we did it right, the verdict would be different,” she said. “And that obviously didn’t happen, but there was a feeling that I can only imagine they must have felt that there was this enormous responsibility and opportunity to have justice be served.”
Paulson’s costar Cuba Gooding Jr. later revealed that he hasn’t seen the series yet either, but he didn’t have an explanation as good as Paulson’s.
“He’s waiting for the Blu-ray,” Paulson joked.