Sarah Paulson is almost unrecognizable as convicted serial killer Aileen Wuornos in Netflix’s Monster: The Lizzie Borden Story. Revealed in the official trailer on August 20, 2026, her appearance is one of the season’s biggest surprises—especially because Wuornos has absolutely no historical connection to the infamous 1892 Lizzie Borden murders.
But that disconnect appears to be the point. The fourth season of Ryan Murphy and Ian Brennan’s Monster anthology uses Borden, Wuornos and another notorious historical woman to explore female rage, violence, power and the circumstances that can push women toward murder.
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Sarah Paulson’s Aileen Wuornos Transformation in Monster Trailer
The first major glimpse of Paulson as Wuornos comes during the final moments of the August 20 trailer. With light, straggly hair, weathered features and a cigarette in hand, the actress looks dramatically different from many of her previous roles.
The scene briefly pulls Wuornos into the mystery surrounding Lizzie Borden. After a voiceover states that “no one really knows what happened that day,” Paulson’s Wuornos delivers the startling response:
“Oh, I fuckin’ know what happened.”
That moment instantly creates a bigger mystery: why would a woman whose crimes happened nearly a century after the Borden murders appear in a story about Lizzie?
The answer is thematic, not historical.
Wuornos was convicted of killing six men in Florida between 1989 and 1990 and was executed in 2002. She has often been described as one of the first widely recognized female serial killers in the United States, but her case is completely separate from the Borden murders.
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Why Is Aileen Wuornos in Monster: The Lizzie Borden Story?
Lizzie Borden and Aileen Wuornos came from entirely different eras and faced completely different circumstances. Borden was accused of killing her father and stepmother in 1892, while Wuornos was convicted of murdering six men almost 100 years later.
Their connection in The Lizzie Borden Story is therefore a creative one.
Ella Beatty, who plays Lizzie, explained to Netflix Tudum that the series examines female rage and how women react to the circumstances placed before them. Beatty said:
“The show is exploring a legacy of female rage and reaction to the set of circumstances that they are presented with.”
She also said the creative team saw a connection between Borden and Wuornos that Ryan Murphy and Ian Brennan wanted to explore, particularly through the question of why women kill.
That makes Wuornos part of a wider discussion about female violence, societal expectations and the forces surrounding women who become notorious for killing.
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Lizzie Borden’s 1892 Murder Case Remains the Heart of the Story
Despite Paulson’s surprise appearance, Lizzie Borden remains the central figure.
On August 4, 1892, Andrew Borden and Abby Borden were found dead inside their Fall River, Massachusetts, home after suffering fatal hatchet blows. Lizzie, who was home at the time, became the prime suspect.
She was eventually tried and acquitted, while the murders remain officially unsolved.
Beatty’s Lizzie is portrayed against a backdrop of repression, class, sexuality, family conflict and power. The season’s official premise presents Lizzie and her maid as trapped in a household marked by humiliation and cruelty, while Lizzie escapes into a fantasy involving sex, power and revenge. The murders and investigation then help transform the case into the enduring cultural legend surrounding Lizzie Borden.
Monster: The Lizzie Borden Story Cast and Elizabeth Báthory Connection
The eight-episode season features a major ensemble:
| Actor | Role |
| Ella Beatty | Lizzie Borden |
| Charlie Hunnam | Andrew Borden |
| Rebecca Hall | Abby Borden |
| Vicky Krieps | Bridget “Maggie” Sullivan and Elizabeth Báthory |
| Billie Lourd | Emma Borden |
| Jessica Barden | Nance O’Neil |
| Joey Pollari | John Morse |
| Sarah Paulson | Aileen Wuornos |
Krieps’ double role is another major clue that the season is intentionally moving beyond the Borden case. Alongside Bridget “Maggie” Sullivan, she portrays Elizabeth Báthory, another notorious historical woman whose story becomes part of the season’s larger thematic framework.
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Ryan Murphy’s Three “Monsters”: Lizzie Borden, Wuornos and Báthory
The fourth season marks a major change for Monster. Previous installments explored Jeffrey Dahmer, the Menendez brothers and Ed Gein, while The Lizzie Borden Story becomes the first season centered on an alleged female perpetrator.
Murphy has described three central “monsters” this time: Lizzie Borden, Aileen Wuornos and Elizabeth Báthory.
He has explained that he is interested not simply in recreating what these women allegedly did, but in examining the forces and circumstances surrounding their stories. Murphy has long wanted to explore Wuornos, while Báthory was another historical figure he had wanted to depict.
The season consequently explores what causes women to become violent and how society responds when women challenge conventional expectations. Murphy has also framed the story around “women vs. the system.”
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The Monster Season’s Biggest Question: Are Killers Born or Made?
Psychology remains central to the anthology. Beatty explained that every season attempts to understand its central figure rather than simply recreate the crimes.
“Every season of Monster has been an exercise in understanding the person’s psychology. Are they born or are they made?”
That question sits underneath the stories of Borden, Wuornos and Báthory. Their geography, historical periods and circumstances are completely different, yet the season uses them to explore gender, violence, power and societal pressure.
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Sarah Paulson’s Ryan Murphy History and Previous Wuornos Portrayals
Paulson is one of Murphy’s longtime collaborators. She has appeared in multiple roles throughout American Horror Story, played prosecutor Marcia Clark in American Crime Story: The People v. O.J. Simpson—a performance that earned her an Emmy Award—and starred in Murphy’s Netflix series Ratched.
Her Wuornos performance adds another real-life figure to her extensive Murphy résumé.
She is also not the first actress to portray Wuornos. Charlize Theron played her in Patty Jenkins’ 2003 film Monster, earning the Academy Award for Best Actress. Lily Rabe later portrayed Wuornos during the fifth season of Murphy’s American Horror Story in 2015.
Paulson’s version is different because Wuornos is not the central subject. She instead becomes part of Murphy and Brennan’s broader examination of women associated with notorious acts of violence.
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Monster: The Lizzie Borden Story Release Date and Production Details
Monster: The Lizzie Borden Story was filmed in Los Angeles, with production taking place roughly from September 2025 into early 2026. The season also reportedly uses anachronistic music, continuing the anthology’s tendency to mix historical subject matter with contemporary storytelling techniques.
All eight episodes premiere worldwide on Netflix on September 17, 2026.
With Paulson’s Aileen Wuornos now revealed, the season looks set to combine the unresolved mystery of Lizzie Borden with a much broader and more provocative exploration of female violence, power, societal pressure and the cultural legacies left behind by women accused or convicted of murder.
Disclaimer and Sources
This article is based on research from Entertainment Weekly, Netflix Tudum, Netflix, Variety, The Hollywood Reporter and Wikipedia, alongside the information provided about the series and its historical subjects. The article discusses a dramatized television production based on real people and historical crimes. Monster: The Lizzie Borden Story may fictionalize, reinterpret or combine events, characters and themes for dramatic purposes.
Lizzie Borden was tried and acquitted of the 1892 murders of Andrew and Abby Borden, and those murders remain officially unsolved. Aileen Wuornos was convicted of six murders and executed in 2002. The connection between Borden and Wuornos in the series is a creative and thematic device, not a documented historical relationship. Viewers should distinguish the show’s dramatized storytelling from established historical records.
Sources
- The Hollywood Reporter — Coverage and interviews concerning Ryan Murphy’s Monster anthology
- Deadline — ‘Monster: The Lizzie Borden Story’ Trailer
- Wikipedia — Monster: The Lizzie Borden Story and Monster overview pages
Image Credits:
- Featured Image: Netflix
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