After Sarah Paulson portrayed Marcia Clark she felt so close to the real O.J. Simpson prosecutor that she invited Clark to the Emmy Awards, but co-star (and fellow 2016 Emmy winner) Sterling K. Brown didn’t have quite the same experience. The official line was that Christopher Darden “respectfully declined†to speak with Brown about the part, and the actor based his characterization on written accounts, film clips, and conversations with Darden’s daughter. Today Darden spoke to ET about Brown’s performance, and the verdict is in: Darden is “very happy†Brown won the Emmy.
“It’s a tremendous thing after all of these years, for an actor to play me and do a great job!†Darden said. Despite the rave reviews, the lawyer has never personally watched The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story, because of his bad memories around the long, highly publicized “trial of the century.†“For me, it was a hugely negative life experience. For me to have to revisit it, it really drags me to a very dark and angry place,†Darden explained. “I don’t want to go back to 1995.†As for not talking to Brown? Darden claims that the actor originally called him late at night — 3 a.m. by his watch. Now he says he’d be willing to pick up the phone should the “big shot Hollywood actor, Emmy-award-winning actor†be so inclined, so long as it was “during the daylight hours.â€