Holland Taylor and Sarah Paulson are real-life couple goals — but don’t expect to see them share the screen.
“I can’t imagine,” Taylor, 81, told Variety in an interview published on Wednesday, January 17. “I don’t like seeing couples doing things because I’m always aware of the coupledom.”
Despite preferring to keep their work separate, Holland revealed that the pair have pitched “one or two” projects together over the years. She also shared that she can visualize herself performing opposite Paulson, 49, in The Chalk Garden — a 1955 play about a murder mystery revolving around an elderly grandmother, her granddaughter and a governess with a mysterious past. The story was previously adapted into a film starring Deborah Kerr and Hayley Mills in 1984.
“It’s a very rarified kind of play,” Taylor added.
Since confirming their relationship in 2015, Paulson and Taylor have often made headlines for their 32-year age gap. It’s something Paulson understands people might see as “unconventional,” but it’s not what matters to her.
“I didn’t choose to fall in love with the person I fell in love with. But I think why it’s interesting to people is that on paper, it’s unconventional,” she told Elle in 2018. “For a person who might find themselves in a situation that they fear will be misperceived or judged, maybe they could see me living my life in a way that is authentic to me — just trying to be as real as possible. If that inspires anybody else, that can’t be a bad thing.”
Taylor and Paulson met in 2005 — an entire decade before they actually began dating — at a party while both were in committed relationships with other people. The sparks were undeniable, however, and the pair eventually linked back up years later when Taylor slid into Paulson’s DMs.
The duo have since become a fan-favorite celebrity couple and a staple for LGBTQIA+ Hollywood romance. When discussing the “surreal” attention that came with such a large age gap between them, Paulson told the New York Times in March 2016 that there’s a “poignancy” to being with someone older.
“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,” she said. “It puts a kind of sharp light mixed with a sort of diffused light on something.”
Holland, meanwhile, has joked that it was a “mystery” as to why Paulson is still with her.
“I’m surprised by Sarah. I mean, that we love each other and respond to each other this way is not the surprise, but that she would make a commitment like this and that she would share her life with me is a constant surprise every day really,” Taylor exclusively told Us Weekly in January 2020, adding that Paulson is “very brave” for falling in love with an older partner.
“I basically am following her lead and I’m blessed,” she gushed about her partner being the “center of her life.”
Paulson, for her part, responded to Taylor’s confusion during an August 2023 appearance on Chelsea Handler’s “Dear Chelsea” podcast.
“She’s constantly saying to me, ‘Why are you with me? Why are you doing this? What are you doing? You’re a very strange person.’ She says all the time, ‘You’re very strange for doing this.’ And I’m like, ‘Really? Is it? I don’t know,’” Paulson quipped. “I think she’s the smartest, wisest, funniest, most extraordinary person I’ve ever met.”
Earlier this month, the women, who often take to social media to share glimpses of their love, celebrated Taylor’s 81st birthday. Paulson shared a slideshow of personal photos via Instagram for the major milestone, captioning the post, “Happy Birthday to my one and only love. You are, quite simply — my world. I love you.”
