Sarah Paulson blasted people for criticizing her performance as Aileen Wuornos in “Monster: The Lizzie Borden Story” and comparing it to Charlize Theron’s Oscar-winning portrayal of the character.
On the latest episode of Netflix’s “Shut Up Evan,” podcast, Paulson lamented those who were mocking her portrayal of the famed serial killer while also wondering why there can’t be other interpretations of the person after Theron played Wuornos in the 2003 film — also titled “Monster” — that won her the Best Actress Academy Award.
“It’s just the sort of weird thing where it’s like, I didn’t set out to do something better than Charlize Theron,” Paulson told host Evan Ross Katz. “I didn’t set out to blast hers off the screen or something – as if anyone could do that,” she said. “It’s the most glorious performance in the world.”
She added: “People get to reinterpret great plays all the time. No one goes, ‘Oh I don’t want to see Glenn Close’s version of this play because I saw so-and-so’s version or this director’s.’”
The frequent Ryan Murphy collaborator explained that she dove into her own research behind the killer and that melded with “my personhood and how it comes out through me.” Paulson added that one of her first thoughts when she was approached for the part was whether or not she wanted to suffer through the comparisons to Theron’s performance.
“It flashed in front of me like, ‘People are going to compare it to Charlize, and that’s going to be so – why would I do that?’” she said. “Why would I want to go out in the world and give a performance when someone has won an Oscar for that? Like, that’s some kind of psycho behavior on your part, Sarah Paulson.”
Despite middling reviews and critiques, the latest season of “Monster” is yet another hit for Netflix. Viewership for Season 4 of the controversial anthology series jumped 20% from its premiere week to gather 14.5 million views. It was also was No. 1 on the Global top 10 English list, ranking in the top 10 in 92 countries, up from 89 in its first week. It also reached no. 1 in 36 countries, up from 16 in week one.
