Julianne Nicholson has been a professional actress for the past 25 years but still hasn’t achieved a breakout film role. That moment has finally come in the A24 drama Janet Planet, as Nicholson plays the lead role of ’90s acupuncturist hippie Janet. Her Mare of Easttown director Craig Zobel reveals how it feels knowing that Nicholson’s breakout moment is finally coming for her.
Early on in Julianne Nicholson’s career, the Massachusetts native worked with an acting coach and got herself a manager. She’s landed leads in short-lived projects like Steven Spielberg’s paranoid drama series The Others and USA Network’s Eyewitness. Nicholson has also been part of the cast of shows like Ally McBeal and Law & Order: Criminal Intent. In film, she’s mostly played wives, mothers, or mother figures, with her latest as Nicolas Cage’s wife in Dream Scenario.
With roles becoming scarce for Julianne Nicholson around 2011, she still hasn’t landed a career-defining role. It looks like A24’s latest release, Janet Planet, is giving the August: Osage County actress the star power she needs. Her director from HBO’s Mare of Easttown, Craig Zobel, had sweet words to say about the talented actress finally having her moment:
“Julianne was one of those people that, if you were in New York in the early 2000s, she was in all of the good little New York movies. It was always a good day on set — I felt a little bit more relaxed — if I knew that Julianne was going to be there. I think about her a lot like Sam Rockwell, where he’s now able to make whatever, but he still feels like a New York actor,” Zobel said to the LA Times.
Sam Rockwell was a well-respected actor long before Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri. Yet that movie opened doors for him to appear in other critically praised movies like Jojo Rabbit and Richard Jewell. Maybe Janet Planet will provide that for Julianne Nicholson.
What do we know about Janet Planet?
The trailer of the emotional A24 drama shows Julianne Nicholson as Janet. The acupuncturist is a single mother who previously juggled various professions and men while still figuring things out. With the invitation to bring three adults into her life, she’s hoping this is the beginning of a fresh start. However, her very anxious 11-year-old daughter feels like this is threatening the close attachment she has to her mother.
Janet Planet marks the directorial debut of American playwright and Pulitzer Prize winner, Annie Baker, who also wrote the movie. It had its world premiere at the 50th Telluride Film Festival and has had screenings at the 2023 New York Film Festival and the 74th Berlin International Film Festival. The movie has garnered Universal praise currently sitting at 83% on Rotten Tomatoes. Critics have been applauding the film festival flick for Julianne Nicholson and Zoe Ziegler’s performances and its realism.
With critics loving Janet Planet and Julianne Nicholson as its lead, maybe Craig Zobel could be right that this movie could be a stepping stone towards a new chapter in her career.
