Sarah Paulson's Scream Secret: Steroids and Voice Lessons

Sarah Paulson recounted a significant early mistake on 'American Horror Story,' admitting that her intense, authentic screams often left her vocally depleted. She explained that to manage this, she received steroid injections, clarifying they were administered in her buttocks, not her throat. Despite professional advice to conserve her voice, Paulson prioritized her performance, opting for the injections to sustain her powerful scream delivery.

For her role as conjoined twins Bette and Dot in 'American Horror Story: Freak Show,' Paulson devised a unique acting method. She suggested using an earpiece to authentically react to her own prerecorded dialogue, rather than having a stand-in read lines. This allowed her to seamlessly switch between playing each twin. Additionally, Paulson served as a puppeteer, controlling a prosthetic head in certain scenes, a challenging task that required coordinating movements for both heads simultaneously.