Last week Dan Fogelman’s latest series Paradise came to an explosive close.
Audiences had spent weeks watching Agent Xavier Collins, played by Sterling K. Brown, attempt to solve the mystery of who had murdered his charge, Cal Bradford, the President of the United States, played by James Marsden.
And in the final episode it was revealed that the killer had been right under our noses the entire time, in the most complex way that we’ve come to expect from Fogelman.
In Paradise, Fogelman has created complex characters whose backgrounds are rich. One such character is Sinatra, played by Julianne Nicholson.
“I think that was Dan's intention, to not have just like a mustache twirling bad guy, but to have a person that feels a little bit more relatable. She's extreme, of course…” states Nicholson on the complexities of her character, Sinatra.
Collins and Sinatra are interwoven from the start in their individual pursuits to maintain control and power over a world that is slipping through their fingers with every truth uncovered. The sparring sessions that we see on screen between Collins and Sinatra are tantalising to watch and seeing them go toe-to-toe, especially in the final episodes prove just how desperate anyone can become to protect those you love.
“I feel like she's just like a cracked, open egg on the inside… [trying to] keep moving like a shark. If she stops, it's all gonna fall apart.” Nicholson explains about the vulnerable nature of playing Sinatra.
It also wasn’t the first time she had encountered an impassioned Sterling K Brown. Nicholson had met her co-star previously on the Emmy red carpet post-COVID, “It was very small, intimate,” she recalls.
“People's agents weren't there… Everybody was trying to get their picture taken before they went inside for the start of the show, and famous actors were cutting in line to get their picture taken. And Sterling was the only voice of reason being, like, “there will be no cutting. There is a line and we will respect that line.”
Respect is something that Brown has in buckets for his co-stars. The fast-paced thriller also stars Nicole Brydon Bloom, Krys Marshall and Jon Beavers, along with young actors, Aliyah Mastin and Percy Daggs IV, who play Brown’s children, Presley and James.
“Percy and Aliyah, I love them deeply. They have beautiful parents who [were] on set, although Aliyah is old enough to not have a parent on set…I can remember one moment in particular, because I can be a little silly when I'm not on camera. I remember going to tell Presley that Uncle Billy (Jon Beavers) had passed away and in between takes I would do something that would make her chuckle and she just sort of gently be like, “I'm trying to cry right now, Sterling, could you stop making me laugh?”
From cast to crew, this thriller was only enhanced by strong women. Between all the women Agent Collins encounters on his journey to uncover the truth, including his wife Dr Teri Rodgers-Collins, who Brown’s wife in real life has been a staunch supporter of on TikTok, to the two female directors, Gandja Monteiro and Hanelle M. Culpepper (both with a stacked portfolio behind them) who worked across the series.
Brown was also thrilled to hear that his co-star Julianne Nicholson would be alongside him for the journey telling The Floor Mag that when creator Dan Fogelman wanted Nicholson on board, “Get that woman as fast as you can, because she ate…She needs her nomination.”
With Paradise already renewed for a second series, are there any cameos Brown would love to see as his character embarks on his next adventure?
“If Meryl Streep ever wanted to come do anything with me, that would make me really, really happy…A weird sort of crossover would be if my show intersected with The Last of Us and then Pedro came on and we encountered each other, like that would be kind of stupid, because me and Pedro did ‘Shakespeare in the Park’ in New York City in like, 2014…So to be able to be reunited in our two post apocalyptic worlds, that would be nice.”
Nicholson’s final reflections on Paradise’s lead as he embarks on his next journey, “he's just a decent human being, a deeply thoughtful human being, so talented, so grateful and generous of spirit, and I've loved working with him.”
And what Sinatra would order from the diner?
“Not fake cheese fries. I think Sterling described them to me once as “wet”, and I was like, no…But a milkshake, vanilla milkshake”.
Paradise Series One is available now on Disney Plus UK.
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