Sarah Catharine Paulson (born December 17, 1974) is an American actress. She began her acting career on stage and starred in the 1990s television series American Gothic (1995–96) and Jack & Jill (1999–2001). Paulson appeared in comedy films such as What Women Want (2000) and Down with Love (2003), and had dramatic roles in Path to War (2002) and The Notorious Bettie Page (2005). From 2006 to 2007, she played Harriet Hayes in the NBC comedy-drama Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip, earning her first Golden Globe nomination. In 2008, she starred as Ellen Dolan in the superhero noir film The Spirit.
Paulson appeared on Broadway in The Glass Menagerie (2005) and Collected Stories (2010). She starred in independent films and led the ABC comedy Cupid in 2009. She appeared in Martha Marcy May Marlene (2011) and received Emmy and Golden Globe nominations for playing Nicolle Wallace in HBO's Game Change (2012). She starred as Mary Epps in 12 Years a Slave (2013) and Abby Gerhard in Carol (2015), both critically acclaimed and nominated for multiple Academy Awards.
Beginning in 2011, Paulson starred in FX's American Horror Story, portraying different characters across six seasons. She received four Primetime Emmy nominations (2013–16) and won two Critics' Choice Television Awards for Best Supporting Actress (2013 and 2015). In 2016, she portrayed prosecutor Marcia Clark in American Crime Story: The People v. O. J. Simpson, winning the Critics' Choice Television Award for Best Actress, Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Limited Series or Movie, TCA Award for Individual Achievement in Drama, Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Miniseries or Television Film, and Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Miniseries or Television Movie.
United States
