It’s not unusual for an actor to receive nine Emmy nominations throughout their careers. This year alone, stars like Jennifer Aniston, Hank Azaria, Christine Baranski, Alex Borstein, Sterling K. Brown, Carol Burnett, Larry David, Donald Glover, Jon Hamm, Steve Martin, Bob Odenkirk, Maya Rudolph, Martin Short, Jean Smart, Holland Taylor and Kristen Wiig all hit nine or more career Emmy bids. However, Sarah Paulson stands alone in that all nine of her nominations came for nine different projects.
This year, Paulson is up for her guest stint on Prime Video’s “Mr. and Mrs. Smith,” in which she plays an unnamed “Therapist” in the episode titled “Couples Therapy (Naked & Afraid).” She treats married spies John Smith (Donald Glover) and Jane Smith (Maya Erskine) at her luxurious home, and she gets into a bit of trouble when she reveals she’s been recording their therapy sessions.
Paulson’s co-nominees in the 2024 Emmy category of Best Drama Guest Actress are Michaela Coel (“Mr. and Mrs. Smith”), Claire Foy (“The Crown”), Marcia Gay Harden (“The Morning Show”) and Parker Posey (“Mr. and Mrs. Smith”).
It’s been a dozen years since Paulson first heard her name called as an Emmy nominee, for the TV movie “Game Change” (2012). She portrayed real-life journalist Nicolle Wallace, and lost that supporting actress race to her frequent collaborator Jessica Lange (“American Horror Story: Murder House”).
One year later, she contended in supporting for the fan-fave “American Horror Story: Asylum” (2013) as fictitious journalist Lana Winters, but she was bested by Ellen Burstyn (“Political Animals”).
In 2014, Paulson was elevated to a lead actress for “American Horror Story: Coven,” in which she took on the role of a witch named Cordelia Goode Foxx. Her co-star Lange won that award for playing Cordelia’s mother, Fiona Goode.
Paulson then sunk her teeth into the supporting role(s) of conjoined twins Bette Tattler and Dot Tattler in “American Horror Story: Freak Show” (2015). But that trophy ultimately went to Regina King (“American Crime”).
2016 turned out to be a banner year for the actress, as she received double Emmy bids for “The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story” in lead as real-life prosecutor Marcia Clark (which she won) and “American Horror Story: Hotel” in supporting as ghost Sally McKenna and psychic Billie Dean Howard (which she lost again to King for “American Crime”).
Paulson played a phobic woman named Ally Mayfair-Richards in “American Horror Story: Cult” (2018), in what turned out to be her last nom to date for the “AHS” franchise. Once again she lost to King, but this time it was up in the lead category for “Seven Seconds.”
Four years later, her role as scandalous politico Linda Tripp in “Impeachment: American Crime Story” (2022) earned her Emmy nomination #8. But the winner in that lead race wound up being Amanda Seyfried (“The Dropout”).
And that brings us to 2024, with Paulson scooping up her ninth career Emmy notice for “Mr. and Mrs. Smith.” It comes one month after she proved victorious at the Tony Awards for the play “Appropriate.” Note that this is the first time the actress is contending for a drama series at the Emmys, as all of her prior citations came in the limited series/TV movie categories. Can she pull off the win and earn herself a bookend trophy? Stay tuned.
PREDICT the 2024 Emmy winners through September 15
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