Sarah Paulson on Playing a Fascinating Anti-Feminist in 'Mrs. America'

Mrs. America, FX’s limited series on the fight over the Equal Rights Amendment, is full of famous women playing other famous women, from Rose Byrne as Gloria Steinem to Margo Martindale as congresswoman Bella Abzug. But one of its most arresting stars, Sarah Paulson, is no famous figure in the show. Instead, she plays Alice Macray, a composite character and sidekick to the anti-feminist movement’s leader, Phyllis Schlafly, played by Cate Blanchett.

Paulson’s character is a much more demure and nervous anti-feminist than Schlafly, seemingly only in the fight to “protect” her status as a Stepfordlike homemaker. But by the series’ final episodes, it’s clear that Alice is not Phyllis, and that she has recognized some of the flaws of her own movement.

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