Sarah Paulson wasn’t always a big name in TV.

In fact, it wasn’t until her run on American Horror Story that Sarah Paulson became a household name and those smashing performances were only given to her by chance.

In fact, Sarah Paulson has Jessica Lange to thank for her start on the path to widespread fame.

In a recent interview, Sarah Paulson revealed how the falling-through of a play led to her roles on the American Horror Story series and The People vs. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story.

Sarah Paulson went with Lange to a Project Angel Food event in Los Angeles one day and met her fate in the form of American Horror Story creator Ryan Murphy.

Of course, Sarah Paulson was already familiar with Murphy as he had cast her in a previous hit show, Nip/Tuck.

Sarah Paulson said of the fateful meeting, “At one point, Jessica just threw her arm around me and said to Ryan, ‘Oh, can’t you find something for Sarah to do on the show? She’s going to be in town now.’ And he said, ‘Oh. Yeah. I think I could do that.'”

Sarah Paulson’s roles on American Horror Story expanded from season one to season two.

Then, her big break came when Murphy cast Sarah Paulson as Marcia Clark in The People vs. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story.

Sarah Paulson has clearly enjoyed her new role, finding it surprisingly complex.

She said of Marcia Clark, “That old saying of, ‘You can’t judge a book by its cover’ is incredibly apt when it comes to Marcia.”

She added, “She was painted as a person who was after fame and was too strong and tough for her own good, but that couldn’t have been further from the truth.”

What do you think of Sarah Paulson as Marcia Clark?