Sarah Paulson calls out actor who sent her six pages of notes

Sarah Paulson will never forget the actor who sent her six pages of unsolicited notes after seeing her in a play.

Paulson recently appeared on the “Smartless” podcast, where she and hosts Jason Bateman, Sean Hayes and Will Arnett discussed the theater habit of celebrities who come backstage to meet the cast.

When Bateman asked the group if they would accept criticism from these attendees, Paulson recalled the “scandalous” experience she had after a show.

“I once performed a play. The last time I was on stage, I was doing a play called ‘Talley’s Folly’ at the rotunda, and the actress – and I’m going to say this, and I’m not going to ask you to leave this out, because I don’t care , this actress came to the play. Her name is Trish Hawkins – Hello, Trish! Hello, Trisha!” Paulson said. “Trish Hawkins came to the play – am I going to get sued? It doesn’t matter to me because I think this is scandalous.”

She continued, “She came to the part, then said, she looked at me up and down and then she said, ‘Your dress is yellow. Mine was pink.” And I was like, ‘What?’

Hawkins originated the role of Sally Talley in “Talley’s Folly” during both its off-Broadway run in 1979 and its Broadway debut in 1980. In 2013, Paulson played the same character in an off-Broadway revival of Lanford Wilson’s play.

According to Paulson, her own mother took Hawkins to watch Talley’s Folly because they were “in some kind of writing group together.”

“Two days later I got a six-page email with notes and a message to me about what she had done when she had done the piece, what she recommended I do,” Paulson added. “It was outrageous. It was really scandalous. Trish Hawkins, I haven’t forgotten and I hope I never see you again.

Paulson admitted she still has Hawkins’ notes, but she never told her mother about the incident. “I just put it back in the file with the things my mom did,” she said.

Paulson scored her first-ever Tony nomination this year for her performance in the comedy-drama “Appropriate.” Her other Broadway credits include “The Sisters Rosensweig” (1993), “The Glass Menagerie” (2005) and “Collected Stories” (2010).

Listen to the full ‘Smartless’ episode with Paulson below.