Emmy Contender Sarah Paulson Talks About Hitting Career Peak at Age 41 in OJ Simpson Drama

Success, you could say, has snuck up on Sarah Paulson. At the age of 41, the actress finds herself unpredictably enjoying a career peak, with four Emmy nominations in the last four years and two more chances this year, most notably for her searing and sensitive portrayal of Marcia Clark in “The People v. O.J. Simpson,” the 10-part FX miniseries about the double murder trial that riveted the country in 1995. That Paulson is a standout in the sprawling ensemble should not come as much of a surprise to those who’ve paid attention. It comes on the heels of a series of critically acclaimed portrayals, in the HBO movie “Game Change,” in all five seasons of “American Horror Story” and in a string of acclaimed indie movies from “Martha Marcy May Marlene” to “12 Years a Slave” to “Carol.” Still, this widespread acclaim at a relatively late age for an actress has caught Paulson off guard, because it’s nothing like the career she envisioned as an aspiring actress at a performing-arts high school in New York City.