During a recent interview with Variety, Sarah Paulson opened up about the lack of movie role offers she received after sweeping awards for her performance in The People v. O.J. Simpson.
Sarah won every major acting award — including the Best Actress Golden Globe and Outstanding Lead Actress Emmy — for her portrayal of prosecutor Marcia Clark in the Ryan Murphy-produced series, which premiered in 2016.
Ever since, Sarah has continued to land a bunch of TV roles — namely in series developed or produced by Murphy, like American Horror Story, Ratched, and All's Fair.
And while she hasn’t bagged a huge number of roles in acclaimed movies, she did star in the 2019 action film Glass, the 2020 psychological thriller Run, the 2024 horror Hold Your Breath, and, most recently, Closing Night.
Regardless, Sarah opened up in her Variety interview about the lack of “big movies” she was offered after The People v. O.J. Simpson. “The first person to come to me was M. Night Shyamalan with this movie called Glass, which was a sequel to Split, but even that was 9 to 10 months after the show. Ocean’s 8 came after that, but that was only after another actress had passed on the role. So no, I did not feel a wild influx,” she shared.
Sarah then name-dropped her The People v. O.J. Simpson costars Sterling K. Brown and Courtney B. Vance, who played Christopher Darden and Johnnie Cochran, respectively, as she compared their career trajectories to hers.
“Sterling K. Brown and Courtney B. Vance both got big movies after O. J. and I did not, and the only thing I can attribute it to is that I’m a woman, and I was a woman of a certainly age already then — I was 41 — and I was playing a woman who was not hyper-sexualized and a character who potentially was —depending on how it hit you — unlikable,” she said.
For context, Courtney — who is 15 years older than Sarah — has appeared in films and on Broadway since the ‘80s. His performance as Cochran earned him numerous award nominations, yet while he led the 2023 crime thriller Heist 88, he has largely taken on major supporting roles since O.J. premiered.
Meanwhile, Sterling has starred in several movies — and was even nominated for the Best Supporting Actor Oscar back in 2024 for his performance in American Fiction — yet his biggest works have still been on TV shows, including This Is Us and Paradise.
In spite of the roles they’ve landed, both Sterling and Courtney’s immense talents have been described as somewhat underused within Hollywood. In The Predator and Black Panther, critics complained that Sterling wasn’t given enough screen time and was confined to a supporting role. And while Courtney has had a successful career spanning decades, he still isn’t as widely recognized outside The People v. O.J. Simpson that his work warrants.
It’d also be reductive to explore this subject without considering race. UCLA's recent Hollywood Diversity Report showed that Black actors held approximately 6.5% of leading roles in top Hollywood films, while their white counterparts held around 76.9%.
So, while several people empathized with Sarah, given that women are no doubt still severely underrepresented in top Hollywood movies, others couldn’t help but question her name-dropping of Sterling and Courtney as she made her point.
It's also worth mentioning that none of the other stars from the O.J. series who also earned big nominations for their performances — like John Travolta and David Schwimmer — have been in many major movies lately.
“Surely there was a better way to express this without comparing the difficulties of casting to two Black actors who will always have it harder than a white actor. Like I get the point but also, maybe those two weren’t the ones to compare,” one person wrote on X.
Hmmm. Surely there was a better way to express this without comparing the difficulties of casting to two Black actors who will always have it harder than a white actor. Like I get the point but also, maybe those two weren’t the ones to compare. https://t.co/hvTQtI2oxk
— Caroline Renard (@carolinerenard_) September 13, 2026
Variety / © FX / Courtesy: Everett Collection / Via x.com
“trying to throw two black men under the bus is very icky & weird and not the girl boss moment she think it is,” someone said, while another user agreed, “Something about her comparing herself to two black actors, as if their paths to success were easy, feels quite off the mark.”
Variety / © FX / Courtesy: Everett Collection / Via x.com
“it feels very out of touch to single out two black men specifically like white women have fewer opportunities in Hollywood than them? maybe she didn't mean for it to come off that way, but the reality is that women account for about 40ish% of lead roles in film compared to 6.5% for black actors, men and women,” one Reddit user said.
“I think this is a very white woman take, which unfortunately is typical. She can see sexism, but not racism. Two black men in Hollywood most certainly do not have it easier than white women in that industry,” another person suggested, while someone else said, “This is a perfect example of lacking self awareness.”
Amid the discourse, some people suggested that Sarah has “pigeonholed” herself by becoming synonymous with Ryan Murphy’s projects. “Throwing two Black male actors under the bus all because you weren’t getting called for roles as a white woman…… But idk maybe stop committing yourself to mostly projects by Ryan Murphy????” someone tweeted. “the idea that there is more room in hollywood for Black men than White women is silly girl it’s because you keep doing those damn ryan murphy shows,” another user echoed.
“Odd to single out two black men in particular. If she wants better roles she should get away from Ryan Murphy and being involved in every trash project he does,” one more user agreed.
Yikes. Let us know what you think in the comments.
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