Sarah Paulson will never forget the actor who sent her six pages of unsolicited notes after watching her in a play.
Paulson recently appeared on the “Smartless” podcast, where she and hosts Jason Bateman, Sean Hayes and Will Arnett discussed the theater custom of celebrities coming backstage to meet with the cast.
When Bateman asked the group if they would accept criticism from these visitors, Paulson recalled the “outrageous” experience she had after a show.
“I did do a play once. The last time I was on stage, I did a play called ‘Talley’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—ing care — this actress came to the play. Her name is Trish Hawkins — Hi, Trish! Hi, Trisha!” Paulson said. “Trish Hawkins came to the play — am I going to get sued? I don’t care, because I think this is outrageous.”
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She continued, “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?’”
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Hawkins originated the role of Sally Talley in “Talley’s Folly” both during its 1979 off-Broadway run and its Broadway debut in 1980. In 2013, Paulson played the same character in an off-Broadway revival of the Lanford Wilson play.
According to Paulson, her own mother had brought Hawkins with her to watch “Talley’s Folly” because they were “in some kind of writing group together.”
“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.”
Paulson admitted she still has Hawkins’ notes, but she never told her mother about the incident. “I just put it back in the file of things my mother has done,” she said.
Paulson scored her first-ever Tony nomination this year for her performance in the comedy-drama “Appropriate.” Her other Broadway credits include “The Sisters Rosensweig” (1993), “The Glass Menagerie” (2005) and “Collected Stories” (2010).
Listen to the full “Smartless” episode featuring Paulson below.
