Emmy Winner Shocks With Unrecognizable Transformation Into Real-Life Killer

Jeff Kravitz / FilmMagic Sarah Paulson shocked fans with her transformation into real-life serial killer Aileen Wuornos.

The 51-year-old actress takes on the role of Wuornos in Monster: The Lizzie Borden Story , the fourth season of Ryan Murphy’s true crime drama on Netflix.

In the trailer released Thursday, Paulson is seen with a jagged blond haircut, thin eyebrows, and a blank expression.

Her overall look is far from her usual polished, glamorous self, but closely resembles both the real-life Wuornos and Charlize Theron’s Oscar-winning portrayal of the killer in the 2003 film Monster .

“No one really knows what happened that day,” a voice says.

“Oh, I f---ing know what happened,” Paulson, in character as Wuornos, responds.

The eight-episode season, which premieres on Netflix on September 17, centers on Lizzie Borden, the Massachusetts woman accused of killing her father and stepmother with an ax in 1892.

Actress Ella Beatty, 26, stars as Borden, who was 32 when she went on trial for the double murder.

After a lengthy and widely publicized trial, a jury acquitted Borden of both killings by a jury after just 90 minutes of deliberation.

The series depicts Wuornos as being fascinated and inspired by Borden’s story.

“The show is exploring a legacy of female rage and reaction to the set of circumstances that they are presented with,” Beatty told Netflix’s Tudum .

“Every season of Monster has been an exercise in understanding the person’s psychology,” Beatty said.

“Are they born or are they made?” Wuornos, a sex worker, shot and killed seven men in Florida between 1989 and 1990.

After being arrested in 1991, she maintained that she acted in self-defense after the men assaulted or attempted to rape her.