Sarah Paulson is back in the horror genre as a mother trying to protect her children from real and seemingly supernatural threats inHold Your Breath. After initially getting her start on Broadway in the mid-to-late ’90s, Paulson would steadily start to gain acclaim on screen with the likes of the cult classic TV showAmerican Gothicand her Golden Globe-nominated turn inStudio 60 on the Sunset Strip. Paulson would eventually become a household name thanks to her frequent collaborations with Ryan Murphy, having starred in thefirst 10 seasons ofAmerican Horror Story, as well as two of theAmerican Crime Storyinstallments, among other roles.
Paulson stars inHold Your Breathas Margaret Bellum, a mother of two children living in 1930s Oklahoma, an era of time known as The Dust Bowl, in which the Southern middle states of the US were ravaged by powerful dust storms. As she tries to keep the family fed and healthy on their dying farmland while her husband has headed to the city to look for work, the trio are surprised by the arrival of Wallace, a stranger claiming to be friends with the husband. However, as mysterious occurrences begin to happen around them, Margaret must do all she can to keep her family safe, potentially even from herself.
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Alongside Paulson, the ensembleHold Your Breathcast includesThe Bearstar Ebon Moss-Bacharachas Wallace,My Best Friend’s Exorcism’s Amiah Miller as Margaret’s eldest daughter Rose, Alona Jane Robbins as her youngest daughter Ollie, Tony winner Annaleigh Ashford andThe Old Man’s Bill Heck. Proving to be an atmospheric chiller as much as a moving family drama and timely exploration of the importance of trust in an environmental catastrophe, the movie has a lot to offer beyond just its horror genre basis.
In anticipation of the movie’s release,Screen Rantinterviewed Sarah Paulson to discussHold Your Breath, what drew her to the period horror drama, the parallels between its setting and the COVID-19 pandemic, how working on it with Moss-Bacharach was helpful when she joined the cast ofThe Bear, and how she pushed for Miller to be cast in the movie after seeing an early audition tape of hers.
Paulson FoundHold Your Breath’s COVID-19 Parallels To Be “Really Compelling”
“…nothing could be a higher-stake environment or world than that.”
Screen Rant: I lovedHold Your Breath. It is so emotional and gripping from start to finish. What was it about Karrie’s script and your character that drew you to want to be a part of it?
Sarah Paulson: Oh, gosh, you know, I’m not a stranger to this genre, so I’m always drawn to it for various reasons, but chiefly because I feel like you just get to have the biggest playground to play in, in terms of extremes and stakes. You’re always dealing with something, usually in the world of living or dying and that, of course, nothing could be a higher-stake environment or world than that.
But I found I was really, really interested in the time and place that the movie was taking place, and the idea of something that really happened in our country’s history, that you wouldn’t often think of as a setting for a movie in this genre. But to me, once you learn a little bit about it, and you understand what the reality was that these people were living through, nothing could be more terrifying, and not that dissimilar from what we were dealing with at the height of the pandemic, in terms of the very air you breathe could be dangerous. That was a really compelling thing for me too.
Paulson’s Experience With Moss-Bacharach Was A Lifesaver When MakingThe Bear
“…I was just absolutely starstruck by everyone.”
Also, I’m abig fan ofThe Bear, so I love that I get to see you reunite with Ebon in this film. What was it like doing so, especially since he plays someone a little more reserved in his sort of villainy in this?
Sarah Paulson: What’s so funny is that we shot this movie before I was on The Bear. So, Ebon and I had known each other, really, in a kind of cursory way — New York, hardscrabble, coming up, actor times, and then we made this movie together. And then, I went to shoot The Bear, and it was a great relief to me, because we had gone through something on this movie where we were really doing some wild stuff together. And then I, too, am such a massive fan of The Bear that when I walked on that set, I was just absolutely starstruck by everyone.
I just couldn’t believe I was there, and seeing his face was — even though I, of course, cherish his performance and love his performance as Richie, he was still somebody else to me prior. So, I got to just kind of be so relieved that I had a friendly familiar face. Not that they weren’t friendly! I was just so starstruck, I could barely look at anybody in the eye, and at least I could just focus on Ebon and be like, “We were in Santa Fe together, doing a lot of s–t in the dust, so, come on.” [Chuckles]
Miller’s Agent Slipped Paulson Her Audition Tape (& Paulson Was Enthralled)
“…I wrote to Karrie and Will in this kind of panic fervor…”
I also love your relationship with Amiah and Alona in this film. It really feels genuine and authentic. How did you go about building that dynamic with them?
Sarah Paulson: Yeah, it was very, very easy, because Amiah and I share an agent, and she slipped me her audition before it was going to go to Karrie and Will, and I flipped out over it. She was so self-possessed and so emotionally available and present and incredible, and her look was so right for the time period. It was really special. So, I wrote to Karrie and Will in this kind of panic fervor, just like, “I think we found the girl!” They watched the tape, and they completely agreed and said that was just so wonderful.
And she was excellent in the movie, and she’s excellent to work with, just really special. And Alona, I got to watch her audition, as well, and here’s this child who’s never acted before, ever, and was just the most compelling creature. I just couldn’t take my eyes off her, and she just cannot tell a lie. It was a really special thing to kind of have a front row seat for both of these young actresses, sort of beginning their careers, and feeling like I was really getting to see something that was really special.
AboutHold Your Breath
Oklahoma, 1930s. The Bellum family house rests in a valley of dirt as clouds of dust blot out the sun. Margaret (Sarah Paulson) and her two daughters, Rose (Amiah Miller) and Ollie (Alona Jane Robbins), tend to their sparse farm while Margaret’s husband has left in pursuit of work. As they struggle to survive the punishing Dust Bowl environment, a mysterious stranger (Ebon Moss-Bachrach) arrives, threatening all they know and love. But is the threat a closer one?
Check out our otherHold Your Breathinterviews with:
Hold Your Breathbegins streaming on Hulu and Disney+ on October 3.
Hold Your Breath
Cast
In 1930s Oklahoma, during the devastating dust storms, a woman becomes convinced that a sinister presence is threatening her family.
