Sarah Paulson Was ‘Intimidated’ to Join ‘The Bear’ After Asking to Be Cast on Instagram

It turns out that even Sarah Paulson is intimidated by “The Bear.”

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The iconic Emmy and Tony Award-winning actress was part of the star-studded ensemble for viral “The Bear” Season 2 episode “Fishes,” which centered on a dysfunctional Christmas dinner with Carmy’s (Jeremy Allen White) family. Paulson played Carmy’s cousin Michelle, with Jamie Lee Curtis, Gillian Jacobs, Jon Bernthal, Oliver Platt, John Mulaney, and Bob Odenkirk also guest starring .

Paulson reunited with her “Hold Your Breath” co-star and “The Bear” Emmy-winning series regular Ebon Moss-Bachrach for her stint on the beloved Hulu series, and Paulson said that it was reassuring to have a familiar face on set due to how “shy” she was about joining the show.

“I have to say, I was really intimidated,” Paulson told IndieWire of her guest role. “I had been a big fan and I had written to [director/showrunner] Chris Storer via Instagram when the show first came out, just sort of pledging my undying allegiance to him and said that I would do anything for him, any time he ever asked or wanted to. And then I got an email from my agent months and months later, saying that they wanted me to come do something on ‘The Bear.’ I didn’t read it. I said, yes, I don’t need to read it and I don’t care whether I’m carrying a glass of water from one corner of the room to the next, I would like to be there.”

But Paulson had no idea that “Fishes” would become an instant TV classic .

“I found myself on the set with all these extraordinary spectacular actors, and I was incredibly intimidated and felt really shy,” Paulson said. “And I was just so grateful that I had a friend in Ebon who I just spent all this time with in Santa Fe doing a really different type of piece [with ‘Hold Your Breath’]. We had to do all this crazy shit together, so I felt very comfortable and comforted to see him across that in insane Christmas dinner table, knowing that I had a friend there. And I knew Jamie Lee from before too, so that was nice also.”

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She continued, “But it was quite a thing to be a part of, and I certainly didn’t know that it was going to become this sort of seminal episode of the show. I didn’t know that that was gonna happen. I knew that the acting was insane that was happening around me, but I didn’t know that it was going be that episode.”

The episode, which aired in 2023, gained nine Emmy nominations and winning four, including Outstanding Guest Actor for Bernthal and Outstanding Guest Actress for Curtis.

Paulson’s next TV role will be another reunion, this time with mega-producer Ryan Murphy on his upcoming legal drama “All’s Fair” which stars Kim Kardashian in the lead role.

“There’s nothing Ryan Murphy could ask me to do that I would say no to,” Paulson said. “When he calls I answer, and that’s what that is. I am lucky to do so.”

“Hold Your Breath” premieres October 3 on Hulu.