# Sarah Paulson portrayal of Aileen Wuornos

> Live situation record from CLSTR: https://clstr.news/situations/sarah-paulson-portrayal-of-aileen-wuornos
> Updated: 2026-09-29T18:18:00.000Z. Sources: 10. Developments: 2.

Actress Sarah Paulson is portraying Aileen Wuornos in the Ryan Murphy series ‘Monster: The Lizzie Borden Story’. The production aims to examine how societal perceptions of female violence have changed since the 19th century.

Following the announcement, online comparisons were drawn between Paulson’s portrayal and Charlize Theron’s previous performance as Wuornos. Paulson addressed these comparisons on the podcast ‘Shut Up Evan’, stating she did not intend to compete with Theron, whom she described as providing ‘the greatest performance in the world’. Paulson noted that her interpretation is based on personal research and described the process of playing the character as ‘hard and scary’.

## Timeline

### 2026-09-29: Sarah Paulson addresses Aileen Wuornos comparisons

Sarah Paulson has responded to comparisons with Charlize Theron regarding her portrayal of Aileen Wuornos in Netflix’s ‘Monster: The Lizzie Borden Story’, calling the role a challenging and scary experience.

8 sources. https://clstr.news/cluster/sarah-paulson-addresses-aileen-wuornos-comparisons

### 2026-09-21: Sarah Paulson portrays Aileen Wuornos in new Ryan Murphy series

Sarah Paulson portrays criminal Aileen Wuornos in Ryan Murphy’s ‘Monster: The Lizzie Borden Story’, sparking comparisons to Charlize Theron’s previous performance of the same role.

2 sources. https://clstr.news/cluster/sarah-paulson-portrays-aileen-wuornos-in-new-ryan-murphy-series

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Cite as: Sarah Paulson portrayal of Aileen Wuornos. CLSTR, https://clstr.news/situations/sarah-paulson-portrayal-of-aileen-wuornos