While on Collider Ladies Night, Sarah Paulson highlighted two past projects that have a rather unique thing in common - she thinks she booked those roles because of the wives of the men directing them. One of the two actually earned Paulson her very first Emmy nomination, Game Change, the Jay Roach-directed HBO release based on John McCain’s 2008 presidential election campaign. The other project was one of the hottest things in Hollywood at the time, Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip, the series Aaron Sorkin created right after The West Wing with Thomas Schlamme serving as executive producer and director of four episodes.

So how exactly did the casting process on these two play out? Here’s how Paulson put it:

“It happened to me on Game Change and it happened to me on Studio 60; I got these jobs because of the wives of the men directing them because they were watching all the tapes and it was their wives who were like, ‘It’s that one. That one.’ And they were like, ‘Really? I wasn’t sure. I was thinking maybe the other one.’ It’s gotten down to me and another girl on both of those projects and both Jay Roach’s wife and Tommy Schlamme’s wife were like, ‘The Sarah girl.’ I’m not saying that they were anti-me, the men, but they were conflicted and the women in their lives were like, ‘There’s not a conversation to be had here. This is what you’ve got to do.’’

Paulson noted, “I always thought that was interesting, these two big seminal moments to me.” And yes, Studio 60 was an especially big deal leading up to its 2006 debut. The show was set behind-the-scenes of a Saturday Night Live-like sketch comedy show and featured Paulson as Harriet Hayes, one of the performers.

“Getting Studio 60 was a big deal. It was the hottest thing in town and as you said, the licensing fees alone, and he’s coming off the success of The West Wing, Matthew Perry coming off Friends. It was a really, really, really big deal and a lot of actresses wanted this part. And I was coming off, as I said, a time of really not working. And it was Amanda [Peet] who insisted that they see me, because Amanda was also already cast. I think I had actually gone in for her part and they said, per Amanda’s suggestion, ‘Will you come in for Harriet Hayes?’”

Paulson went in for the role and, clearly, she wound up getting it but initially, she wasn’t the top choice for the part:

“I don’t think I was high on the list. I think ultimately what happened is, as I was told, my final audition I was told you had to come with characters prepared, like skits in character. So I brought my bobby pins to do my Juliette Lewis impression, I brought my thing to do my this impression and I did them whereas I think the other girl that it came down to did not do that. So I think maybe I had that added element. But from what I’ve understood and who knows if it’s been embellished or memory is a funny thing, but I was told that it was Christine Lahti who was saying to Tommy, this is [her].”

So what wound up happening with Studio 60? It was well received critically and the pilot performed well, but those ratings dropped - fast. By Episode 5, the show had lost 43% of its premiere numbers and, ultimately, Studio 60 was canceled after just one season. While the cancelation was likely a huge disappointment, Paulson is still mighty grateful for the experience:

“In terms of managing my expectation, it was a hard fought job to get and then I remember being in my trailer thinking, ‘Oh, so I should probably buy a house because I’m probably gonna be in LA for a while.’ I had just been in New York and I was like, ‘I’m probably gonna have to stay here. This thing’s gonna run for six or seven years.’ I think we all thought that! Too many of the moving parts were all these anointed, celebrated [things]. But look, at the end of the day, I got to do Aaron Sorkin speak. I got to have his dialogue live in my mouth and come out of it! That’s something that nobody can take away no matter what, you know?”

If you’d like to hear more from Paulson on her earliest gigs like her appearance on Law & Order, her collaboration with Ryan Murphy, her new movie Run and loads more, you can check out our full Collider Ladies Night conversation below: