'Paradise' Finale Sinatra Death: Julianne Nicholson Interview
Julianne Nicholson in the 'Paradise' season two finale.
Hulu
-
Share on Facebook
-
Share on X
-
Google Preferred
-
Share to Flipboard
-
Show additional share options
-
Share on LinkedIn
-
Share on Pinterest
-
Share on Reddit
-
Share on Tumblr
-
Share on Whats App
-
Send an Email
-
Print the Article
-
Post a Comment
Logo text
[This story contains MAJOR spoilers from the Paradise season two finale, “Exodus.”]
Julianne Nicholson didn’t know Sinatra’s fate when she first signed on to play the villain of Paradise. Creator Dan Fogelman likes to keep some mystery even among the cast, so the actress didn’t find out that Sinatra was going to sacrifice herself until they started production on season two.
“Going down with the ship, quite literally and visually, it’s pretty astounding,” Nicholson tells The Hollywood Reporter in the conversation below with Thomas Doherty, who plays Link/Dylan.
Related Stories
TV
'Paradise' Finale Writer Breaks Down That Bonkers Season 2 Ending (and Explains the Quantum Physics of It All)
TV
'Paradise' Star Enuka Okuma Goes Inside That Heavy Reunion: "Both of Them Don't Give Up"
You can now perhaps call Doherty her onscreen son — as that revelation was dropped in the season two finale, titled “Exodus,” before Sinatra stayed behind to destroy the bunker she helped create, dying in the process. Paradise answered season two’s big looming question — Who is Alex? — by revealing that “Alex” is a quantum computer that is designed to play with time. When Sinatra meets Doherty’s character — who had been going by the nickname Link until now — she believes that he is her son, who died as a child, and that his existence is proof that Alex works.
“You have to believe in the story — and then go get your PhD in quantum physics and it will all make sense,” says Nicholson with a laugh. “But Samantha believes that Link/Dylan is her son, so that’s what I had to hold onto.”
Below, the co-stars share what the writers explained to them about the AI quantum computer named Alex that will steer Paradise into season three, now that Sterling K. Brown‘s Xavier has been tasked with going to find Alex and saving the world, while Nicholson shares how she’s processing that moving goodbye to Sinatra after two seasons: “She kind of breaks my heart.”
***
Now knowing the connection between you two, did you have a chemistry read before Thomas was cast? Julianne, were you involved in his casting? You two look alike.
JULIANNE NICHOLSON No, we didn’t know that. Dan [Fogelman, creator] did the casting. But that’s the feedback we’ve been getting!
THOMAS DOHERTY People keep saying it’s our eyes.
How much did you know once he was cast about this Link/Dylan role and how it would connect to Sinatra by the end of the season?
NICHOLSON I don’t think I knew right away. I probably knew two or three episodes in what was coming down the road. But then it was trying to make sense of that. How does that work? Which I’m still trying to figure out. (Laughs.)
DOHERTY And then [the writers] try and explain it to you, and it just makes it worse. It’s all quantum physics and mechanics and stuff.
What was your casting story, Thomas?
DOHERTY I wasn’t even going to do the audition. I was a huge fan of Paradise, and then we got the breakdown for the character, and it said, “Burly man.” I don’t generally fall into that category or description. (Laughs.) But, I was burly enough! It was really, really quick. I auditioned a few times in New York. Then I flew out to L.A. to meet with Dan and John [Requa] and Glenn [Ficarra], who directed the first two episodes and who are producers as well. Then I got told that Shailene [Woodley] was going to be playing Annie. I got the job on a Thursday. By Monday, I had moved to LA.
I had a week in L.A. to prepare, but Shailene went into fittings on Wednesday and started shooting on Friday. It was really, really quick.
Nicholson as Sinatra saying goodbye to Thomas Doherty as Link/Dylan in the finale.
Hulu
Did you have the full scope of your character?
DOHERTY No. You have to go to Dan and be like, “Please tell me!” So he told me. He gave me a general idea of the direction that it was heading, which is amazing and quite rare in television. A lot of the time, they haven’t even written the scripts while you’re filming. So that was really good to know directionally where I was going to go.
The beginning of the season did dabble in the time and space realm with those memory flashes. Were you playing that straight in the beginning, where it could be effects from the blast or from radiation, or were you leaning into the Alex of it all?
NICHOLSON I had no idea. The nose bleeds and all those