--- description: Sarah Paulson is on the TIME 100 2017 list. Cate Blanchett wrote about the actor. title: Sarah Paulson by Cate Blanchett: TIME 100 image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltdd2e3f7d238722f2/6988c3660b72e32a386ed669/time-100-2017-sarah-poulson1.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 --- Apr 20, 2017 # Sarah Paulson by Cate Blanchett  Photograph by Julia Noni for TIME When someone is as unique and unboxable as Sarah Paulson, it takes time for creative spaces to open up that are large and porous enough to hold the depth and complexity of her talent. In remaining true to her distinct voice, she has been at the forefront of a generation of women who are changing the landscape of the film and television industry. She has played everything from a two-headed circus performer (_American Horror Story: Freak Show_) to an unflappable Marcia Clark (_The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story_). Ryan Murphy, who cast Sarah on these shows, has played no small part in cracking open the shell of a rare pearl. I, too, have had the privilege of working with Sarah. When I first met her, on the set of _Carol_, I was floored by her buoyancy, her irreverence, her left-field sense of humor and her devotion to her craft. You enter a scene with Sarah and it’s _game on_. She brings with her, in work as in life, the sense that anything is possible. Anything. _Blanchett is an Oscar-winning actor_ ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"Article","@id":"https://time.com/collections/2017-time-100/4736222/sarah-paulson/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/collections/2017-time-100/4736222/sarah-paulson/"},"headline":"Sarah Paulson","datePublished":"2017-04-20T04:56:17.000Z","dateModified":"2026-07-21T07:22:25.037Z","description":"Sarah Paulson is on the TIME 100 2017 list. Cate Blanchett wrote about the actor.","url":"https://time.com/collections/2017-time-100/4736222/sarah-paulson/","keywords":["TIME 100"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltdd2e3f7d238722f2/6988c3660b72e32a386ed669/time-100-2017-sarah-poulson1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"TIME Staff","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/time-staff/"}],"creator":"TIME Staff","articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltdd2e3f7d238722f2/6988c3660b72e32a386ed669/time-100-2017-sarah-poulson1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/collections/2017-time-100/4736222/sarah-paulson/","name":"Sarah Paulson"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"See All the TIME 100 Honorees in One Minute","description":"The TIME 100 honorees include actors, musicians, politicians, business leaders, activists and scientists, and together make a portrait of influence in 2017.","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/zZCdrcRA/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2017-04-20T10:30:45.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/zZCdrcRA.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/collections/2017-time-100/4736222/sarah-paulson/","duration":"PT56S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/collections/2017-time-100/4736222/sarah-paulson/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```