“I still don’t know that I have the words for it,” admits Sarah Paulson as she gathers her thoughts surrounding her recent Tony nomination, “it just was and has been the most special experience of my professional life thus far.” Though the actress is an Emmy and Golden Globe winner, she never earned a nomination from the Tony Awards until now, despite making her professional acting debut on Broadway. Thankfully her Tony fortunes have changed, ironically with a character named Toni, in the hit family drama “Appropriate.” Watch the exclusive video interview above.
In the play from writer Branden Jacobs-Jenkins, Paulson portrays one of three siblings who return to their family’s plantation home to settle their late father’s estate. Toni, the eldest of the three, has shouldered most of the burden. So when a shocking family secret is unearthed amid the piles of junk, Toni’s pain and frustration is unleashed upon her family.
It’s a gross understatement to say that Paulson exists in a heightened emotional state during the play. She rockets through Jacobs-Jenkins dialogue with an fiery intensity, verbally (and sometimes physically) eviscerating her family members like an unstoppable force. “It is wild to start a play at kind of an eight and then actually find yourself at some point at a twelve,” notes Paulson, “energetically, vocally, emotionally, she’s quite engaged from the jump.” It requires a great deal of work to physically and vocally sustain herself at this level for eight shows a week, but she admits that she is locked in to the athleticism of the endeavor. “I feel the most sort of ready to go as an actor as I’ve ever felt,” says Paulson.
Ever since her turn as Linda Tripp in “American Crime Story,” Paulson has worked with movement coach Julia Crockett in order to help locate the physicality of her characters. Crockett joined the actress for “Appropriate” as well, working with the star to shape Toni’s battle-ready spirit. “What we came up with was this idea of Toni as a bowling ball,” explains Paulson, “and that she is always moving internally, moving even if she’s standing still.” The imagery creates a constant energy that courses through the actress on stage, and feeds into the character’s quick turns towards anger. “Toni has a way of deflecting,” elaborates Paulson on her character’s survival instincts, “It’s almost, it’s like a ball comes over the fence and she just whacks it back as hard as she can without thinking about the consequences.”
WATCH Corey Stoll exclusive video interview: ‘Appropriate’
Though Paulson has been working on stage for the past six months, she still has managed to debut two exciting new characters on screen. On “Mr. and Mrs. Smith” she appears as a therapist, acting as a brilliant foil to the titular couple. And in “The Bear” she arrives as Carmy’s (Jeremy Allen White) cousin Michelle.
“Donald Glover calls you say, yes,” Paulson states matter-of-factly about her decision to join “Mr. and Mrs. Smith.” It was similarly a dream scenario to hop into “The Bear,” a series she had been asking creator Christopher Storer to join for some time. “It was my absolute favorite show,” she admits. In both cases she signed up for the role without reading the script, putting her trust in both show’s creators to cook up juicy material. “For some people that might be a dice roll,” says Paulson, “but I’ve basically done that every time out of the gate with Ryan [Murphy].” Saying yes to these opportunities allowed the actress to have fun with new collaborators without having to design a season-long arc for a lead character. “It was really fun, really fun to pop in and not have to carry the weight of something,” suggests Paulson, “but just be there to have in support of a greater picture.”
She is a strong Emmy contender for both roles and would one of only a few performers to receive guest nominations for drama and comedy in the same season.