UPDATE: Production on Impeachment: American Crime Story has temporarily shut down after an unknown number of people working on the set in an area frequented by both cast and crew tested positive for the coronavirus, Variety reported on Friday, Dec. 18. FX has not commented.
Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, which erupted in late February, most Hollywood productions have implemented strict safety protocols in which cast and crew members wear masks and practice social distancing, and also regularly get tested for the coronavirus. Other projects have also had to suspend filming due to positive COVID-19 cases.
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For all we know, it's actually Monica Lewinsky and Linda Tripp starring in Ryan Murphy's Impeachment: American Crime Story.
Beanie Feldstein and Sarah Paulson, respectively, are convincing doubles for the well-known figures, even when they're wearing masks on set. The two were spotted in character in Los Angeles, Calif. on Thursday, Dec. 10.
Filming on the series began this November, and Paulson told Entertainment Tonight that she feels like this is the "biggest swing" she's ever taken in her career. "I don't look like her and there's a lot that had to go into sort of helping to transform me," she explained, adding that her transformation into Tripp has "been very exciting and totally unnerving."
Though Paulson's onscreen appearance will require a bit of movie magic, the show will largely stick to the facts. Lewinsky herself signed on as executive producer, sharing in August 2019 that she intended to "reintroduce my voice to the conversation."
To see Beanie and Sarah on set and get a brief refresher on who's who, check out the gallery below!
Paulson was spotted on set of Impeachment: American Crime Story in Los Angeles on April 26.
The actresses are spotted in character on the set of the third season of American Crime Story.
According to multiple reports, The Sopranos actress is set to star as the former first lady, who stood by her husband after he cheated on her with White House intern Monica Lewinsky.
Lewinsky, then a White House intern, was at the center of the whole scandal when President Bill Clinton pursued an inappropriate relationship with her.
Tripp was a U.S. civil servant who worked with Lewinsky at the Pentagon, and began secretly recording phone conversations with Lewinsky to later hand over as evidence of the relationship.
In 1994, Jones, an Arkansas civil servant, accused President Clinton of sexual harassment. Prosecutor Kenneth Starr uncovered Lewinsky's affair with Clinton in the process of investigating Jones' claims.
The right-leaning pundit authored the 1998 book High Crimes and Misdemeanors: The Case Against Bill Clinton. She also served as an unpaid legal adviser to Jones during the initial court proceedings.
In January 1998, the founder of the Drudge Report was the reporter to break the news that President Clinton and Lewinsky were involved in a torrid love affair.
The former Arkansas governor became the 42nd U.S. president in 1992. Six years later, he became the second president to be impeached by the House of Representatives, having allegedly committed perjury and obstruction of justice to conceal his affair with Lewinsky.
(This story was originally published on Friday, Dec. 11, 2020 at 3:15 p.m. PT)