Actress Sarah Paulson is receiving backlash after her decision to wear a 'fat suit' for her new role playing American civil servant Linda Tripp. Watch trailer for Impeachment: American Crime Story below:
Tripp played a vital role in the Clinton-Lewinsky scandal in 1998 where the former president faced allegations that he had an affair with a former White House intern.
However, critics have said that Paulson, instead of putting on a five pound 'fat suit', should have avoided the role and let someone with the appropriate figure do it.
Paulson is known for her roles in 12 Years a Slave (2013), Run (2020) and Glass (2019).
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In an interview with Los Angeles Times, Paulson says that she understood the criticism about wearing the padded suit.
Paulson said: "It's very hard for me to talk about this without feeling like I'm making excuses. There's a lot of controversy around actors and fat suits, and I think that controversy is a legitimate one.
"I think fat phobia is real. I think to pretend otherwise causes further harm. And it is a very important conversation to be had.
"But that entire responsibility I don't think falls on the actor for choosing to do something that is arguably - and I'm talking about from the inside out - the challenge of a lifetime.
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She added: "I do think to imagine that the only thing any actor called upon to play this part would have to offer is their physical self is a real reduction of the offering the actor has to make.
"Was I supposed to say no [to the part]? This is the question."
Paulson also went on to say that wouldn't take a similar job in the future that involved similar requirements.
She concluded: "I think the thing I think about the most is that I regret not thinking about it more fully. And that is an important thing for me to think about and reflect on.
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"I also know it's a privileged place to be sitting and thinking about it and reflecting on it, having already gotten to do it, and having had an opportunity that someone else didn't have,' the 46-year-old Golden Globe winner shared.
"You can only learn what you learn when you learn it. Should I have known? Abso-f***ing-lutely. But I do now. And I wouldn't make the same choice going forward."
Cast members include: Paulson (Linda Tripp), Annaleigh Ashford (Paula Jones), Beanie Feldstein (Monica Lewinsky), Clive Owen (President Bill Clinton), Edie Falco (Hillary Clinton), Margo Martindale (Lucianne Goldberg).
Impeachment: American Crime Story will premiere on FX on September 7th.
Featured Image Credit: PATopics: TV and Film, US