For her spellbinding portrait of Marcia Clark in “The People v. Simpson: American Crime Story,” Sarah Paulson had won every major award —the first actor in history to do so — but the film offers never came. To add insult to injury, she watched her scene partners, Courtney B.
Brown, receive roles in major Hollywood movies. What was it about her that the film world refused to embrace? It has taken a decade for Paulson to be offered a role worthy of her ability and stature, and it came from the unlikeliest of places: Cody Fern, her co-star in “American Horror Story: Apocalypse.” The dashing Australian actor, who portrayed the Antichrist, was so blown away by Paulson’s embodiment of three distinct characters on the Ryan Murphy series that he got to work writing a part that would show filmgoers what she was truly capable of.
The result is “Closing Night,” which will make its world premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival. Fern’s filmmaking debut follows Sandra Vale (Paulson), a glamorous movie star who invites her estranged sister (Naomi Watts), nephew (Toby Wallace) and his girlfriend (Odessa A’zion) to the opening night of her Broadway play, only to collapse onstage. The incident, and Sandra’s subsequent diagnosis, sparks a familial reckoning as lingering resentments bubble to the surface, leading to one fiery confrontation after another.
There are powerhouse performances galore in “Closing Night,” including the inimitable Dianne Wiest as the family matriarch, but it is more than anything a showcase for Paulson, who vacillates between venomous and vulnerable as she grapples with the skeletons in her closet and worsening condition. It’s a turn so remarkable that you should be hearing a lot more about it this awards season. That’s the truth,” Paulson tells Variety.
But I don’t think I would think of it as originating there in the sense that our friendship and relationship was born there, and our mutual respect and admiration for each other as actors was born there, but I certainly was not hip to Cody’s other skill set. This was an entirely revelatory moment for me when he sent me the script. What did I feel when I got the script?
I thought he must have sent it to Cate Blanchett or Kate Winslet, is what I thought. It’s a part in the film space that I haven’t had the opportunity to embody. I’ve had a lot of spectacularly rich and deep, complicated roles on television and on stage, but I hadn’t had this opportunity in the film space in a good while.
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