Sarah Paulson Has Waited Forever for a Movie Like ‘Closing Night’

It didn’t make sense.

In a wide-ranging conversation, Paulson opened up about everything from getting the movie role of her life and her best friendship with Pedro Pascal to her creative partnership with Ryan Murphy and the intense backlash to “All’s Fair.”

So, you and Cody Fern met on “American Horror Story: Apocalypse” where you were playing a witch and he was playing the Antichrist?

I was a witch but started out as Venable, the ruler of the underground bunker.

It’s a funny place for a project like “Closing Night” to originate.

What was your reaction when you got the script? Cody said he wrote it specifically for you, so in a sense it seems like a love letter to you as an actress.

You’ve said their names twice now. Are those people you’re usually up against when it comes to film roles?

Why do you think the movie roles haven’t been there as much? Your performance as Marcia Clark in “The People v. O.J. Simpson” won every major acting award, making you the first actor ever to do so.

That is correct.

So that happens and the film offers don’t come in after?

In the TV space there are more female and gay creators so it feels like there are more opportunities for there versus in the film world.

So, you get the script for “Closing Night.” What attracted you to the role of Sandra Vale?

You’ve really had to hustle as an actress, and it took a long time for you to be recognized. Did you ever want to give up?

Looking back, is it wild how playing Agatha in “Nip/Tuck” has led to this decades-long partnership with Ryan Murphy?

You’ve described your relationship as a “creative marriage,” but what do you think makes you each see each other so clearly in terms of your artistic ability and how far you can push each other?

I think Ryan works in the world of extremes and I like to work in the world of extremes too. When you’re playing in a world of high stakes, from an acting standpoint, you’re never wondering how to fill something. There is an inherent pressure, and maybe it’s from my own invention, but if I have to do a scene where I’m simply opening a carton of milk, and the camera is close on the carton of milk, I think I have to open the milk with some kind of muscle to make it interesting, when in fact you’re just opening a carton of milk. In the world of Ryan, there is never anything so simple as opening a carton of milk. The stakes are extraordinarily high. Also, Ryan and I came up together and we were figuring out our creative language at the same time. I feel like the right interpreter for Ryan’s work.

I want to read a quote from your partner Holland from your Walk of Fame ceremony: “She will fearlessly rush to play people who are discredited, pitied, despondent, horrible, mean, twisted, overlooked, and misjudged. The result is she is their defender, their rescuer, their restitution. It turns out her secret skill as an actor is her own humanity.” What do you make of that? Is giving voice to marginalized characters part of the motivation for you?

Everyone loves your best friendship with Pedro Pascal. How did that start and why are you such kindred spirits?

Have you two been planning to work together?

What does it feel like to get the richest film role of your career at the age you are now?

You have the E and the T.

I have the ET.

And a Golden Globe.

But that’s not what the G stands for. We could pretend it does! And if anyone’s heard me sing, they know that the Grammy will never be mine. It will never be mine. You don’t want to hear me do karaoke. It’s not good. And I feel like karaoke is for the closeted confident singer, and I actually hate that kind of karaoke where they’re like, “Let’s go do karaoke!” And they’re professional karaoke singers. That’s not my jam. My sister is really good at it and I’ve got a lot of friends that are really good at it.

Sandra’s relationship to her mother in “Closing Night” feels so much more fraught than your relationship with your mother, who sounds like an extraordinary woman.

She waitresses at Sardi’s and then years later her daughter wins a Tony.

You’re playing six characters in the new “American Horror Story?” Do I have that right?

You mentioned “All’s Fair,” which was treated very harshly by critics. But I strongly suspect you will get some of the best reviews of your career for “Closing Night,” which may be a form of whiplash.

It hasn’t happened yet, and from your lips to God’s ears, but I do kind of try — and it is a lot of effort on my part, because the internet is banana sandwich, and it’s the Wild West out there and getting worse every day, but it’s a very vulnerable thing in life to try to create art, and the outside view is none of my business. My business is to show up for my work with commitment and compassion for the character I’m playing and dedication to the world I’m inhabiting. That is my job, full stop. However people perceive it is not something I can control, try as I might. Now, what has become part of the job for artists around the world is to create a little bit of self-protection around your heart, because putting your work out in the world for people to throw darts at or celebrate is difficult. It’s not easy to do.

The O.J. Simpson connection is interesting with your co-star Kim Kardashian. Did you two talk about the case?