Sarah Paulson on ‘Ratched’ Season 2 Plans and Her New ‘American Horror Story’ Character

“The most exciting thing for me is I get to have a hair color I’ve never had on [‘AHS’],” Golden Globe nominee tells TheWrap

RATCHED (L to R) SARAH PAULSON as MILDRED RATCHED in episode 106 of RATCHED Cr. SAEED ADYANI/NETFLIX © 2020

“Ratched” star Sarah Paulson was one of the lucky actors to be nominated for a 2021 Golden Globe award Wednesday morning. But as an executive producer on the Ryan Murphy Netflix drama, she also takes a great sense of pride in the nods the “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” prequel and her co-star Cynthia Nixon received, too.

“That kind of thing is very, very, very special to me that the show was nominated,” said Paulson, who is up for Best Performance by an Actress in a Television Series – Drama. The show will be competing for the top honor of best drama, while Nixon is in the running for her supporting role.

“Cynthia’s nomination makes me so happy. I mean, so much of Mildred [Ratched] was really about her love story with [Nixon’s character] Gwendolyn and the fact that Cynthia was honored as well, it just feels really, really delicious to me and makes the whole thing feel that much more special,” Paulson said. “And then the really extraordinary thing for me was that the show was also recognized, because I think so many of the actors on our show are some of the finest around… It’s just a myriad of magical performers, so I feel like that nomination is for all of them as well.”

She continued: “But as an EP for the first time, it feels like a real special thing. I have been lucky enough to be a part of something that’s been nominated as whole, but I’ve never felt the feeling of pride in the same way, because as an actor, you have a limited ability in the narrative and things. You’re just there to do your piece of the story. So that has felt a little bit different this morning and it’s really interesting and special.”

Paulson is currently shooting Murphy’s “Impeachment: American Crime Story” and is about to begin filming her part on Season 10 of his other FX anthology, “American Horror Story,” meaning the pair have had little time to start planning the second season of “Ratched,” though the show was already renewed by Netflix. But Paulson does have a few ideas about where things are headed for Mildred in Season 2.

“I certainly think the story going forward is going to involve something about a tectonic plate shift inside of Mildred in terms of who and what her brother is and what she’ll be willing to do and, most importantly, not willing to do for him anymore,” Paulson said. “Or are we going to go down a road where her love for her brother contributes to her behaving in ways that are morally reprehensible, that we’ve already seen in the first season that she did solely for him? And the consequences were significant, people lost their lives. So it’s a question of how far will that love of her brother take Mildred? Will it take her away from Gwendolyn? Will Nurse Bucket maintain her camaraderie? There are a bunch of ways it can all shake out and I am the last person to tell you where that currently lives in Ryan’s mind, I have no idea. I’ve got my head underwater with the Linda Tripp of it all and I can’t even think about Mildred — except for this morning.”

Speaking of Linda Tripp, the role Paulson is playing in “American Crime Story” Season 3, TheWrap asked the actress to tell us if she prefers that part to her character in “AHS” Season 10. Seeing as few details about the season have been revealed, including Paulson’s role, there was little she could say — except that she’s excited to be rocking a new hairdo.

“Well, here’s the deal, I haven’t started ‘Horror Story.’ We’re only into Episodes 1 and 2 and about to start 3 of ‘Crime Story.’ Though ‘Horror Story’ is shooting, they haven’t been able to have me yet because of what I’m doing on ‘Crime Story,’” Paulson said. “But in a minute or two, that will start to be in front of me, of trying to do both of them at the same time. So I don’t know yet what it’s like to play the gal I’m playing over on ‘Horror Story’ this year, but I can tell you that I’m looking forward to it. I think the character may not be something you haven’t seen — I don’t mean I’m playing a character I’ve played before, I am not — but she’s got a little bit of a few people rolled in there. But the most exciting thing for me is I get to have a hair color I’ve never had on the show, nor have I ever had it in life, and it’s something I’ve always dreamt of doing, never done. So I get to live out that fantasy, so that’s exciting for me.”

Comments

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.