Sarah Paulson has admitted that she found criticism of her role in Impeachment: American Crime Story "hurtful” in a recent conversation with The Wrap
The Emmy-winning actress starred in the limited series as Linda Tripp, a former White House staffer who played a pivotal role in the Clinton-Lewinsky scandal of 1998. Tripp, who passed away in April 2020, was a controversial figure in her lifetime, and Paulson's decision to wear a so-called "fat suit" to play her was called into question.
After photos of Paulson as Tripp emerged in April, Refinery29's Erica Russell wrote an opinion piece titled "Dear Hollywood, Can You Please Just Hire Actual Fat People to Play Fat Characters?"
Responding to this and other criticism, Paulson told The Wrap: "It did hurt my feelings, but partly because it felt, as often happens when you're criticized for your work… it’s very hard to not personalize." 
"And it’s very hard to not want to say, ‘I just spent two years of my life and then I gained 30 pounds to play this part,’" the actress added. "I slept, breathed, wept, bled Linda Tripp for two years. So for you to sit down at your computer and decide that this endeavor was maybe not worthwhile, and that maybe I shouldn’t have been the one to play it, it’s so hurtful and also wrong."
Impeachment: American Crime Story co-starred Beanie Feldstein as Monica Lewinsky, Clive Owen as Bill Clinton, and Edie Falco as Hillary Clinton. Paulson previously won an Emmy for her performance as prosecutor Marcia Clark in another installment in the same anthology series, The People v. O. J. Simpson: American Crime Story. 
What did you think of Sarah Paulson’s performance as Linda Tripp in Impeachment: American Crime Story?