There are many evils depicted in 12 YEARS A SLAVE, Steve McQueen‘s searing depiction of slavery in America, and actress Sarah Paulson is party to quite a few of them. Playing the wife of a merciless plantation owner (portrayed by Michael Fassbender), Paulson’s Mary Epps is as cold and remorseless as her husband, even if she doesn’t wield a whip and looks for all the world like a dignified lady. Indeed, Mary Epps might just be the true brains of the plantation, as well as its dark heart.
Paulson, of course, is anything but devious. A gifted actress of both stage and screen, Paulson is likely best recognized at the moment for her two turns in “American Horror Story”; this month, she’ll make her third appearance on the demented anthology. And though she’s played some characters of questionable morality (check out her wonderfully creepy guest appearance on “Deadwood”), 12 YEARS A SLAVE shows her in a whole new light. (Or darkness.) Here we speak about how she gets into the mindset of the awful Mrs. Epps, how difficult it was for her to watch the final product, and – just for fun – what we can expect from the new season of “American Horror Story.”
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