Sarah Paulson secured a Critics Choice Award and a Golden Globe nomination within hours of each other, but the “People v. O.J. Simpson” star is equally as excited about another actress’s Globes nomination.
“I heard the announcements happening in the background and I heard Chrissy Metz’s name from ‘This Is Us’ and I got really excited because she’s an actress I really admire and someone I work with on ‘American Horror Story,’” Paulson told TheWrap. “I was thrilled for her because I know what a first-time nomination feels like, and it’s exciting and gratifying and very validating and it’s the first time the industry really recognizes you in that way.”
Metz was nominated for Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Series, Mini-Series or Motion Picture Made for Television, while Paulson is competing in the Best Performance by an Actress in a Mini-Series or a Motion Picture Made for Television category for her role as Marcia Clark in FX’s dramatic interpretation of the O.J. Simpson murder trial.
The show secured five nominations on Monday morning, including Best TV Limited Series and Best Performance by an Actor in a Limited Series, and has been critically acclaimed since its debut in February. And Paulson said she knew “People v. O.J. Simpson” was something special “right away.”
“I didn’t know it was something special in terms of the reaction to it, but I knew it was something special in the way I was engaged by playing it,” she said. “There was a collective sense of excitement and well wishes for each other and goodwill and it was an exciting feeling of everyone being so for each other. It’s like you’re walking on a tight rope and you have a giant net under you — it was everybody’s hands linked together. I knew that that was special and you don’t always have that. You don’t always get to work together and we were always all together, it felt very special and very unique. It was something I had never experienced before.”
The actress brought Clark to the Emmys earlier this year, where she won the award for Outstanding Lead actress in a Limited Series. But will she bring Clark to the Golden Globes ceremony on Jan. 8?
“I haven’t thought about it — it just happened a few minutes ago!” she said. “I am barely awake. I have thought about it, but haven’t decided what to do and haven’t spoken to her yet.”