Sarah Paulson: Watching Myself as Marcia Clark in 'The People v. O.J. Simpson' 'Literally Made Me Ill'

Executive producer Brad Simpson also discussed the possibility of a second season

Photo: J.R. Mankoff/August

Sarah Paulson is nominated for a lead actress Emmy for her portrayal as Marcia Clark in the limited series The People v. O.J. Simpson – but she hasn’t watched herself in the role.

The 41-year-old actress revealed at the show’s panel at the Television Critics Association in Beverly Hills on Tuesday that she unintentionally “just saw a little bit” for the first time.

“I haven’t seen any of it and I just saw a little bit of that verdict,” Paulson said during the panel of watching herself on-screen. “It literally made me physically ill. I thought I was going to cry and I was going to throw up.”

Of portraying prosecutor Clark, Paulson said, “I felt very, very connected to her and to watch her lose it is somehow separate enough for me – and yet I feel inside of it.”

“I didn’t really think of her as a human being. I was just trying to honor what was on the page. Of course it changed the way I thought about her,” the actress admitted of playing Clark. “I feel like it changed me molecularly in a way. Who I was when I came into this and who I became when it was over has changed.”

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Though the show received 22 Emmy nominations, including outstanding limited series, executive producer Brad Simpson said there won’t be a second season for The People v. O.J. Simpson.

“We’ve been pitched that. We don’t want to overstay our welcome. This is closed off,” Simpson said of the possibility of season 2. “That show would just be about O.J. What we had here was all these characters colliding. I think the case is closed for us on O.J.”