Ryan Murphy just can't quit Sarah Paulson—thankfully.
The two have been working together since 2004 and just lined up another project, but this time it's not on FX. Paulson will star in a One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest prequel TV series playing Nurse Ratched for Netflix. What is it about Paulson that makes her such a great muse for Murphy?
"What I love about [Paulson and Jessica Lange, another Murphy muse] as people and actors is they don't suffer fools and they're all about, ‘How can we make this better? Let's keep working at it.' They're a fount of ideas and they work really hard and prepare a lot," Murphy told Kristin Dos Santos in March 2017.
"Jessica and Sarah are people who come to the set…and know all of the parts," he continued, "so it's very interesting to me to say, well what do you think about that B subplot, even though you're not in it, do you have an opinion?"
"They're both perfectionists and they give everything to a project and then they get exhausted and then you have to wait until they get restored…I love them both and I think of them for everything I do just because I love being around them," Murphy said.
Paulson and Murphy's working relationship, which shows no signs of slowing down, has been going on for 13 years. Your guide to all their projects, past, present and future is here!
Paulson starred in an episode of Murphy's FX plastic surgery series as Agatha Ripp. In the episode, titled "Agatha Ripp," Paulson's character claims to have stigmata. They didn't work together again until 2011.
Paulson appeared in three episodes of the first season of American Horror Story as Billie Dean Howard, a psychic. She would later reprise the role in the fifth season of American Horror Story.
In the second season, Paulson was a full-blown series regular and the hero of the season. Asylum featured Paulson playing journalist Lana Winters, a lesbian who looks into the abuses at Briarcliff. She would later get trapped there, escape, kill her serial killer son and live to tell the tale. The character also appeared in the sixth season of American Horror Story.
"The show really felt...really focused on Lana's story and her journey. I felt very connected to it. Because this show is a miniseries and has a beginning, a middle and an end to it, when it was time to say goodbye, it was really saying goodbye. I knew even though I was going to do the show next year, I knew I wasn't going to be playing that character and I would never play her again and it was over forever and ever," she told us during AHS: Coven. "I think there's something about the nature and the way that we do this—there are 13 episodes and the story starts and there's an end to the story and you put it away forever—that kind of lends itself to feeling very connected to the characters your playing...For me it was Lana. Lana's a character that I felt most connected to and part I most loved playing."
Paulson got witchy as Cordelia Foxx, the daughter of Jessica Lange's Supreme character. She was blinded, got her sight back and eventually became the Supreme witch herself and went public with their magical school in New Orleans.
Double the Paulson! In this season, Paulson played conjoined twins, Bette and Dot Tattler. Two heads are better than one.
From conjoined twins to Sally McKenna, a junkie ghost. Paulson also played Billie Dean Howard in this season.
Paulson took home her first Emmy (Yes, can you believe that?! Only her first!) for playing prosecutor Marcia Clark in the first installment of Murphy's American Crime Story franchise. She bonded with the real Marcia Clark and even takes her to events. The power of tequila!
The season that was shrouded in secrecy turned everything on its head when it took on reality TV. Paulson played an actress, Audrey, playing Shelby, in reenactments. And then Lana Winters came back! Confused? It's OK.
Paulson reunited with Jessica Lange…sort of. In one episode of the Emmy-nominated series, Paulson played Oscar-winning actress Geraldine Page.
The current season of AHS has Paulson playing Ally Mayfair-Richards, a woman who is not only afraid of clowns, but having serious issues coming to terms with the outcome of the 2016 presidential election.
After months of speculation and casting announcements that included Annette Bening, Dennis Quaid and Matthew Broderick, everything changed for what was originally going to be the second season of American Crime Story. The series will now be based on Sheri Fink's Five Days at Memorial and feature Paulson as Dr. Anna Pou, a physician who led the hospital staff in euthanizing terminally ill patients after her hospital lost power following Hurricane Katrina.
Prequel alert! Netflix handed out a two-season order to the project from Murphy and Michael Douglas that will explore the origins of Nurse Ratched from One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest. Louise Fletcher played the character in the film.
American Horror Story: Cult airs Tuesdays, 10 p.m. on FX.
Nurse Ratched and Katrina: American Crime Story do not have premiere dates.