Sarah Catharine Paulson (born December 17, 1974) is an American actress. She is the recipient of numerous accolades, including a Primetime Emmy Award, a Golden Globe Award, and a Tony Award. In 2017, Time magazine named her one of the 100 most influential people in the world.

Paulson began her acting career starring in the television series American Gothic (1995–1996) and Jack & Jill (1999–2001). She played Harriet Hayes in the NBC series Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip (2006–2007). Paulson gained fame for her collaborations with showrunner Ryan Murphy notably starring in nine seasons of his anthology series American Horror Story from 2011 to 2021, earning five Primetime Emmy Award nominations.

For her portrayal of Marcia Clark in the FX limited series The People v. O. J. Simpson: American Crime Story (2016), she earned the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Limited Series or Movie. She was Emmy-nominated for her roles as Nicolle Wallace in the HBO television film Game Change (2012), and Linda Tripp in the FX on Hulu miniseries Impeachment: American Crime Story (2021). She has also played a conservative activist in the FX on Hulu limited series Mrs. America (2020) and Nurse Ratched in the Netflix series Ratched (2020).

On film, she has had leading roles in Blue Jay (2016), Glass (2019), and Run (2020) as well as supporting roles in What Women Want (2000), Down with Love (2003), Martha Marcy May Marlene (2011), Mud (2012), 12 Years a Slave (2013), Carol (2015), The Post (2017), Ocean's 8 (2018), Bird Box (2018). On Broadway, she acted in the Tennessee Williams revival The Glass Menagerie (2005), the Donald Margulies play Collected Stories (2010), and the Branden Jacobs-Jenkins play Appropriate (2023), the latter earning her the Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play.