Paradise Interview: Julianne Nicholson & Sarah Shahi Talk Exploring Characters

ComingSoon Senior Editor Brandon Schreur spoke to Julianne Nicholson and Sarah Shahi about starring in Dan Fogelman’s new Hulu series, Paradise. Nicholson and Shahi discussed what drew them to the project, what it was like exploring their characters in this world, and more.

“Paradise is set in an upscale community inhabited by some of the world’s most prominent individuals,” the synopsis for the show reads. “But this tranquility explodes when a shocking murder occurs and a high-stakes investigation unfolds.

The first three episodes of Paradise is now streaming on Hulu.

Brandon Schreur: Julianne, Sinatra is such a cool character. I mean, there are parts about her that are really sad when you learn her backstory and everything. But I also just love the way she can walk into a room of men, all these government officials, and just totally command the room. I thought that was so cool. I’m curious, what stood out to you the most about Sinatra when you first got the script? What were you most excited to explore with her when playing her?

Julianne Nicholson: I was first just so excited because I was a fan of Dan’s. I was sent the first four episodes to read before I met with him. And I was taken in during the first episode where Sinatra barely shows up because I just thought the writing was so incredible. There are all these twists and turns, and then, what you discover at the end of the first episode, it just throws everything into disarray for what you thought about the show.

And, then, I just thought Dan is so smart to go back and tell these character’s stories in the past, where they’ve come from, so it informs the decisions they’re making today. I just thought that second episode, I’ve never read an episode where a character gets to go through so much in a single sitting of their experience. For me, it was fun to come at it as a woman, a wife, a mother, and, then, what grief does to her. I don’t often get the chance to play such a badass, and that was really fun.

And it’s a lot of fun to watch. I can’t say that enough, but it’s great. This is a show with a lot of twists and turns and, Sarah, one thing I really liked about your character is that when she’s first introduced it’s like, ‘Oh, this is going to be the person who has all the secrets, she knows everybody’s dirt.’ But, then, as it goes on, you see more of a softer and more intimate side to her. Like, I love the scene in one of the episodes where you and Sterling K. Brown are just in a supermarket talking about cheese fries. Talk to me a little bit about what it was like exploring this character in these quieter moments and bringing those scenes to life. Were you working with Dan Fogelman a lot to bring what was written on the page to life?

Sarah Shahi: I’m always someone who likes to bring things that are not on the page, even though, with Dan’s scripts and his writing, it does become the north star. It’s so good. A lot of your work, you don’t really need that much because it’s really right there.

But, like you said, my character does kind of have a softer side. I wanted to get in on the delicious badassness that Sinatara has and some of the other characters have. So I was always talking to Dan like, ‘Well, does she go bad? Like, does she turn? Is she really plotting to take over Paradise?’ And he’s like, ‘No. No. She’s the light. She’s the one who inherently believes that, deep down, people are good, they’re just broken.’ She’s the one who is encouraging everyone to come together, in a peaceful way, for the highest good of all.

I did one interview with someone and it was like, ‘She’s like God.’ And then I was like, ‘Actually, no, she’s like Jesus.’ She really, truly is this sentimental, kind-hearted character, and it’s nice to play somebody who is just earnest in that sense. She kind of carries around this natural bit of innocence in a world that is presented as very mysterious and very dark and people are not who they seem.

Thanks to Julianne Nicholson and Sarah Shahi for discussing Hulu‘s Paradise.