Holland Taylor may be on the Apple TV+ hit, The Morning Show, but the Emmy nominee couldn’t resist taking part in the off Broadway play, N/A, when she read the “incredibly brilliant” script.
“It’s a very lively play,” Taylor, 81, tells PEOPLE. “By the time I got to page 30, I called my agent. I said, ‘Tell them I’m really interested in it. I’m happy to do this.’ And I was in rehearsal in a matter of weeks.”
The play, showing at Lincoln Center Theater in New York City through Sept. 1, is inspired by true events and centers on N (played by Taylor), the first woman Speaker of the House, and A (played by Ana Villafañe), the youngest woman ever elected to Congress.
Holland Taylor.
As it happens, Nancy Pelosi was the first woman to serve as Speaker of the House when she was elected in 2007 and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez was the youngest woman elected to Congress at age 29 in 2018.
“People say it’s about Nancy Pelosi and AOC (Ocasio-Cortez). It’s just not about them as people,” Taylor explains. “It evokes them in order to show a dialogue between generations and points of view politically, and also to show how politics actually works. What is it? What does it mean if you’re a politician? What do you do? How are you playing out what you want to happen in society?”
Ana Villafane and Holland Taylor during curtain call at ‘N/A’.
John Lamparski/Getty
Taylor continues, “The younger character, like AOC, she’s just like 30. And the older character is like 80, like Nancy. And so, it’s not the vernacular. It’s not normal conversation. They’re always talking in terms of politics, policy, and political activity. And they have opposite sides often.”
She says “the N character” serves as a mentor of sorts to A, “who’s a challenger.”
“So, it is like AOC and Nancy in that regard. But it’s not a personal portrait,” Taylor explains.
Holland Taylor.
So has Pelosi seen it? “I don’t know, no,” says Taylor. “She’s been pretty busy lately.”
“All I know is that I don’t want to know,” she says. “I never want to know if anybody’s out there because I’m afraid my mind will go to it, and I want to keep my mind on what I’m doing.”
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One admirer who is often in the audience? Taylor’s girlfriend, actress Sarah Paulson.
“She comes to anything I do,” says Taylor. “She comes multiple times, which is so flattering. I don’t know how anybody can stand that. I know when I did Ann, I retired my own performance of Ann (Richards) in Pasadena a couple of seasons ago, she must have come to that thing seven times. It was amazing.”
She calls Paulson a “very specific admirer.” After watching a performance, “she’ll tell you things you did that were just so great,” says Taylor. “She’s definitely a wonderful fan.”
Tickets for N/A are on sale at natheplay.com.
For more on Holland Taylor, pick up the latest issue of PEOPLE, on newsstands Friday, or subscribe here.
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