Sarah Paulson has never and will never forget the woman who saw her perform off-Broadway in “Talley’s Folly” and proceded to email her six pages of notes. Paulson used Jason Bateman, Sean Hayes and Will Arnett’s “Smartless” podcast to eviscerate that other actress when asked about people coming backstage after performances of her current play, “Appropriate.”
“I did do a play once — the last time I was on stage, I did a play called ‘Tally’s Folly’ at the Roundabout, and the actress — and I’m going to say this and I’m not going to ask you to cut this out because I don’t f–king care — this actress came to the play. Her name is Trish Hawkins — hi Trish! Hi Tricia!” Paulson began. “Trish Hawkins came to the play — am I going to get sued? I don’t care. Because I think this is outrageous.
“But she came to the play, proceeded to say — she looked at me up and down and then she went, ‘Your dress is yellow. Mine was pink.’ And I thought, ‘What?’”
“Oh, she did the character before you,” Bateman whispered.
“Cut to two days later, I got an email that was six pages long of notes and a communication to me about what she had done when she had done the play, what she recommended I do,” Paulson added “It was outrageous. It was really outrageous. Trish Hawkins, I have not forgotten it, and I hope to see you never.”
“Talley’s Folley” debuted on Broadway in 1980 by playwright Lanford Wilson. It’s the second play in The Talley Trilogy and takes place on the Fourth of July in 1944. Touted as a romantic comedy, it follows unlikely sweethearts Matt Friedman and Sally Talley as they work out their feelings for each other.
Hawkins played Talley when the play debuted on Broadway – and the year before when it was still off-Broadway, starring opposite Judd Hirsch. Paulson played the character in an off-Broadway revival in 2013. Today, Paulson is Tony-nominated for her starring performance in Broadway’s “Appropriate.”
“I don’t know you as well as these guys and I have a real feeling that we’re going to be better friends than they could ever imagine,” Arnett said. “I love you for saying that so f–king much.”
Paulson was seen most recently in Amazon Prime Video’s “Mr. and Mrs. Smith” and FX’s “The Bear.”
You can listen to the full episode of “Smartless” with Sarah Paulson here: