Sarah Paulson is a convincing Linda Tripp in first look at American Crime Story: Impeachment
In another timeline, the latest season of Ryan Murphy’s American Crime Story arrived just in time to coincide with this year’s election (more like HELLection, nailed it). But the powers-that-be at FX and a deadly pandemic prolonged our wait for the highly-anticipated Impeachment installment, which boasts a cast as every bit as stacked as the previous seasons: Beanie Feldstein as Monica Lewinsky, Clive Owen (!) as Bill Clinton, and Murphy forever-favorite Sarah Paulson as Linda Tripp. Although Impeachment won’t premiere until sometime in 2021, Paulson has generously blessed our timelines with a first look at her pretty convincing iteration of Tripp:
Following her stunning and empathetic portrayal of Marcia Clark in The People V. O.J. Simpson, we’re particularly eager to see what Paulson can do for Tripp, who played a key role in the Clinton-Lewinsky scandal that led to the highly-publicized impeachment of the former president. The women involved in that scandal became punching bags in the media and in pop culture, where their looks were frequently (and lazily) mined for comedy. Tripp was senselessly mocked for her size and often portrayed on television by large men like John Goodman, who famously donned Tripp drag for SNL.
It’s only been in recent years, and with damning hindsight, that many people have come to see just how poorly the media handled the Clinton impeachment—specifically their treatment of women like Lewinsky and Tripp. Maybe American Crime Story can help continue to set the record straight about why the public despised these women, and how unfair and cruel that perception was.