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May 19, 2013

Sarah Paulson cast in Cupid; Studio 60 fans point and laugh

by Joel Keller, posted Jun 11th 2008 11:39AM

Sarah PaulsonIt's hard to believe that we're a full year removed from the glorious mess that was Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip. It seemed that the split between "liked it" and "hated it" was about 50-50, but everyone wanted to comment. One thing I noticed in those comments was that, even among the people who liked it, there was a strong sentiment against the performance of Sarah Paulson as Harriet Hayes. Most people just didn't like the chemistry she had with Matthew Perry, and she didn't manage to make us care enough about the plight of the über-religious comedian to root for her to connect with anyone.

So, for anyone who's looking forward to the revival of Rob Thomas' Cupid, the news that Paulson's been cast as the female lead on the show has to be disheartening. She's playing Dr. Claire Allen, the same role Paula Marshall played in the original series, opposite Bobby Cannavale, who is taking over the Cupid role from Jeremy Piven.

The only possible saving grace about this news is that, because Cupid keeps himself celibate, the sexual tension between the doctor and Cupid might be light at best. However, if that was the only issue people had with her turn as Harriet on S60, this wouldn't be so much of a problem; her performance was often so light and inconsequential that you were just aching her to stretch beyond "annoyed" and "less annoyed." Maybe she's learned her lessons from that disaster; she's also going to be in the movie version of The Spirit, a comic with a lot of darkness and emotional resonance. Hopefully she'll bring some of what she learned there to the set of Cupid.

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gooby

I like Sarah Paulson but why not cast Paula Marshall for the role?!!!! She's not doing much these days and it would have been great seeing her on telly again. But I guess she is a bit of a kiss of death to tv shows, isn't she? All her shows get cancelled.

June 12 2008 at 5:09 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
1 reply to gooby's comment
Joel Keller

Gooby, Paula is starring in the upcoming CBS sitcom "Project Gary," so she wasn't available. Also, she's ten years older than she was the first time, so I'm guessing they were looking for someone a bit closer in age to Cannavale.

June 12 2008 at 7:36 AM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Edd

I liked her a lot! The only problem was her stupid character, they should have left the Christians at the door (or in the bin!)

June 11 2008 at 3:21 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Jay Black

Those of you speaking disparagingly of Sarah Paulson: are you forgetting her Holly Hunter impression? I think everyone is forgetting her Holly Hunter impression!

June 11 2008 at 2:03 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
2 replies to Jay Black's comment
Beth

That was funny. And I liked the Nancy Grace impression.

But I still couldn't care about her character.

June 11 2008 at 10:37 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
JFM

I loved her Holly Hunter impression; otherwise, I thought she was terrible. No chemistry with MP, and nothing about her so-called "Christianity" was believable. Lousy actress, imho.

June 19 2008 at 11:30 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Jon

This is looking to be the fifth ring of suck. She was so poorly cast in Studio 60. I wanted to throw something at my TV every time she was on it.

June 11 2008 at 1:48 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
1 reply to Jon's comment
Beth

I completely agree. I came to the show for Matthew Perry but almost hated his character b/c of their relationship. She's just not believable to me..I'm not sure if it was the character or SP herself that bothered me, but everytime she opened her mouth, I wanted to rip my arm off just so I'd have something to throw at her (Friends reference anyone?)

June 11 2008 at 10:40 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Drew

I love Bobby Cannavale, he's great. Studio 60 was awful. Who cared about the show behind the show. The writing was a little "we're better than you are" too.

And Sarah Paulson is very mediocre. Paula Marshall was great in that role as well as incredibly adorable. Sarah, not so much.

June 11 2008 at 1:23 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Omar

i think her character sucked more than she did. if shes half as good as paula marshall i'll be happy. she was great with piven (and the show was shot in between the three blocks from my office to my apartment).

June 11 2008 at 12:54 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
david

think 50-50 is being a little generous... think it was more like 50% of people hated it, 47% percent of people had never heard of it, and than 3% were fanatically obsessed to the point of no return

June 11 2008 at 12:47 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
lucyfan62

I liked her as the ghostly sister on American Gothic, and she was okay in the movie Down With Love - although she seemed much too young for the part she was playing. Don't hold one bad show against her - and yes, S60 was bad! I'm sure she was directed to act in a specific way on S60 because that's who the character was. People seem to forget that actors have show creators and directors telling them how they want the character to act, react and behave. It's not always the actor's fault!

June 11 2008 at 12:10 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
1 reply to lucyfan62's comment
R.A. Porter

And in this case, the poor girl had the completely whack-job Aaron Sorkin telling her to act like an insane version of Kristin Chenowith.

I think Paulson is an excellent choice and I look forward to seeing her chemistry with Bobby Cannavale.

June 11 2008 at 12:48 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Heather

Hey!! I like her lol. Not on that show but in general from her other performances.

June 11 2008 at 12:09 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply
Fred

I didn't think the character or chemistry worked very well on Studio 60, but honestly, that was among the least of the show's problems. I like Paulson and am not at all disheartened by the news. Seriously, one role (good or bad) does not a career make.

June 11 2008 at 12:09 PM Report abuse rate up rate down Reply

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