Advertisement

Sarah Paulson Responds to Critics of Her and Holland Taylor's 32-Year Age Gap

Sarah Paulson Responds to Critics of Her and Holland Taylor's 32-Year Age Gap

From Good Housekeeping

Sarah Paulson couldn't be happier with girlfriend Holland Taylor by her side.

Both, of course, are Hollywood queens in their own ways. Most notably, Sarah, 46, is known for her roles in FX's American Horror Story and starring in the Netflix thriller series Ratched (which earned her a 2021 Golden Globe Award for Best Actress – Television Series Drama nomination). Holland, 78, meanwhile, is perhaps most recognizable for playing Judge Roberta Kittleson in The Practice and Evelyn in Two and a Half Men.

But these two share more than just a common love of acting. Sarah and Holland have been together since 2015, though they first crossed paths at a dinner party roughly 14 years ago, according to The New York Times. At the time, Sarah was still with her ex-girlfriend Cherry Jones. Nonetheless, Sarah remembers thinking that Holland was "probably the most exquisitely beautiful woman" she'd ever seen.

A few years later, the two saw each other again when both were asked to participate in a video campaign for Martha Plimpton's A Is For reproductive rights organization. After that, they followed each other on Twitter. Sarah revealed on Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen years later that Holland directly messaged her on the app, which led to a dinner date. And the rest is history.

Over the years, the pair's 32-year age gap has drawn scrutiny from outsiders. But Sarah doesn't let the hearsay get to her — in fact, she told The New York Times that their age difference actually makes their relationship work even better.

“I think there’s a greater appreciation of time and what you have together and what’s important, and it can make the little things seem very small," Sarah explained. "It puts a kind of sharp light mixed with a sort of diffused light on something. I can’t say it any other way than there’s a poignancy to it, and a heightened sense of time and the value of time.”

Photo credit: Jon Kopaloff
Photo credit: Jon Kopaloff

Holland, meanwhile, is equally crazy about Sarah, but admits that it was hard to be open about their relationship in the beginning.

"I'm from an older generation and for me it's quite surprising how people talk about personal things of any kind in the press. It's not natural to me," she told Instyle. "That doesn't mean it's not good, it's just taken some adjusting. And Sarah, of course, is from a different generation, she's very much of today. It was hard for me at first to go through that membrane of being a private person. But it's been good for me to do it in such a lovely way."

Regardless of what anybody thinks, Sarah relayed to Elle in 2018 that she hopes, at the very least, some of the conversation prompted by their relationship leads others to feel free to be themselves and live life on their own terms.

“I didn’t choose to fall in love with the person I fell in love with. But I think why it’s interesting to people is that on paper, it’s unconventional,” she reflected. “For a person who might find themselves in a situation that they fear will be misperceived or judged, maybe they could see me living my life in a way that is authentic to me — just trying to be as real as possible. If that inspires anybody else, that can’t be a bad thing.”

You Might Also Like