American Crime Story Impeachment viewers stunned at Sarah Paulson’s transformation into Linda Tripp
Impeachment: American Crime Story viewers stunned at Sarah Paulson’s transformation into whistleblower Linda Tripp despite controversy over actress wearing a fat suit for the role
American Crime Story: Impeachment premiered in the UK last night on BBC2 Show depicts scandalous relationship between Monica Lewinsky and Bill ClintonViewers stunned Sarah Paulson’s transformation into civil servant Linda TrippTripp was civil servant who recorded calls with Lewinsky as evidence of affair
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American Crime Story viewers were left stunned at Sarah Paulson’s incredible transformation into Linda Tripp after the series premiered in the UK last night.
The latest edition of the true crime anthology series, which aired on BBC2, is titled Impeachment and depicts the scandalous relationship between Monica Lewinsky and Bill Clinton.
Clive Owen stars as former President Clinton, whose affair with White House intern Lewinsky (Beanie Feldstein) in the 90s rocked the White House and led to the first impeachment of a U.S. President in over a century.
But the most impressive transformation of all, according to fans, was Sarah, 46, as civil servant Tripp, then 49, whose recordings of phone calls between herself and Lewinsky became the lynchpin in the impeachment proceedings against Clinton in 1998.
American Crime Story viewers were left stunned at Sarah Paulson’s incredible transformation into Linda Tripp in the latest edition of the true crime anthology series, which aired last night on BBC2. Left: Tripp, pictured addressing reporters outside of the Federal Courthouse in Washington in 1998. Right: Paulson after her transformation into Tripp in the BBC show
Viewers were impressed with both the ‘incredible’ performance of Sarah and the physical transformation into the civil servant, with one joking her prosthetic make-over was ‘witchcraft’.
‘Sorry what kind of witchcraft has the prosthetic department on #AmericanCrimeStory done with Sarah Paulson? I had to Google if it was actually her,’ wrote one fan.
‘Enjoying the first episode of #impeachment and Sarah Paulson reminding us all she’s one of the best actresses of her generation #AmericanCrimeStory’, said another.
A third said: ‘OMG finally watched the first episode of #ImpeachmentACS on BBC tonight. @MsSarahPaulson has literally smashed this role ! The transformation is incredible, amazing performance! Can’t wait till next week!’
Viewers were impressed with both the ‘incredible’ performance of Sarah and the physical transformation into the civil servant, with one joking her prosthetic make-over was ‘witchcraft’
‘Fantastic first episode of #ImpeachmentACS. Sarah Paulson and Beanie Feldstein are superb casting choices! Looking forward to the rest of the season. #AmericanCrimeStory’, said another.
The transformations Paulson wearing a prosthetic nose and fat suit, but the actress faced backlash on social media from critics for the fat suit, with several claiming it would be more fitting to cast a plus-size actress in the role.
Addressing the controversy in an interview with the LA Times, Paulson said that the concern was a ‘legitimate one’ but felt it was not the ‘entire responsibility’ of the actor for ‘choosing the challenge of a lifetime’.
The series, which premiered in the US last month, gained critical acclaim after it’s first two seasons, chronicling the murder trial of O. J. Simpson and the assassination of designer Gianni Versace.
Paulson starred in the first series of the anthology series as Marcia Clark, an American prosecutor and correspondent who acted as lead prosecution in the infamous case.
Last night’s episode depicted the first meeting between Tripp and the then 22-year-old Lewinsky (portrayed by Beanie Feldstein, right) in which the civil servant questions the former intern about her transferal from the White House to the Pentagon in April 1996
Lewinsky shared with Tripp details of the affair, which began in November 1995 and ended in March 1997, with Lewinsky later stating she had nine sexual encounters with Clinton in the Oval Office. Pictured, Beanie Feldstein and Clive Owen as Lewinsky and Clinton
The transformation: Paulson wore a prosthetic nose and fat suit, but the actress faced backlash on social media from critics for the fat suit, with several claiming it would be more fitting to cast a plus-size actress in the role
Last night’s episode depicted the first meeting between Tripp and the then 22-year-old Lewinsky in which the civil servant questions the former intern about her transferal from the White House to the Pentagon in April 1996.
‘You must be someone’s pet rock’ Tripp asks Lewinsky in the drama ‘It means someone in the White House is looking out for you.’
She begins to suspect an untoward relationship after asking how Lewinsky bagged such a high-profile political role at such a young age, and discovering she was set to return to the white House in a few months.
Later episodes of the series will depict how Lewinsky confided in Tripp, who died from pancreatic cancer in April last year, how she ‘fooled around’ with Clinton by performing oral sex on him.
She also revealed she still had an unwashed navy-blue dress which had been stained by the President during one encounter, which Tripp encouraged her to keep as an ‘insurance policy’.
In the calls – which were recorded from September 1997 – Lewinsky described to the woman she believed was a close friend all the lurid details of her affair with the sitting U.S. President. Pictured: Ms Lewinsky with Clinton during her time at the White House
Civil servant Linda Tripp’s recordings of nearly 20 hours of phone calls between herself and former White House intern Monica Lewinsky became the lynchpin in the impeachment proceedings against Bill Clinton in 1998. Above: Tripp and Ms Lewinsky together
Tripp began recording their calls, which she repeatedly broke down in tears over her relationship with the former President, after being encouraged by literary agent Lucianne Goldberg.
Lewinsky shared with Tripp details of the affair, which began in November 1995 and ended in March 1997, with Lewinsky later stating she had nine sexual encounters with Clinton in the Oval Office.
Tripp eventually exposed the 20-hours worth of conversations to the public after details of the affair were recounted in special counsel Kenneth Starr’s report into scandal.
The report came after former Arkansas civil servant Paula Jones sued Clinton for sexual harassment in 1994.
After famously going on TV to state: ‘I did not have sexual relations with that woman, Miss Lewinsky’, Clinton was impeached for perjury and obstruction of justice.
Whilst Clinton ultimately survived the impeachment proceedings and was not forced to resign, the scandal defined his entire presidency and became a global media storm.
Tripp told Daily Mail TV in 2017 that she felt ‘compelled to act’, even though it meant ‘shattering Monica’s dreams’, because she believed Clinton was a ‘sexual predator’.
