Emmy winner Sarah Paulson plays someone who's deathly afraid of clowns on American Horror Story: Cult. It turns out that she's not too fond of them in real life either.
Ellen DeGeneres was responsible for triggering Sarah's coulrophobia with a series of hilarious, yet terrifying pranks when the AHS star visited her chatshow on Tuesday (September 19). Watch a clip below:
Before unleashing the clown, Ellen put Sarah through the ringer by first popping out of the actress's dressing room closet herself, and then having some guy in a feather boa poke her back during the actual interview.
"What are you gonna do now?" a freaked-out Sarah asked her friend Ellen, with the comedian promising: "Nothing!"
Liar! Only seconds later, a scary clown popped out of a large box which was positioned directly next to Sarah on set, sending her scurrying under the coffee table in front of her.
"It was a clown. Did you see it?" a chuckling Ellen said, with frazzled Sarah shouting back: "Yes, I did see it!"
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If Sarah is terrified of this goofy clown (and, admittedly, we were slightly spooked too), filming scenes with a creepy Evan Peters in clown makeup for hours on end on American Horror Story must be absolute torture.
You can catch Sarah trying to conquer her fear of murderous clowns on American Horror Story: Cult, airing on Tuesdays at 10pm on FOX in the UK and on Tuesdays on FX in the US as well. Unfortunately, Ellen won't be around to comfort/laugh at her.
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Justin is a freelance entertainment journalist and writer. He first joined Digital Spy as a freelance entertainment reporter in 2010 and also worked as a sub-editor for the brand, serving as Night News Editor from 2016 to 2024. Over more than a decade, Justin has covered numerous major entertainment events from the US and has interviewed a wide-ranging group of public figures, from comedian Steve Coogan to icons from the Star Trek universe, cast members from the Marvel Cinematic Universe and reality stars from numerous Real Housewives cities and the Below Deck franchise. Justin has also been on the ground to cover major pop culture events like the Star Wars Celebration and the D23 Expo. He's written for titles across the Hearst network, plus the likes of CBR and Us Weekly.
