httpss://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mj2pUmnXX98
It finally happened: Sarah Paulson has won her first Emmy, for outstanding lead actress in a limited series or movie.
During her acceptance speech, Paulson used her time onstage to publicly apologize to Clark-who was sitting in the audience-for misperceiving her, as much of the public did, during the O.J. Simpson trial.
“It was a roll the dice when I asked her to come with me because I thought they could very easily not call my name and then she’d be t,” Paulson said, playing out the scenario in which she lost her category.
She’s been nominated for a gold statuette every year since 2012-first for outstanding supporting actress in a limited series or movie, following her turn in Game Change, and then for her roles in Ryan Murphy’s American Horror Story universe.
This year, she actually received two nominations: outstanding supporting actress in a limited series or movie, for her turn as Billie Dean Howard in A.H.S.’s fifth season, and outstanding lead actress in a limited series or movie, for her stellar performance as Marcia Clark in the first season of Murphy’s American Crime Story anthology, The People v O.J. Simpson.
As she accepted her award, Paulson paid tribute to her fellow cast members, including Sterling K. Brown, who had won his first Emmy for outstanding supporting actor in a limited series or movie moments before.
Perhaps the most impressive facet of Paulson’s performance in People v O.J. was how it re-framed the narrative surrounding the real-life Clark, who also attended the ceremony as Paulson’s plus one.
During the murder trial, Johnnie Cochran even called her “Hysterical.” People v O.J. captured not only the racial tensions surrounding the trial, but also zoomed in on Clark, painting her as a flawed but strong person-someone who dealt with an unconscionable amount of mistreatment.