Originally appeared on E! Online
Sarah Paulson doesn’t care who your parents are.
The “American Horror Story” actress shared her two cents on nepotism in the industry by emphasizing the talent of Ella Beatty — the youngest daughter of Oscar winners Annette Bening and Warren Beatty — her costar in the Broadway play “Appropriate.”
“The nepo baby thing gets a lot of play, but the truth of the matter is like, this is a perfect example of why I sort of don’t know how much weight that holds or if it’s really specific to the real gravitas that Ella possesses,” Paulson exclusively explained to E! News. “The sort of specialness of the way she was raised, I think, by two real human beings — who may have a certain standing or status within the industry — but that is the least relevant thing to them as a family.” (for more from Paulson and her “Appropriate” costars tune into E! News April 3 at 11 p.m.)
In fact, Ella Beatty has already impressed Paulson, as well as other costars Michael Esper and Corey Stoll since joining the show in March.
Your Guide to Sarah Paulson’s Roles as Ryan Murphy’s Muse
As the “Billions” actor noted, “Acting is about studying human behavior, so if you are divorced from that, if you don’t understand people and love people, you can’t be a good actor.”
Sarah Paulson talks about mirroring the accents of people she is talking to, Beyoncé blowing her and Pedro Pascal a kiss during her Los Angeles concert and starring in the Broadway play “Appropriate.”
Paulson also touched on her own path into the industry — and how it felt to make it inside after being on the outside.
“My mom was a waitress at Sardi’s, which was the restaurant right next to the theater where we began this production at the Helen Hayes,” the 49-year-old explained. “That was her first job in New York, and there I am now. I had dreams then of being an actress and now actually getting to do it is such a wild thing.”
And Paulson — whose career comes full circle in “Appropriate” as she made her on-stage debut as an understudy in 1994’s “The Sisters Rosensweig” — added, “All I thought about was ‘This is nutty.’ And that makes me feel a lot of pressure too.”
“Appropriate,” which has now moved to the Belasco Theater to extend its Broadway run, is running until June 23.
–Reporting by Ashley Bellman