By: Sahra M.
Sarah Paulson, Naomi Watts, Dianne Wiest and more gathered for Cody Fern’s Closing Night, as Special Sense caught up with Paulson on what drew her to the film. There is something about a film premiere that feels different when you are standing on the other side of the camera. At the Toronto International Film Festival, the red carpet can move quickly. Actors arrive, photographers call their names, publicists guide them from one interview to the next, and journalists have only a brief window to make an impression and ask the question they came prepared with. That was certainly the case for the premiere of Closing Night, Cody Fern’s feature directorial debut.
The film brought together an impressive ensemble, with Sarah Paulson, Naomi Watts, Dianne Wiest, Toby Wallace and Odessa A’zion leading the cast. Fern co-wrote the screenplay with Devon Bostick. Closing Night follows Sandra Vale, a celebrated Broadway actress played by Paulson, whose life changes after she collapses during a performance and is diagnosed with dementia. The diagnosis brings Sandra back into the complicated lives of her estranged sister April, played by Watts, and their mother Diane, played by Wiest.
After years of distance, the family is forced to confront the relationships, memories and unresolved tensions that have kept them apart. Sandra’s nephew Theo, played by Wallace, and his girlfriend Lucy, played by A’zion, are also drawn into the family’s story. It is an intimate premise built around a remarkable cast, and one that made Closing Night an especially interesting film to cover as Fern made his transition into feature filmmaking.
I had spent the night before the premiere preparing questions for the cast and Fern. I wanted to be ready for the possibility of speaking with each of them, from asking Fern about stepping into the director’s chair to finding out what drew the actors to the script.
But the red carpet had other plans.
The cast arrived much closer to the premiere time than expected, and press were told that we would have the opportunity to ask one question as a group. With journalists representing different outlets, we spoke among ourselves and agreed that I would ask Cody Fern our question.
I was excited.
Then Dianne Wiest walked past me.
Twice.
There was something surreal about watching a two-time Oscar-winning actress make her way down the carpet only a few feet away. Before I had much time to take it in, Naomi Watts arrived, looking absolutely stunning as she made her way toward the premiere.
And then I saw Sarah Paulson.
I had recently watched Paulson in All’s Fair, alongside Glenn Close, Kim Kardashian, Naomi Watts and Niecy Nash, so seeing her arrive at the Closing Night premiere felt like one of those unexpected moments that makes covering entertainment so exciting.
She was walking past me, and I had a choice: let the moment pass or ask my question.
I chose the latter.
“Sarah!” I called out.
She turned toward me.
I asked, “What made you say yes to the script?”
Her answer was immediate.
“Everything made me.” She smiled.
It was just a few words, but it said quite a lot.
Paulson takes on the role of Sandra, a woman whose world begins to change in the middle of a major moment in her career. The film places her character within a complicated family dynamic, allowing the story to move beyond the glamour of the stage and into the private relationships that exist away from it. Her collaboration with Fern also carries its own history. The two previously worked together on American Horror Story, but Closing Night gives them a different creative dynamic, with Fern directing and Paulson leading the cast. For Fern, the film represents a significant step behind the camera. For Paulson, it offered a character at the center of a deeply personal story about family, identity and memory.
But what stayed with me was the unpredictability of the evening.
You can spend hours preparing questions. You can research the cast, study the film and carefully consider what you want to ask. Then, suddenly, the person you hoped to speak with is walking past you and you have only a few seconds to decide whether to take the opportunity.
That is part of what makes covering film festivals so exciting.
For Special Sense, Closing Night was not simply another premiere to cover. It was an opportunity to experience the red carpet firsthand, meet artists whose work I have followed and build on my experience as an entertainment journalist.
And in the middle of a very fast-moving red carpet, I managed to ask Sarah Paulson one question.
Sometimes, a single question can stay with you long after the red carpet ends.
By: Sahra Mohamed
Founder & Editor-in-Chief, Special Sense Magazine
Follow Sahra on Substack @sahrareports.
