They said it when she got “Black Mass.” And “Mare of Easttown.” And “Janet Planet.”
Articles essentially saying: OK now Julianne Nicholson has made it.
When I mentioned this to her, she laughs.
“I know. Honestly, I feel like with every show I’ve ever done, people are like: ‘Is this the one?’ the Medford native, 53, tells me in our recent Zoom. “It’s one of the ones.”
Nicholson’s career is a snowball, not a ladder. It’s been rolling since the late ‘90s, just eating up ground. There’s no telling how far she’ll go — 2025, though (she’s already got four projects out, including a foray into comedy) is something of an avalanche moment.
She sunk her teeth into complex villain Sinatra on Hulu’s brilliant “Paradise” earlier this year. The series is already renewed for season 2. It’s one of the ones.
Then last week, she pivoted 180 degrees to Dance Mom — a goofy TikTok-sensation/Hollywood-rube — on HBO‘s Emmy-winning “Hacks.” She’ll return in future episodes this season.
This year also sees her in BBC One’s “Dope Girls,” and in theaters now in “The Amateur,” starring Rami Malek. She keeps rolling.
I Zoomed with the Emmy winner from her home in the Hampshire, England, countryside. Outside a window, in the fields beyond, sheep grazed.
We talked growing up off-grid in Western Mass., Jean Smart, “Paradise,” “The White Lotus,” getting silly, and more.
Q. So what drew you to “Hacks”?
A. I think it’s so smart. I love the intergenerational play between the legend-goddess that is Jean Smart and the incredibly talented Hannah [Einbinder]. All the characters on the show are just so funny. I think [creators & showrunners] Lucia [Aniello], Paul [W. Downs], and Jen [Statsky] are geniuses.
Everyone feels like they’re on the best show on TV, so there’s this pervasive joy on set, which lends itself to people being fine with being silly or making a fool of themselves because you can’t make a fool of yourself on that show — there’s too much love.
And I love their willingness to take risks and speak to themes of the day with such grace and humor.
Q. What in particular did you like about Dance Mom?
A. Dance Mom is so unlike anything I’ve ever played. It’s so fun to go out there and shake my money-maker [laughs]. It was fun to be silly. The opposite of Sinatra. I’m very rarely invited to do anything funny.
Q. What was it like to get into comedy here?
A. It’s such a relief. A lot of my scenes are with Meg [Stalter] and Paul. They’re so fun and welcoming and brilliant. And it was fun to be back with Jean because I fell in love with her doing “Mare of Easttown.”
Q. Right, she played Kate Winslet’s mom. You’ve actually been on a few HBO shows — “Boardwalk Empire,” “Winning Time,” “The Outsider.” You thrive in ensemble casts. I feel like you’d be great on “The White Lotus.”
A. I mean, it’s a great show. [But] you read stories about people losing their minds over the course of seven months [away from home]. I can’t go to Thailand for seven months.
Maybe in a couple of years when my kids are in college. Then I’d love to.
Q. I have to ask about “Paradise.” Season 2 has already started filming. We’ve never seen you in such a meaty, complex role. What attracted you to Sinatra?
A. I love Dan [Fogelman’s] writing. He just knows what people want to watch. His character work is detailed and moving. When you’ve been acting for 30 years, if you can still find characters so completely different than anything else you’ve played, it’s such a joy.
I loved the idea of playing the baddie who‘s not simply a baddie — she’s got issues. Life has dealt her this hand, and it’s informed every step of her way.
Q. You were in A24’s “Janet Planet,” which filmed not too far from where you lived in Western Mass. for a time. But you spent your early years in Medford.
A. Right, most of my family are in the Medford area. My dad’s the oldest of seven. My mom’s the oldest of 10. My dad grew up in Medford. My mom grew up in Bev-ah-lee. You can’t say Beverly.
Q. [laughs] True.
A. That’s basically where I spent my younger childhood. Then my parents broke up, my mom moved to Western Mass. with my stepfather. We lived in Montague.
Q. Your mom was an herbalist.
A. She’s still an herbalist. She started in the 1970s, when people were like “Echinacea — what? Who?” We were guinea pigs. And now, of course, it’s everywhere. I lived there from age 7 to 11. I’d visit my dad during holidays and summers. Then at 11, I moved back to Medford, and would go to Western Mass. every other weekend.
Q. In Western Mass., you lived in a cabin with an outhouse, no electricity. What was that like?
A. We were off the grid. It was a very simple life, but it became our norm. I remember having friends for a sleepover, they’d be like, “Where’s the light?” “Oh, we have kerosene lanterns.” “What?”
I’m sure it took a minute to get used to, but I don’t remember that part — I remember it with fondness.
Q. You were a camp counselor in Goshen as a teenager.
A. Camp Howe — heaven, bliss. When we were filming “Janet Planet” in Leverett and Amherst, I hadn’t been back to the area in probably 30 years. It blew my mind. One day, I was driving to set, and passed the sign for Camp Howe, and had to pull over. There were such huge moments of my childhood — [sighs] Yeah.
Q. What did you feel when you pulled over?
A. Just life. The bittersweetness of life, and time moving on, and people who mean so much to you at one time, but they don’t really come into your mind. Just the heartbreak and joy of life. Just that. [laughs]
Q. Did you always want to be an actor?
A. I did. I thought, “OK, it’s not gonna happen in Boston. I’m gonna go to New York.” Because I loved the movie “Tootsie,” I thought: “In New York, it’s all gonna come together for me!” [laughs]
I took acting classes, worked in restaurants, modeled. I took classes at Hunter College. Then, gradually, gradually, I got roles — little independent movies. I’d waitress between gigs.
Q. There are all these articles that proclaim you’ve arrived. When did you feel you made it as an actor?
A. That’s been an evolving feeling. Highs and lows, for sure. I guess when I quit waitressing at age 28. It’s been a series of thinking something’s gonna be the one, and now I realize it’s one foot in front of the other. Just keep going and try to [take roles] I can be proud of, things I feel happy to be putting out into the world, provide for my family. It’s not a flashy thing.
Q. We’ve seen you in so many dramas — would you do more comedy after “Hacks”?
A. I hope so. I hope this makes people go, “Oh, OK. She’s not just tearing her heart out.”
Interview was edited and condensed.
Lauren Daley can be reached at ldaley33@gmail.com. Follow her on Twitter @laurendaley1.