-I think for people our age,
your memory of this impeachment saga is far different.
Like, you think about it, or I think about it
when I reflect back on it, as a political event.
And this show does a very nice job
of showing how human beings were affected,
and in particular, how young Monica Lewinsky was
when this was all happening. -Monica Lewinsky --
I mean, there are so many things about Monica's experience
during this time that I had no idea about.
And I, too, had my own opinions about Monica.
But, you know, she was held in a hotel room by the FBI
for 12 hours while waiting for her mother to come
from New York City to D.C., and, you know, it just --
When you really, really think about it,
she was essentially a child.
And there was one person who should have been responsible
to not only his family, but to the country,
and that didn't happen so much.
-Yeah. -You know?
-You know who I'm talking about.
-I do know who. -Okay. Cool, cool.
I'm sort of a political junkie. -Are you? Oh, yeah.
[ Laughter ]
-But I want to also -- you talk about responsibility.
And you also, not just as an actor but as a producer on this,
you guys obviously understood
you had a responsibility as well.
And I know Monica worked on it. -She did.
-But, you know, there were other people involved.
And, you know, Linda Tripp is someone that I think
we all just have this one idea of who she is.
-Yeah. Detestable traitor.
Betrayer of a friend. Yeah.
-And you wanted to make sure you got this right.
No to sort of sugar-coat her behavior,
but just to try to present a more three-dimensional person.
-Yeah, because I feel like, why do it otherwise?
John Goodman already did an excellent job
on "Saturday Night Live." -Very three-dimensional.
-Very three-dimensional, showed all the aspects of it.
I really didn't know where to go from there.
It felt like a complete thing.
So, I just...
The thing is, Linda was a wonderful mother
and subsequently a wonderful grandmother
and had a lot of attributes as a human being
that were worthwhile in terms of the human experience.
But she did do, I think, an unforgivable,
very, to this day, to me, still mysterious thing.
I've tried to come up with the reasons why I think it happened.
I -- I have the reason.
I let the rest of the world determine
whether or not they think that suffices.
But, you know, I was terribly sad when she died.
-She passed away last year. -She died in April 2020.
We were supposed to start shooting in March,
and then of course, because of the pandemic,
we didn't start shooting till October of 2020,
instead of March.
And, you know, I got so many texts the day she died,
as if it were me or somebody that I actually knew.
-Was she aware that you guys were embarking on it?
-I have no idea.
I had a fantasy of being able to meet her one day
and just tell her that I had a lot of --
I wouldn't say sympathy, but empathy
for what she went through.
-Well, I think, yeah, what you said really rings true,
and I think it's a thing that people talk about now,
which is you can do a terrible thing,
but there are the sort of multitudes of every human being.
-Correct. And, you know, I do believe
deep down she thought she was doing something
for a greater good.
It's just probably greatly blinded by other factors,
and didn't think about the consequences on this,
as we were saying, terribly, terribly young woman.
-You did hear -- you got feedback from I think it was --
we were talking backstage -- one of her daughters.
-Yeah, Allison,
who is featured in the show quite heavily as we go along.
There does come a point in the story
where Monica and Linda are no longer together,
where they basically never saw each other again,
so that happens.
I was very moved by what I read that her daughter said.
And for me, as far as critics go,
it's the only thing that mattered to me
that she in fact -- at least as far as seeing the first episode.
She made it very clear where she was like,
"I've only seen one
and I may not hold on to this thought by the end of it,"
which is totally fair.
But it meant that maybe, you know --
she sort of said she wished her mother could have seen it,
and that to me is...
single tear. -Yeah, single tear.
You mentioned your getting your lightning bolt --
electrified hair. -Yes.
-And then you've been out with it, right?
-Yeah, yeah.
Yeah, that's Hypodermic Sally,
and it's not even the most effective photograph.
-This one kind of looks fine. -This one looks fine.
-But there is one -- -If you were like --
You guys know Hypodermic Sally.
You're like, "Yeah, she's pretty hot."
Well, I want you to meet her friend.
[ Laughter ] Yeah.
-I mean, really.
It's almost as if Ryan doesn't like me very much.
Isn't this what it seems like?
-So, you have, you've been out in, like, public.
-I would shoot until, you know, 11:00 at night
and forget that I looked like this,
'cause I was also shooting Marcia Clark at the same time,
which was another really stellar physical -- a lot of wigs.
But this was my own hair. This is not a wig, Seth.
-This is the real thing? -This is my hair.
I would walk at night to the supermarket, as you do,
and I would get my items and I would go to pay for them,
and the gentleman behind the counter was always like,
"I'll -- I'll take your..."
Like, here's a quarter and a nickel and he's like,
"Oh, just take it. Just take it."
'Cause it was not...
I had scratches painted on me. It was bad.
-How many times -- do you know off the top of your head
how many times you've worked with Ryan?
-Do I count each iteration of "American Horror Story"?
-You do. -Individually?
-Yeah.
-So, that's nine seasons of "American Horror Story,"
two seasons of "Crime Story.
I did a pilot for him called "Nip/Tuck."
I did...
What else did I do?
Oh, I did "Ratched." -Yeah.
-"Pretty/Handsome" was the pilot I did.
"Nip/Tuck" I did an episode of. So, that's...
-Yeah, that's -- -"Feud," I was in.
Did anybody count? Was anybody counting?
-I think it's like 14 or 15, but I think it's impressive.
-Were you really counting? -I was, like...
I mean, there was like nine... -You stopped at one point.
-You said nine, and then I was just like, I'm just gonna add...
[ Laughter ]
-"You were like, "Night-night."
"Let me know when you're done counting, Paulson."
-But it's a very impressive number.
You guys must have a very nice shorthand now, I would imagine.
-We do. It goes like this.
"Hi. This is what you're doing." "Great. Bye."
-And that's sort of it. -Now off to the wigs!
-Off to the wigs, and I'll see you later, and you know.
-It's always great to see you. -Really good to see you, too.
-Congratulations on the show. Thanks for being here in person.
-Thanks, man. Thanks for having me.
-Next time I'll have an audience for you.
-Please do. -I will.
"Impeachment" airs Tuesdays at 10 p.m. on FX.
"American Horror Story: Double Feature"
airs Wednesdays at 10 p.m. on FX.
and streaming the next day via FX and Hulu --
You're everywhere, Sarah. -I'm everywhere.