Julianne Nicholson: ‘I Want To Do Something Flashy In 2025’

Looking for a new high-stakes drama to propel you through the gloomy January evenings? We’ve got just the ticket: Disney’s brand new eight-part drama starring James Marsden as the US President and Sterling K Brown as the Secret Service agent assigned to protect him. But behind the scenes, it’s Samatha Redmond (Julianne Nicholson) who is the real power player. We sat down with Emmy-award winning Julianne to hear all about Paradise.

Interview: Julianne Nicholson On Disney’s Paradise

Julianne Nicholson as Samantha Redmond in Paradise. (Disney)

Hi Julianne, thanks for joining us today. How’s life going at the moment?

Life is really good. I finished filming Paradise in July. I had just done a show for the BBC and then went straight onto Paradise, so it was eight months of work back to back, which I don’t generally like to do because I don’t like to be away from home for too long. Anyway, I’ve been home since July in Hampshire and it’s been heaven. We went to Oslo for a week before Christmas, and it was beautiful and sparkly. And now I have a bit of work that I’m excited about, and Paradise is coming out which I’m really excited about. And the BBC show, Dope Girls, is coming out, too. Having been home, going to Waitrose and making dinner for the last six months, it feels nice to peek my head out into the world again.

You’re about to star in Disney’s Paradise – can you give us an elevator pitch for the show?

It is a political sci-fi thriller. Someone is murdered, so it becomes an investigation with a deep dive into who the people of this world are. Dan [Fogelman, series creator] goes into backstories on everyone, so when we are in the present day and the story, I think we all have a better, deeper understanding of these people – and hopefully care about them a bit more.

You play Samantha – how would you describe her?

She is a high functioning control freak family woman who is being driven by a deep grief.

What was it like playing her?

I loved playing Samantha. Filming episode 2, I realised I had never had the opportunity to play such a wide range in someone’s life – having an understanding of who they are, why they are. It was easy in that I felt a connection to her immediately from how Dan wrote her. But it was hard to try to do justice to what her circumstances may have felt like to go through.

Did you do anything special to prepare for the role?

Not for her personal life – I got that from Dan’s words and imagination. But I looked into high functioning CEOs of big companies, just to sort of investigate that world a little bit. But so much of [acting] is about the experience. I learn so much about a character I’m playing as I play them. You learn more with each scene you do. So I had the huge gift of just getting to do so much in episode two, which informed everything that comes after. I’ve never had that before. It was hugely helpful in understanding who she was and where she came from and why she was making the decisions she was.

Without giving anything away, how would you describe her character arc? Does she go on a journey across the series?

Well, I think she starts from a very idealistic place: trying to save the world, and save the planet for her family. In her grief, which feels impossible to work through, and with the continuing climate crisis and the world around her, things go off the rails, let’s say. She goes a bit mad trying to control everything that she can’t control.

It’s quite an intense, high stakes series shrouded in mystery. Do you remember what your reaction was like when you first read the script?

They sent me the first four episodes before I met with Dan, and I just thought it was incredible. There are so many unexpected moments, and he leads you down these roads where you think it’s this person, you think it’s that person, but really you have no idea where he’s going. That’s thrilling to me: when I’m wrong. When I make predictions, when I’m reading something and I’m wrong, it’s a thrill. I had that throughout reading the scripts. I was on the edge of my seat. And it only gets more and more exciting and scary! 

It’s such a skill to be able to lead everyone in one direction and make them feel confident in that conclusion. Dan is particularly talented at making everyone comfortable. He’s not precious with his characters. Everyone feels really recognisable – but then you realise, like with most people we know, there’s something else to them. People are hiding stuff all the time, only revealing certain things about themselves. People change within different dynamics. Dan is very good at that.

It’s quite an intense series. What was it like to film?

While the cameras were rolling, it would feel intense – but otherwise it felt really joyful. The large majority of the crew had already all worked together for years on This Is Us – Dan is an incredibly loyal person – so I felt like I stepped into an already-loving family. We filmed on the Paramount lot, and Dan’s office was there so he was on set regularly. You could feel his excitement, which goes a long way. It’s like when you go to a restaurant and the chef is the owner: when the writers and the producers are present and you feel their joy and excitement, it makes you feel more excited about it, too.

Sterling is a huge ball of joy, and just wants everyone to come along with him; he’s sort of the cheerleader of the day. I loved working with James Marsden again; we did Ally McBeal together in 2001 so it’s been a minute! He’s hilarious. I haven’t seen him much over the last 20 years, but I feel like we know each other really well from then, so that was really fun. 

And filming was just on the heels of the strike, so we all felt very lucky to be working – both in front of and behind the camera. There was a real sense of that, because not everyone was so lucky at that moment.

Any standout moments from rehearsals or filming?

There was a scene with Sterling and I towards the end of the series that was a real game of cat and mouse, which was thrilling to do. He’s an incredible actor, and just has such access to his inner life. That was a joy to bear witness to, and exciting because we both had to be on our toes.

It was really fun, as I say, to be reunited with James. In our story in Paradise, the characters have a long history, much like James and I – not a close history, but a long history – so I felt like we had that to draw from. It’s exciting when you know someone for a long time, and look at them again in a scene many years later.

It was really fun to meet the newer cast: Nicole Brydon Bloom, Sarah Shahi… I think Jon Beavers is incredible as Billy; episode 4 is amazing, where we find out a bit more about him. It was a really fun group of people that just felt really happy to be there. So it was a pretty joyful filming experience.

You’ve also got Dope Girls coming up. What can we expect from that?

Well, that was fun! It was fun to do these two shows back to back. Dope Girls takes place at the end of WWI in Soho in London. It’s about the birth of the club scene. It’s female-driven, and not a straightforward historical drama, but we put our own spin on it. Shannon Murphy directed the first three episodes, and I’d been a huge fan of hers before. People can expect some sex, drugs and rock ‘n’ roll.

You’ve starred in lots of amazing films and TV shows across your career. What has been your favourite project to date?

It changes, but most recently it’s a film I did a film called Janet Planet for A24. That was very special. We filmed in Western Massachusetts, in a part of the world where I grew up and hadn’t been back to in 30 years. It was written and directed by Annie Baker, who is a Pulitzer Prize winning playwright, who I’d been a huge fan of. She made this beautiful story of a single mother and her 10 year old daughter. For me, it was a deeply personal and fun film to make. I feel like it really casts a spell of summertime in the early ‘90s in Western Mass.

Who has been your favourite actor to work with in the past?

There are so many people I’ve been so lucky to work with. Of course, Meryl Streep was a high point. I did August: Osage County (2013), with Meryl Streep playing my mother and Julia Roberts and Juliet Lewis playing my sisters, so that was like a dream team. Ewan McGregor and Margo Martindale starred too, so I would say that was a real high point for me. Tracy Letts wrote the beautiful play it was based on. 

There’s a scene at a dinner table which I think we filmed over the course of four days. I was sat next to Meryl: front row seat to the genius that she is. That will never leave me. Julia Roberts as well. To be invited into that room was huge for my sense of self – confirmation that I deserved to be in that room.

Who is an actor, writer or director you’d love to work with?

Oh so many. But right now, Jonathan Glazer is the director that I would love to work with. He is unbelievable, and would be incredible to work with. Alejandro González Iñárritu…. I mean, the list goes on. There’s so many. 

But you know what? It’s funny you should ask. This year, I was like, ‘OK, what do I want to do this year?’ You know, to try to get specific. I feel like, in our lives, when we get specific, we call things to us. So I am excited to do a flashy role. I feel like so many of the roles that I play and the roles that I’m drawn to are more naturalistic. Even if, like Samantha in Paradise, they’re making extreme choices, it still feels like there’s a lot I can keep in. So I want to go flashy this year. I want to do something flashy. I don’t know what that means. I’m still fine tuning it, but I want to do something a little bit extra.

Anything fun in the pipeline – professionally or personally?

I’m in LA right now for three weeks doing three episodes of a show that I’m really excited about – it’s very unlike anything I’ve done before. So I’m excited about that. But I’m looking forward to coming back to the UK. I love living in England. It’s been hugely joyful, and a great decision for us and our children. I’m excited to get to know more people in London and in the entertainment industry there, and make new friendships. And I’m hopeful. Even though there’s a lot of stuff that’s going on which could drag you down, I’m going to stay positive. I’m going to stay optimistic.

Julianne Nicholson as Samantha Redmond in Paradise. (Disney)

Julianne Nicholson Recommends…

I’m currently watching… The Traitors

What I’m reading… No Ordinary Assignment by Jane Ferguson

The last thing I watched (and loved) was… Conclave

Favourite film of all time… Tootsie

Band/singer I always have on repeat… Tom Misch

My ultimate cultural recommendation… London’s smaller theatres: Jermyn Street Theatre, Downstairs at Hampstead Theatre. There’s so much going on there, and many of them have cheap tickets so it can be more accessible than the West End!

Cultural guilty pleasure… The Traitors…

WATCH

The first three episodes of Paradise are available on Disney+ from 28 January. New episodes will arrive weekly.