Paradise's Julianne Nicholson on the unexpected timeliness of playing a billionaire villain

AVC: Why do you think Samantha is so shaken at the thought of Xavier’s [Brown] daughter Presley [Aliyah Mastin] dying in the finale when her decisions have led to a lot of other deaths, including those of children? 

JN: Well, one is because it’s a named child. It’s someone she has a very loose connection to, so it lands differently for her. The other is she’s at her lowest at that point. She’s at her most vulnerable, and the walls have fallen in on her. In that moment, I played it as the situation brings up her grief that she still has never been able to deal with. I also think that while Xavier is an adversary, Samantha respects and admires him. She recognizes the decent, intelligent, and special person that he is. That brings it a little closer to home.  

AVC: The finale is one of the very few times Sam shows proper emotion in the present timeline. I’m particularly thinking of when she says “God forgive me.” What was pulling off that performance like? 

JN: I try not to shape a performance or think, “Okay, if I do this here, then I’ll do that, then I’ll do that,” but I try to play each scene for itself. We were really encouraged on this show to do a scene different ways and to go higher or lower with emotion. A lot of times I was encouraged as Sinatra to play it cool, where maybe my impulse would be to be more heated. So it was always a finessing. I tried in almost every scene to give them a range of levels. Then in the editing, they fit the puzzle together.

AVC: You get to play this juicy main role of a rich and evil billionaire. It’s not the kind of part we usually see women play. Was that one of the reasons you were drawn to it? 

JN: In describing it to me when Dan and I first met, that’s what stood out. I love mixing things up as an actor and I love that Sinatra is a complex woman. Feeling her vulnerability doesn’t also mean that she can’t be tough as nails. We don’t have to be one thing. It’s just fun to play this particular type of boss and let people see it on the screen. At least for me, it was probably easier to film this role in season one when we weren’t in the climate that we are in now. It was much more imagination than seeking examples of it in real life. I had also never played this type of a person before, so I was mostly looking forward to flexing these acting muscles.

AVC: What was it like filming Samantha’s backstory in episode two, “Sinatra,” which helps us understand her viciousness? I’m still thinking about the flashback therapy scene with Gabriela [Sarah Shahi] when Sam is struggling with her son’s death.

JN: I love that episode. Reading the premiere, I was already into Paradise, but when I read the second, I knew I would do it. I didn’t even need more episodes. I’ve never read a single hour of TV that so deeply dives into one person’s history like that. It’s so beautifully written. I just feel like I understood her. I mean, you can’t exactly understand her loss as a mother unless you have a similar experience, but I could imagine some version of what that could feel like. It’s a devastating thought. On the set that day for the therapy scene, we were mostly quiet. We just basically kept our space. We were near each other but not chatting. The lovely Sarah Shahi and the episode directors, John Requa and Glenn Ficarra, were so present with me. 

I did say that I could do this scene a couple of times or even a few times but probably not a lot more than that because it’s so heavy. I didn’t think I would be able to give it as much honesty if I had to keep repeating it. I mean, I would have if I had to, but I didn’t know if I could keep doing that more than a few times. Then it became about not having expectations, just having an idea of what [Sam] feels like with Gabriela. I love that Dan put her backstory so early into the season. It’s such a gift to me as an actor and to viewers as well. It helps frame who she is and that she’s not just a monster.

AVC: The very stressful seventh episode reveals how a volcanic eruption destroys the world in less than a day and also leads to nuclear attacks, so everyone’s scrambling to survive and heads to the underground city. Did this give you anxiety about the climate as well? 

JN: That’s an easy yes. [Laughs] Reading it was like, “Damn, could this happen?” They’ve done such deep research and investigation into climate and the various ways it could end before writing anything. It’s not a prediction, of course, but while watching you can hopefully feel that it’s grounded in reality. 

AVC: One of the themes in Paradise is speaking truth to power. Did that resonate with you guys while making it and do you think fans can connect with that idea, especially right now? 

JN: Dan has such an incredible way to make us all think we know what is going to happen and then pull the rug out from under us as an audience member, which is what I was when I was reading the show. We’re all such sophisticated viewers now. We’ve watched great TV shows over the last 20  or 30 years. But it’s thrilling to be part of a TV show that’s trying something different and original, where you don’t know what’s coming next. The fact is that it has entertainment value. I also think things like music play a part in Paradise. Dan and the composer Siddhartha Khosla met in college. They know each other’s tastes well. 

But as you say, it’s not just a political thriller; it goes beyond that. How can it not be interesting? It’s a show in which civilians are holding those in power accountable. If that speaking truth to power aspect resonates for people and our audience in any way, that’s a wonderful idea to me. Could it inspire change or get people to pick up a pen or the phone or go to a march? I don’t know but I love that idea.   

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.