‘The whole experience of that trial was a nightmare.
It’s just extremely painful to watch,’ Clark tells EW
Not long after the O.J.
(Her new novel,Blood Defense, will be out May 1.)
Credit: FX; Pool/AFP/GettyImages
But now thatThe People v. O.J.
Simpsonhas premiered, Clark is doing something she does not enjoy reliving the events of the murder trial.
ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: This all must be really strange for you.
I cant even imagine what wrapping your head around the miniseries must be like.
MARCIA CLARK:Its so weird.
Its so frickin weird.
Its like an out-of-body experience.
Im sitting here in the living room.
Wait, Im [on the TV].
MORE ONTHE PEOPLE VS. O.J.
I kept hoping and praying, c’mon, c’mon dont let this happen.
Make something go wrong.
Make someone think this isnt a good idea.
Projects in Hollywood, as you know, go away all of the time.
Is that because you imagine this miniseries going as badly as possible?
No, its just a very painful memory.
The whole experience of that trial was a nightmare.
It tore me up.
I cant tell you.
I watched justice get thwarted from almost day one.
It was a runaway train from the start.
Things happened that should never happen.
It got crazy really fast, and it only got crazier as the days and months went by.
Everybody seemed to forget that two innocent people were slaughtered not just killed, slaughtered.
No one seemed to remember that.
The prospect of reliving it and having it all over the world again, not a happy one.
How did meeting Sarah Paulson change your outlook about the show?
In life, you never know when something good is going to come out of something horrendous.
It was one of those.
Ive been a fan of hers for years.
I just love her.
To get to meet her by then, shooting was just about done.
It was just a dinner.
I was a little apprehensive about it, to tell you the truth.
They say never meet your heroes because youre doomed to disappointment.
It was the exact opposite.
She was even more wonderful in person.
Has she ever been anything less than brilliant?
She could play a rock and make it interesting.
Where was your head when you pressed play on that first episode?
What got me through it was being able to watch Sarahs performance.
Where were you when you watched?
Was anyone with you?
I sat down in my living room with a couple of friends.
and also to give me a perspective on it all.
I go back into the nightmare.
Could it ever be just television to you?
This will never be entertaining to me.
I watched it with my stomach in knots.
As much as I could, I focused on Sarah and the other actors.
Its just extremely painful to watch.
What was your opinion of how this show dramatized the events?
I hope people can remember that this is a dramatization.
It is not a documentary.
They werent trying to get it right necessarily.
They have a message to send, and I applaud them for that.
I hope they honor Ron and Nicole in some way.
How do you think they handled Sarahs styling?
I think she looks better than I ever did.
That gave me a little giggle when I first saw her on the screen.
I look like that?
Damn, I wish.
Honest to God, she manages to somehow rock that hair, which looking back is one thing.
What was I thinking?
I know what I was thinking.
I had two little boys in diapers.
I wanted wash-and-wear hair, and I didnt want to be bothered.
A perm seemed like a great idea.
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What did you think of the other performances?
I think Courtney Vance is terrific as Johnnie.
I think he gets an essence there thats really important.
He wasnt just playing the race card.
Cuba Gooding is interesting as Simpson.
Its kind of difficult.
Like, they were in the Bronco, and they showed him with Al Cowlings.
I thought, How do you know?
Al Cowlings never spoke to anyone.
How do you know?
That is a possible take.
Thats one way it could have gone.
And Chris Darden, Sterling Brown did a great job.
What in the first episode stuck out as poetic license?
In the first episode, the death penalty was never on the table.
That was never true.
It was not even discussed.
No one even thought about it.
And I chose Bill [Hodgman].
Gil [Garcetti] didnt put Bill with me.
There was not even one second that I ever thought that I wanted to try this case alone.
Youve got to be kidding me!
I never even wanted to imagine.
Was there anything that was surprisingly accurate?
Overall they captured the feeling of Oh my God when the Bronco chase happened.
They had just left him, and they came to see me to tell me what had happened.
They pinned him down about nothing.
So I said, Where is he?
They said, Hes home.
Do you have somebody following him?
Do you have somebody sitting on the house?
Wheres he going to go?
Whats he going to do?
Are you kidding me?
Of course, thats how the Bronco chase happened.
Are you going to watch the rest of the series?
It has nothing to do with the series.
The series is a quality effort.
And of course, Sarah, what a wonderful actress!
But I dont know if I can make myself do it.
I dont know if Ill survive it.
Its just so awful.
