Sarah Paulson Says Pedro Pascal Is 'Always Trying' to Make Her Watch Scary Movies — but She 'Just Can't' (Exclusive)

Mar. 15, 2025

Sarah Paulson and Pedro Pascal.Photo:Bruce Glikas/WireImageShe may be a bonafide scream queen, but nobody can dragSarah Paulsonto see a scary movie — not evenPedro Pascal!While chatting with PEOPLE about her upcoming thriller,Hold Your Breath, the actress admits that despite her iconic performances in the genre — and love for her fellow scream queens — she cannot bring herself to watch most horror.“I’m such a ninny when it comes to horror stuff,” Paulson, 49, tells PEOPLE. “Not to evoke Pedro Pascal, ‘cause I feel like my friendship with him … I don’t want it to get in the way of my talking about this movie, but he’s the person who is always trying to get me to go see scary movies.”One such movie wasHereditary. While Paulson’s turn as grieving mother Margaret inHold Your BreathevokesToni Collette’s iconic performance in the 2018 film, the star took no direct inspiration because, well, she never saw it.“I remember [Pascal] talking aboutHereditaryand being like, ‘You have to see this movie.’ And I was like, ‘There’s no f—— way I am going to see that movie,’ ” she recalls. “Everyone I know wants me to go see all theConjuringmovies ‘cause I loveVera Farmiga, and it’s like… I just can’t do it.”Sarah Paulson and Pedro Pascal.John Sciulli/Getty ImagesDespiteThe Last of Usstar’s persistence and her “reverence” for horror greats like Collette, Farmiga and Mia Goth — “one of my favorites of all time” — Paulson simply cannot bring herself to enjoy the genre.“I just can’t watch the movies,” she tells PEOPLE. “I’m sorry, I love you all. You’re all geniuses. I wish I could see it and steal everything that you’re doing and pass it off as my own invention, but I just can’t do it.“Don’t get it twisted, though — Paulson has long felt at home in horror.“I feel like a lot of people are very interested in casualizing things as actors, in order to make it feel real. But the reason I love working in this genre is that there is no part of a person in these stories that doesn’t feel like what is happening to them is literally life and death,” she says. “Because usually in these stories, in the genre, it is.”“So my penchant for the dramatic — you know, my mother called me Sarah Bernhardt as a child, which I can talk to my therapist about what that does to a person — but basically I always had big reactions to things,” she continues. “And I feel like in that world, it really lends itself.”Never miss a story — sign up forPEOPLE’s free daily newsletterto stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from juicy celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.Sarah Paulson in season 3 of ‘American Horror Story’.FXAfter getting her “feet wet in the horror world” throughAmerican Horror Story, Paulson’s relationship with the genre blossomed from a love match into a “wonderful marriage” — and ifHold Your Breathis any indication, she’s still in the honeymoon phase.“I could do all that stuff onAmerican Horror Storyand never feel like I was overdoing it,” she says. “It was like the bigger the better, and I don’t mean be big just for big’s sake, but I mean the more important something was to any character I was playing, the more robust the response could be.”So, her inability to stomach scary films aside, “this genre and I are just a nice marriage,” she says. “A nice arrangement.”Hold Your Breathis on Hulu Oct. 3.

Sarah Paulson and Pedro Pascal.Photo:Bruce Glikas/WireImage

Bruce Glikas/WireImage

She may be a bonafide scream queen, but nobody can dragSarah Paulsonto see a scary movie — not evenPedro Pascal!While chatting with PEOPLE about her upcoming thriller,Hold Your Breath, the actress admits that despite her iconic performances in the genre — and love for her fellow scream queens — she cannot bring herself to watch most horror.“I’m such a ninny when it comes to horror stuff,” Paulson, 49, tells PEOPLE. “Not to evoke Pedro Pascal, ‘cause I feel like my friendship with him … I don’t want it to get in the way of my talking about this movie, but he’s the person who is always trying to get me to go see scary movies.”One such movie wasHereditary. While Paulson’s turn as grieving mother Margaret inHold Your BreathevokesToni Collette’s iconic performance in the 2018 film, the star took no direct inspiration because, well, she never saw it.“I remember [Pascal] talking aboutHereditaryand being like, ‘You have to see this movie.’ And I was like, ‘There’s no f—— way I am going to see that movie,’ ” she recalls. “Everyone I know wants me to go see all theConjuringmovies ‘cause I loveVera Farmiga, and it’s like… I just can’t do it.”Sarah Paulson and Pedro Pascal.John Sciulli/Getty ImagesDespiteThe Last of Usstar’s persistence and her “reverence” for horror greats like Collette, Farmiga and Mia Goth — “one of my favorites of all time” — Paulson simply cannot bring herself to enjoy the genre.“I just can’t watch the movies,” she tells PEOPLE. “I’m sorry, I love you all. You’re all geniuses. I wish I could see it and steal everything that you’re doing and pass it off as my own invention, but I just can’t do it.“Don’t get it twisted, though — Paulson has long felt at home in horror.“I feel like a lot of people are very interested in casualizing things as actors, in order to make it feel real. But the reason I love working in this genre is that there is no part of a person in these stories that doesn’t feel like what is happening to them is literally life and death,” she says. “Because usually in these stories, in the genre, it is.”“So my penchant for the dramatic — you know, my mother called me Sarah Bernhardt as a child, which I can talk to my therapist about what that does to a person — but basically I always had big reactions to things,” she continues. “And I feel like in that world, it really lends itself.”Never miss a story — sign up forPEOPLE’s free daily newsletterto stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from juicy celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.Sarah Paulson in season 3 of ‘American Horror Story’.FXAfter getting her “feet wet in the horror world” throughAmerican Horror Story, Paulson’s relationship with the genre blossomed from a love match into a “wonderful marriage” — and ifHold Your Breathis any indication, she’s still in the honeymoon phase.“I could do all that stuff onAmerican Horror Storyand never feel like I was overdoing it,” she says. “It was like the bigger the better, and I don’t mean be big just for big’s sake, but I mean the more important something was to any character I was playing, the more robust the response could be.”So, her inability to stomach scary films aside, “this genre and I are just a nice marriage,” she says. “A nice arrangement.”Hold Your Breathis on Hulu Oct. 3.

She may be a bonafide scream queen, but nobody can dragSarah Paulsonto see a scary movie — not evenPedro Pascal!

While chatting with PEOPLE about her upcoming thriller,Hold Your Breath, the actress admits that despite her iconic performances in the genre — and love for her fellow scream queens — she cannot bring herself to watch most horror.

“I’m such a ninny when it comes to horror stuff,” Paulson, 49, tells PEOPLE. “Not to evoke Pedro Pascal, ‘cause I feel like my friendship with him … I don’t want it to get in the way of my talking about this movie, but he’s the person who is always trying to get me to go see scary movies.”

One such movie wasHereditary. While Paulson’s turn as grieving mother Margaret inHold Your BreathevokesToni Collette’s iconic performance in the 2018 film, the star took no direct inspiration because, well, she never saw it.

“I remember [Pascal] talking aboutHereditaryand being like, ‘You have to see this movie.’ And I was like, ‘There’s no f—— way I am going to see that movie,’ ” she recalls. “Everyone I know wants me to go see all theConjuringmovies ‘cause I loveVera Farmiga, and it’s like… I just can’t do it.”

Sarah Paulson and Pedro Pascal.John Sciulli/Getty Images

DespiteThe Last of Usstar’s persistence and her “reverence” for horror greats like Collette, Farmiga and Mia Goth — “one of my favorites of all time” — Paulson simply cannot bring herself to enjoy the genre.

“I just can’t watch the movies,” she tells PEOPLE. “I’m sorry, I love you all. You’re all geniuses. I wish I could see it and steal everything that you’re doing and pass it off as my own invention, but I just can’t do it.”

Don’t get it twisted, though — Paulson has long felt at home in horror.

“I feel like a lot of people are very interested in casualizing things as actors, in order to make it feel real. But the reason I love working in this genre is that there is no part of a person in these stories that doesn’t feel like what is happening to them is literally life and death,” she says. “Because usually in these stories, in the genre, it is.”

“So my penchant for the dramatic — you know, my mother called me Sarah Bernhardt as a child, which I can talk to my therapist about what that does to a person — but basically I always had big reactions to things,” she continues. “And I feel like in that world, it really lends itself.”

Never miss a story — sign up forPEOPLE’s free daily newsletterto stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from juicy celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.

Sarah Paulson in season 3 of ‘American Horror Story’.FX

After getting her “feet wet in the horror world” throughAmerican Horror Story, Paulson’s relationship with the genre blossomed from a love match into a “wonderful marriage” — and ifHold Your Breathis any indication, she’s still in the honeymoon phase.

“I could do all that stuff onAmerican Horror Storyand never feel like I was overdoing it,” she says. “It was like the bigger the better, and I don’t mean be big just for big’s sake, but I mean the more important something was to any character I was playing, the more robust the response could be.”

So, her inability to stomach scary films aside, “this genre and I are just a nice marriage,” she says. “A nice arrangement.”

Hold Your Breathis on Hulu Oct. 3.

source: people.com