Sarah Paulson shares why playing Aileen Wuornos in Monster left her genuinely scared

Sarah Paulson did an incredible job portraying Aileen Wuornos in Monster: The Lizzie Borden Story, even though her inclusion didn’t make much sense.  

As for why Aileen Wuornos was included in a show about Lizzie Borden, who was alive decades before, Lizzie’s actress, Ella Beatty, explained: “Every season of Monster has been an exercise in understanding the person’s psychology. Are they born or are they made? I knew from the beginning that Ryan Murphy and Ian Brennan were really interested in exploring what brings a woman to the point of violence.”

I can’t say it made much sense, but there’s no denying that Sarah Paulson’s acting chops are a massive positive for any TV project; Monster included. 

Still, Sarah Paulson was scared to play Aileen Wuornos

Credit: Netflix

In an interview with People at the premiere of American Horror Story, Sarah Paulson opened up about playing serial killer Aileen Wuornos. 

“It was one of the greatest experiences of my life getting to do that and hard and scary,” she said. “I feel very, very honoured and touched that people have been responding positively to it. It was a really scary thing to do.”

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Sarah Paulson is famously a scaredy-cat, which is ironic given her prominence in the AHS universe, but playing an infamous serial killer wasn’t the thing that had her bricking it. 

She explained: “Obviously, many people have played that role, and brilliantly. So, to throw my hat in the ring for one of the many interpretations of the character felt like a real honour and a total parachute jump out of a plane.”

Though Sarah Paulson didn’t name her, she’s definitely referencing the similarly named film, Monster, starring Charlize Theron and Christina Ricci. In the flick, directed by Patty Jenkins, Charlize played Aileen and went on to win an Oscar, a Golden Globe, a BAFTA, and dozens of other awards. 

Monster: The Lizzie Borden Story is streaming now. For all the latest Netflix news and drops, like The Holy Church of Netflix on Facebook. 

Featured image credit: Netflix and Steven Bergman/AFF-USA/Shutterstock