Power couple Holland Taylor and Sarah Paulson steal the show on the Emmys red carpet – as usual
Sapphic power couple Holland Taylor and Sarah Paulson appeared on the red carpet together at the 76th annual Emmys on Sunday (15 September), and stole the show with their stunning outfits and hilarious banter.
49-year-old Paulson was nominated for outstanding guest actress in a drama series, for her role as a therapist in Mr & Mrs Smith. It was her ninth Emmy nomination – all for playing different characters, making her the first star to reach that milestone.
“It means audiences have accepted me playing different people and haven’t just gotten attached to me as a character they love. It means they’re responding to my work and not just to me as a person or a character,” Paulson told Deadline. She won the award for outstanding lead actress in 2016, for playing Marcia Clark in American Crime Story.
Taylor was nominated for outstanding supporting actress in a drama series, for playing Cybil Richards in The Morning Show.
Neither picked up an award but both appeared to be happy and content. They have been together since 2015 and are often asked about their relationship, especially with regard to the age difference between them: Paulson is 49 and Taylor is 81.
Speaking with People, Paulson joked that she only went to the Emmys to hold Taylor’s fan. “This is the nominee, I’m here with the fan,” Paulson said. “Just don’t ever say that I’m not supportive and ready and willing and able, because it’s not about me tonight as you can tell by the fan that I carry.”
Taylor, who was wearing an immaculately tailored white suit, jokingly replied, “You’re my fan carrier.”
Taylor recently said that they aren’t planning to get married despite clearly being dedicated to each other. She told Andy Cohen on Radio Andy: “We’ve never talked about it with any interest. It doesn’t seem to mean to us what it means to a lot of people.
“We do have a wonderful resonance. We are very interested in the same kinds of things, and yet we share big differences. We have a big generational difference, which worries me for her sake.”
Paulson also previously confirmed a rumour about the relationship, saying the secret to its success is that they “spend plenty of time together” but don’t “actually live in the same house”, adding: “We’re together when we want to be, and not when we don’t.”
What are critics saying about Sarah Paulson’s new movie Hold Your Breath?
Psychological thriller Hold Your Breath premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival earlier this month, and while reviewers are not too keen on the film as a whole, they all agree on one thing: Paulson is excellent.
She plays Margaret Bellum, a woman in 1930s Oklahoma whose family has to deal with the region’s “horrific dust storms”. But she also is convinced that there is “a sinister presence” threatening them: The Grey Man, a creepy figure who forces his victims to commit heinous crimes, and who uses dust as a cover.
Variety’s Siddhant Adlakha says the film “often does too much, reaching for too many different sources for its attempted thrills and chills, which results in a mostly scattered experience”. However, one of its strengths is the “committed lead performance from Sarah Paulson, who proves once again that horror would be poorer without her. She’s a treat to watch, even when the rest of the movie isn’t”.
Collider agrees, saying Paulson is the film’s “saving grace [and] a much-needed beacon in the movie’s barren landscape”. Reviewer Shaina Weatherhead goes on to say: “Trauma and natural disasters are serious issues with proven potential in the horror genre but this movie manages to underutilise both, leaving a raw and committed Paulson giving her all for limited payoff.”
Hold Your Breath is due to premiere exclusively on Hulu in the US on 3 October.
Share your thoughts! Let us know in the comments below, and remember to keep the conversation respectful.
How did this story make you feel?