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Sarah Paulson as Linda Tripp, tapping a scoop of SlimFast into her blender.
AndAnnaleigh Ashford as Paula Jones, whispering Oh mah Gawd throughout in a twang that rings like a mandolin.
I thought you were both remarkably understated while still conveying the absurdities inherent to Drudge and Coulter.
Ann Coulter is a person who likes to put herself front and center in every debate.
I think I listened to every one of her audio books that she read herself.
Which was enlightening, to say the least.
I hadnt sought that out before I tend to ignore it.
Did your opinion of her change through the research process?CS:She is more humanized to me.
But the way she sees the world and her politics, thats kind of stayed the same.
You mean youre not super-anti-immigrant now?CS:No.
Shes so extremely on the other side in terms of being a Republican, and Im a Democrat.
I was trying to understand that viewpoint; I dont know if I really, truly do.
Billy Eichner:It was tricky with Drudge because hes very reclusive.
He did a very famous Q&A with the National Press Club in D.C. thank God for YouTube.
He created this not-quite-fictional, over-the-top persona for himself this old-school, Walter Winchell-style muckraking journalist.
He always dreamed of being that guy, and when he got the opportunity, he leaned in.
How did you approach Drudges voice?BE:I played around a little bit.
Thats what he would do with that word.
And that makes me more confident.
If you think its over the top well, Drudge is over the top!
Hes also not a cartoon character.
Hes a three-dimensional human being who covers politics.
When Ann Coulter talks, she has an accent.
There are shades of William F. Buckley, a little bit of a transatlantic lilt.
But its a certain rhythm.
Its more than just vowel placement its an attitude.
This confidence, this assuredness she has, affects the way she talks.
Forgive me if I sound like a Martian asking about what you do.
I dont know how this works I cover politics.
There is this constant energy to prove oneself, to go above and beyond.
Her thing is to stir the pot and be crazy-outspoken to get that attention.
The time were depicting in the show is the beginnings of her understanding where she can find her power.
She wrote a best-selling book about her time.
That was more helpful to me than trying to find sympathy or trying to like the person.
It wasWhat are you?
Why are you acting in this way?
Whats at the core of this?
BE:I find a lot of what Drudge does and the people he supports to be horrifying.
I mean, the guy went onThe Alex Jones Show.
What shocked me was reading about Drudges childhood and teenage years.
It was a little unnerving there was so much overlap between us.
We were both gay boys who grew up on the East Coast.
And I did the same thing when I was a kid!
I dont know if I can get into that.
Drudge was not part of the industry.
He had no connections.
He didnt go to a fancy college; he didnt go to journalism school.
That is exactly what were seeing now.
Its a double-edged sword.
I never heard where that friendship between Coulter and Drudge began.
Whats interesting is they both saw this opportunity.
We see it turn into something more than that throughout the season.
I hope shes flattered.
I hope were accurate in depicting these moments.
BE:I think they both love it.
Have you heard from Drudge?BE:No.
I used to read Drudge Report all the time.
I also didnt know he was gay.
Plus he became, to me, a very toxic conservative-slash-libertarian.
He was a Trump supporter that turned on Trump, but still its too much for me.
So I stopped reading.
A while back, a few days beforeImpeachmentpremiered, the Drudge Report posted a photo of me as Drudge.
He wrote, like, Drudge Steals the Show which no one had said.
But its so Drudge, right?
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