Sarah Paulson defends relationship with Holland Taylor, 75, slams critics calling couple's 32-year age gap 'strange'
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Actresses Sarah Paulson (L) and Holland Taylor have been dating for about two years now. (REUTERS/Danny Moloshok)
Sarah Paulson, 43, doesn't care if people judge her relationship with actress Holland Taylor, 75 — after all, the "Oceans 8" star says, the pair are in love.
Paulson opened up about her 2-year relationship with Holland in Modern Luxury's June cover story, confirming the couple is still going strong, despite receiving harsh criticism over their 32-year age gap.
“If anyone wants to spend any time thinking I’m strange for loving the most spectacular person on the planet, then that’s their problem,” she told Modern Luxury, according to People. “I’m doing just fine.”
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}The pair met during a dinner party more than a decade ago when Paulson was dating actress Cherry Jones, who is 18 years older. Paulson recalled thinking Holland was "the most exquisitely beautiful woman [she'd] ever seen," she told The New York Times.
Years later, the women found themselves back in a room together.
“If anyone wants to spend any time thinking I’m strange for loving the most spectacular person on the planet, then that’s their problem."
Actress Martha Plimpton asked the stars to film a short video for A Is For, a nonprofit that advocates for women's reproductive rights. Afterward, they followed each other on Twitter, eventually arranging a date via direct message.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}“There’s a poignancy to being with someone older,” Paulson told the newspaper. “I think there’s a greater appreciation of time and what you have together and what’s important, and it can make the little things seem very small.”
Paulson went public about her romance with Holland in March 2016, though many cautioned against it.
"It occurred to me, should I not do that? And then I thought, why would I not?" Paulson told The EDIT in a December 2017 interview. "The fact I'm having this thought is wrong. But I had a moment of societal concern; wondering if, maybe, people who didn't know that about me would be like, 'Wait, what?' But then, you know, I did it anyway."
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}In the June Modern Luxury issue, the Emmy award-winning actress also spoke about her upcoming blockbuster "Ocean's 8," which will be released on June 8. Paulson, who plays a suburban mom named Tammy in the film, said her character looks nothing like her — and she loves it.
“The more I can look in the mirror and not recognize myself, the more excited I am,” she told the magazine, according to People. “We’re constantly faced with all these idea of beauty ... things that Hollywood puts out there for us to gobble up. It’s very powerful when I look in the mirror and the first thing I’m thinking isn’t, ‘Are you pretty?'"