Sarah Paulson’s new Netflix series “Ratched” has just debuted and, while promoting the chilling “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” prequel on SiriusXM’s “The Jess Cagle Show”, she also teased an upcoming role.
Paulson, who won an Emmy for playing prosecutor Marcia Clark in “American Crime Story: The People v. O.J. Simpson”, will be returning for a new season of the Ryan Murphy-produced anthology series.
This time out, the focus will be Bill Clinton’s impeachment, with Paulson to play Monica Lewinsky’s confidante, Linda Tripp, whose tapes of her conversations with Lewinsky led to Clinton’s impeachment for perjury.
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Speaking with Jess Cagle and co-host Julia Cunningham, Paulson recalled that the new “American Crime Story” season was about to head into production when the pandemic hit.
“We were about a week shy of starting that when the shutdown happened,” Paulson said. “So that was a little bit challenging because we were really ready to go. Obviously, not as challenging as it’s been for, for the whole, you know, globally in terms of dealing with this. It’s such a really terrifying time in so many ways.”
However, she revealed that filming is set to begin in October. “I’ve gotten the call and it looks like I’m going back to work next month,” she said. “I’ve already had another prosthetic fitting and another two other costume fittings. And so it does seem like we are going ahead. All the sets are built, the White House, Linda’s house. Monica’s apartment. We are definitely beginning it. I don’t know how long it’s going to take to shoot because, with all the protocols, it seems like maximum shooting is 10 hours a day. And you know, the scenes are long and intense and I got an accent to do and a voice and a thing, and it’s a whole thing. I mean, God help me. God help me. I don’t know what I’m thinking. I have really to tell you. I was just like, what was, I think, because the scripts were just too good that the character was too interesting to me.”
Paulson also shared her view of the controversial Tripp, who passed away in April at age 70, admitting she had been looking forward to the possibility of meeting her in person.
As Paulson noted, Tripp’s daughter contended her mother’s death “didn’t have to do with the coronavirus, but it was very sad. I got so many text messages from people as if I were Linda Tripp. You know, all the people, all my friends who know I’m doing it, they were just like, we’re so sorry. And like, I’ve never, I never met the lady, but I, I, I have been spending probably more time thinking about her than anybody on God’s green earth, because it was like, you know, being really deep in the mud with everything I could possibly get my hands on. So, um, and I did make me really sad, you know, cause with the Marcia thing, I didn’t meet Marcia till we were almost done, but it was a wonderful experience to connect with her in that way. And I’m sure in the back of my mind, I always sort of had a dream or a hope that maybe the same thing would happen with Linda.”
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“Ratched” is available to stream now.
