Cherry Jones on acting and Sarah Paulson...

Just read this terrific Q&A with two-time Tony winner Cherry Jones on the AfterEllen.com site. Jones, an out actress, has long been one of Broadway's most-lauded performers, but she has also long been a celebrity lesbian to be proud of. When she accepted her first Tony Award in 1995 for Best Actress (she played the role of Catherine Sloper in "The Heiress"), she publicly thanked her female partner in her acceptance speech.

In June 2005, Jones took home a second Tony for her leading role in Doubt, which is now touring nationally. The night she received her Tony for "Doubt," Jones was accompanied by her current girlfriend, Sarah Paulson ("Studio 60 on the Sunset Strip"), and the two have often been seen together at industry events.

Click HERE to read the full interview. As an appetizer, here are a few of the questions and answers.
AE: Finally, as an out actress, how do you see your role in the LGBT community?
CJ: Just to live my life openly and freely and with joy and thanksgiving, I reckon. [Laughs.] Just be.

AfterEllen.com: You are touring in the play Doubt, for which you received much acclaim and a Tony Award. You must feel very strongly about the play and the role to continue performing it.
Cherry Jones: I'm right at about 555 performances already of this play. [Laughs.] We started at the Manhattan Theater Club, and then Broadway, and the tour began in September in Los Angeles. We're not even halfway through with it yet. And the extraordinary thing about this play and this role is that I never get tired of it. Maybe there's something wrong with me [and] I'm just incredibly obsessive/compulsive. I think most stage actors are, or have to be a little bit. I was just talking to my fellow cast members about this the other night. Because of what we get back from the audience, it is the most rewarding experience any actor will almost ever have in the theater.