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Marcia Clark Reacts To 'American Crime Story'

by Erin Corbett

Ryan Murphy's latest series, The People v. O.J. Simpson: American Crime Story premiered Tuesday night, and the latest FX drama follows the murder trial of O.J. Simpson who was found not guilty of murder in 1995. The show's cast includes Cuba Gooding Jr. as O.J. Simpson, David Schwimmer as the late Robert Kardashian who sat on Simpson's defense team, and Sarah Paulson in the role of Marcia Clark, who was the head prosecutor in the trial. Twenty-one years later, it's easy to wonder, where is Marcia Clark now?

Following O.J. Simpson's acquittal in 1995, Clark said she felt "such guilt" and ultimately stopped working as a special trials lawyer. At age 62, she is now a successful crime fiction writer. Her recent published works include Guilt By Association in 2011 and Guilt By Degrees in 2012. Her upcoming book, Blood Defense, will be released this May.

And yet, after all the years that have passed since the trial that led the former prosecutor to fame, Clark spoke openly to Vulture.com about the families of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman. "I understand the series is going to explore the racial aspect of the case, which is very important," she said. "I just hope that in addition to that, it reminds us there were two victims here."

After seeing the first full episode of the series, Marcia Clark also spoke to Entertainment Weekly about her reaction to seeing the case unfold again on TV.

It's just a very painful memory. The whole experience of that trial was a nightmare. It tore me up. I can't tell you. I watched justice get thwarted from almost day one. It was a runaway train from the start.

Clark will reportedly be re-releasing her 1997 memoir, Without A Doubt, about the case, with a new introduction, specifically because "the dialogue about the case has shifted somewhat, particularly about race," she told Vogue. She explained that, although she felt so much guilt about the outcome of the trial, "one of the big silver linings of the Simpson trial is the advances we've made in understanding domestic violence as a lethal problem."

Justin Sullivan/Getty Images News/Getty Images

Hopefully we continue making progress on the issue, especially as American Crime Story continues for another nine more weeks.