Sarah Paulson

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 in South Tampa until her parents' divorce when she was five. 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."

Paulson began working as an actress right out of high school. She appeared in the Horton Foote play Talking Pictures at the Signature Theatre, and in an episode of Law & Order in 1994. The next year Paulson appeared in the Hallmark television film Friends at Last (1995) opposite Kathleen Turner, playing the adult version of Turner's character's daughter. She also starred in the short-lived television series American Gothic (also 1995), playing the ghost of a murdered woman.

In 1997, Paulson made her feature film debut in the independent thriller film Levitation, playing a woman who discovers she is pregnant after an anonymous sexual encounter. Leonard Klady of Variety noted that Paulson and her co-stars are "not supported by the script", concluding: "Levitation is a grim, convoluted saga of identity and belonging. An ill-fitting combination of melodrama and magic realism, the indie effort will have a decidedly difficult time in the theatrical arena." She also appeared Off-Broadway in a fall 1998 production of Killer Joe. She subsequently played Elisa Cronkite in The WB comedy-drama series Jack & Jill (1999). The same year, she was also cast opposite Juliette Lewis and Diane Keaton in the drama The Other Sister, playing the lesbian sister of a developmentally-disabled woman in San Francisco, and in a supporting part playing a hostage in the comedy Held Up, opposite Jamie Foxx. The following year, she had a small supporting role in the comedy What Women Want, starring Mel Gibson and Helen Hunt.

In 2004, she had a supporting role in the ABC series The D.A., which was cancelled after only four episodes. In the spring of 2005, Paulson starred in a revival of The Glass Menagerie on Broadway, opposite future American Horror Story co-star Jessica Lange. Ben Brantley of The New York Times deemed the production as "misdirected and miscast ... reality never makes an appearance in this surreally blurred production." Later that year, Paulson appeared Off-Broadway in a production of Colder Than Here, opposite Lily Rabe (also her future co-star on American Horror Story). The production received an unfavorable review from Variety, with critic Dave Rooney writing: "Rabe speaks in an affected monotone while Sarah Paulson has the measured, upward-inflected delivery of a children's TV presenter ... this mannered, melancholy play elicits a mainly impassive response, which is no small obstruction in a work dealing with loss."

Also in 2005, Paulson had a small role in the Joss Whedon-directed science fiction film Serenity. In the 2006–07 television season, Paulson co-starred in NBC's Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip, playing Harriet Hayes, one of the stars of the show-within-a-show. This role earned her a nomination for Golden Globe Award for Best Supporting Actress – Series, Miniseries or Television Film. In December 2008, Paulson appeared in the screen adaptation of Will Eisner's comic book The Spirit, playing an updated version of the character Ellen Dolan.

In 2008, ABC cast Paulson in the pilot Cupid, which was ordered to series. It was a remake of the 1998 series starring Jeremy Piven and Paula Marshall. In the new version, Paulson starred opposite Bobby Cannavale. It debuted in late March 2009 on ABC but was cancelled on May 19, 2009, after six episodes. In February 2010, Paulson was cast as the circa 1982 mother of main character Meredith Grey, on the ABC drama Grey's Anatomy, appearing in a flashback sequence in a season-six episode. She then played Nicolle Wallace in the HBO film Game Change (2012), based on events of the 2008 U.S. presidential election campaign. For her performance, she earned Primetime Emmy Award and Golden Globe Award nominations.

Paulson returned to theater in March 2013, appearing in an Off-Broadway production of Talley's Folly opposite Danny Burstein. She then starred in the third season of American Horror Story, titled Coven (2013) as Cordelia Foxx, a witch who runs an academy for other young witches. The same year, she starred as Mary Epps, an abusive slave-owner, in the historical drama film 12 Years a Slave. The film was a critical success, earning numerous accolades.

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 dated only 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."

In 2014, Paulson appeared in the fourth season of series of American Horror Story, titled Freak Show, playing the roles of conjoined twin sisters Bette and Dot Tattler, who are members of a circus freak show. She returned for the fifth season, subtitled Hotel, in the role of Hypodermic Sally, the ghost of a drug addict trapped in a Hollywood hotel. She also reprised the character of Billie Dean Howard in the last episode of the season, making a crossover appearance. During this time, Paulson also took on the role of Abby Gerhard in the Todd Haynes-directed romantic drama Carol (2015), a period piece in which she played the supporting role of Cate Blanchett's close friend.

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

Beginning in February 2016, Paulson starred in the first season of the true crime anthology series American Crime Story, subtitled The People v. O.J. Simpson, portraying prosecutor Marcia Clark. She garnered widespread critical acclaim for her performance and won various awards, including the TCA Award for Individual Achievement in Drama, the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Limited Series or Movie, and the Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Miniseries or Television Film.

In June 2016, the Human Rights Campaign released a video in tribute to the victims of the Orlando nightclub shooting; in the video, Paulson and others told the stories of the people killed there. In the fall of 2016, she starred in the sixth iteration of American Horror Story, subtitled Roanoke; in it, she was cast in the dual roles of British actress Audrey Tindall and tortured wife and yoga instructor Shelby Miller, the latter of whom is portrayed by Tindall's character in My Roanoke Nightmare, a documentary within the series. She also reprised her role of Lana Winters in the final episode of Roanoke, in which the character makes a crossover appearance.

Paulson returned for the eighth season of American Horror Story, titled Apocalypse, which premiered on September 12, 2018. In Apocalypse, Paulson reprised both the Murder House and Coven roles of Billie Dean Howard and Cordelia Foxx, respectively, and also starred as the villainous Miss Wilhemina Venable. In addition to appearing as three characters, Paulson also directed one of the season's episodes, marking her directorial debut. She played Sandra Bullock's character's sister, Jessica, in the drama horror film Bird Box, which was released on Netflix in December 2018.

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

In 2019, Paulson starred as Dr. Ellie Staple in the superhero thriller film Glass, Xandra in the drama film The Goldfinch, and Dr. Zara in the animated adventure film Abominable. Paulson then starred as Alice Macray in the FX limited drama series Mrs. America, which premiered in April 2020. She also starred as Clarissa Montgomery in the HBO satirical comedy television film Coastal Elites, which premiered in September 2020. In September 2017, it was announced that Paulson would star as a younger version of Nurse Mildred Ratched, the villain of the novel One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest and its acclaimed 1975 film adaptation, in the Netflix drama series Ratched, a prequel to the novel which would portray the character's origins. The first season was released on September 18, 2020.

Paulson will star in the lead role of the thriller film Run. In August 2019, it was confirmed that she would portray Linda Tripp in the third season of the true crime anthology series American Crime Story, subtitled Impeachment. In January 2020, she confirmed that she will return to American Horror Story for its tenth season, after being absent for the ninth season.