Sarah Paulson Hits Major Career Milestone at Tony Awards

Sarah Paulson has one more impressive note to add to her extensive resume!

The actress took home the award for Best Leading Actress in a Play for her work as Toni in Appropriate at the 77th Annual Tony Awards, held this year at New York City's Lincoln Center.

It was a tough competition in the category this year, with Paulson going up against her American Horror Story costar Jessica Lange for her work in Appropriate and Rachel McAdams for Mary Jane. Also nominated were Betsy Aidem for Prayer of the French Republic and Amy Ryan for Doubt. 

In her speech, she emphasized that it was "humbling to be included in the same breath" as the talented nominees, before going on to thank a slew of people, including the theaters where the production takes place, producers, and even the front and back of house crews.

In her thank you speech, she also shouted out her longtime partner, Holland Taylor, 81, who was beaming in the audience, stating, "Thank you for loving me." The duo stepped out on the red carpet earlier in the evening in coordinated black-and-white looks.

"As a young actress, I remember seeing Janet McTeer burst onto stage in A Doll's House, in the very theatre I am currently living in," she noted during her acceptance speech.

"And some nights when I'm backstage, I think about the indelible impact of her. I think about the walls of theatres all over this magical town holding the impact of each and every one of you in this room, and all of those who came before. And I think how lucky those walls are to bear witness to the relentless interrogation of human experience that we endeavor to explore nightly for each other, to give back to one another with the hope of finding some shared path towards the truth about being alive. This is the heart and soul of what we do and I am so honored to be amongst you," she concluded.

This marks her first Tony nomination (and win), though it's her third time on Broadway, previously starring in 2005's The Glass Menagerie—in which she also costarred with Lange—and 2010's Collected Stories.

The Ratched star had already walked away with a Drama Desk and Drama League award for her most recent role, and was also nominated for an Outer Critics Circle.

Fans have one more week to catch Paulson in the role, as Appropriate is scheduled to end its run next Sunday, June 23.

Next: Fans Celebrate Daniel Radcliffe Getting 'Recognition He Deserves' With 'Incredible' Tony Win