Julianne Nicholson

In Dream Scenario (2023), Julianne Nicholson lets us watch Janet Matthews decide how much more of Paul she is prepared to tolerate. The decisions accumulate scene by scene, so that a supporting part becomes one of the film's main reasons to keep watching. We felt for Janet because Nicholson makes the effort of putting up with Paul matter as much as his wish to be noticed. Kristoffer Borgli's film is sharp and funny for an hour, then starts explaining itself at the expense of that pleasure. Alongside Nicolas Cage, Nicholson gives us someone whose judgement we still want to follow.

She has spent much of her career in supporting parts, including Ivy Weston in August: Osage County (2013). Wider attention came with Lori Ross in Mare of Easttown (2021), followed by prominent roles in Paradise and Hacks in 2025. Mothers and partners dealing with family or institutional pressure have been a recurring feature of her work. That can encourage a narrow idea of what an actor is there to provide. Her move into physical comedy is welcome, not least because quiet endurance should not have to be a permanent assignment.

In Paradise (2025), her Samantha ‘Sinatra’ Redmond has enough force to hold our attention beside Sterling K. Brown without turning their work into a contest. Brown makes the series worth following, and James Marsden's President Cal Bradford supplies a welcome change of rhythm when it grows solemn. Nicholson fits that company without becoming inconspicuous. Together they make some improbable turns easier to accept, giving us a reason to care when the explanations become questionable. That is a substantial contribution to a thriller whose first season gives its actors a more satisfying mystery than its second.

We would like to see her given more parts whose decisions shape what happens, rather than having to make doubtful turns believable. Both Dream Scenario and Paradise are worth following with reservations about the writing, and admiration for Nicholson need not mean excusing what goes wrong around her. Start with Dream Scenario, and watch Janet deciding how much patience Paul deserves.