Sarah Paulson has reason to celebrate. After 20 year in the business, Paulson won her first Emmy on Sunday, and she's still riding high on the victory.
The People v. O.J. Simpson star covers this week's issue of Variety magazine, where she reflects on her career and opens up about the Emmy win.
aulson revealed that going into the ceremony, her main wish was that co-star, Sterling K. Brown, snagged an award for his portrayal of prosecutor, Christopher Darden.
"It's the one award that if nothing else happened, even my own, I wanted that for him," she told the magazine. "There are actors in that room who have been doing this forever, who have been coming to the Emmys forever, standing up for this man. His work was that powerful."
Jose Mandojana/Variety
Ultimately, Brown took home the award for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Limited Series or Movie, and Paulson followed him with an Outstanding Supporting Actress trophy for her role as Marcia Clark, the head prosecutor in the O.J. Simpson case.
"As an actor, you're always afraid that you don't belong, especially when you keep getting let into rooms that you're not sure you should be in, with more people that you respect and admire," Paulson explained. "You say to yourself quietly, 'I hope they don't realize that they let me in here and make me leave.' Somehow, standing there with all of those people, their reaction made me think that I belonged."
Winning an Emmy is more than validation of her hard work, the win equals more jobs. "This means someone else will ask me to do something great," Paulson said.
Opportunities are already rolling in for the 41-year-old actress. As confirmed in the Variety interview, Paulson has been added to the all-female cast of Ocean's Eight. The comedy heist flick, co-starring Sandra Bullock, Cate Blanchett, Anne Hathaway, Rihanna, Helena Bonham Carter, Mindy Kaling, and rapper/comedian Awkwafina, premieres sometime next year.
Relive Paulson's emotional Emmy's speech in the video below.