Sarah Paulson Poised to Become Aileen Wuornos in Ryan Murphy’s Monster Season 4 on Netflix

Ryan Murphy and Ian Brennan are already back at it with their Monster anthology. Hot off last month’s Ed Gein season, cameras are rolling on season 4, which centers on Lizzie Borden and, curveball, folds in Aileen Wuornos — with Sarah Paulson in final talks to play her.

Quick catch-up on Monster’s timeline

Netflix struck gold in 2022 with the 10-episode Dahmer - Monster: The Jeffrey Dahmer Story, then ordered two more seasons from Murphy and Brennan. Last year brought Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story, which kicked up real-world attention for the brothers. Right before that premiered last September, Charlie Hunnam signed on to lead season 3 as murderer and grave robber Ed Gein in The Ed Gein Story. That Gein season dropped last month. And as it landed, season 4 quietly started shooting.

Season 4: Lizzie Borden… and Aileen Wuornos

This new chapter focuses on Lizzie Borden and the 1892 axe murders of her father and stepmother in Massachusetts. Borden was acquitted, but the case turned into American folklore and has never really left pop culture.

Here’s the twist: per Variety, the season also weaves in serial killer Aileen Wuornos — convicted of murdering seven men between 1989 and 1990 — with longtime Murphy collaborator Sarah Paulson nearing a deal to play her. It’s a very Murphy move: Borden as the anchor, with Wuornos threaded in to explore how infamous women who kill get portrayed and connected across time, the same way season 3 riffed on Gein’s footprint on pop culture.

Cast so far

• Ella Beatty (Feud: Capote vs. The Swans) as Lizzie Borden
• Rebecca Hall (Godzilla vs. Kong) as Abby Borden, Lizzie’s stepmother
• Vicky Krieps (Phantom Thread) as Bridget Sullivan, the Borden family maid
• Charlie Hunnam as Andrew Borden, Lizzie’s father
• Billie Lourd (Scream Queens) as Emma Borden, Lizzie’s older sister
• Jessica Barden (American Horror Stories) as Nance O'Neill, the stage actor whose close friendship with Lizzie sparked a rift with Emma

One fun tidbit: Max Winkler directed the season’s first episode, and he’s married to Jessica Barden. Also, yes, that’s Charlie Hunnam pulling double duty across seasons — he just headlined as Ed Gein and now he’s Lizzie’s dad. Murphy loves a repertory company.

Borden’s pop culture footprint

If you need a refresher: the Borden case blew up in 1892 after Andrew and Abby Borden were hacked to death in their Fall River home. Lizzie was acquitted, but the savagery of the murders turned her into a legend — nursery rhyme and all. Hollywood keeps circling back: Christina Ricci led Lifetime’s 2014 Lizzie Borden Took an Ax and the 2015 limited series The Lizzie Borden Chronicles. In 2018, Chloe Sevigny played Lizzie in the feature Lizzie, with Kristen Stewart as her lover Bridget Sullivan.

How does Wuornos fit?

Expect the show to use Borden as a lens to talk about how we frame and link notorious women across history — Wuornos included. For what it’s worth, Murphy has tackled Wuornos before: Lily Rabe played her in American Horror Story season 5.

Where I’m at with this

Confession time: I thought the Ed Gein season whiffed the ball in a big way. Critic Alex Maidy called it the best Monster season yet; I’m on the other side of that fence. So while Paulson as Wuornos is undeniably strong casting, I’m cautiously optimistic at best about the direction here.

Thoughts on Sarah Paulson stepping into Wuornos’s shoes for Monster season 4? I’m curious where you land — excited, worried, or both.