A note from Wild Card host Rachel Martin: Julianne Nicholson has been busy breaking our hearts over the last few years. She was totally captivating in Janet Planet as a mother dealing with unmet expectations about her life. And she won an Emmy for playing Kate Winslet's best friend in Mare of Easttown.
She's so good in these dramatic roles that it's easy to forget that Julianne Nicholson is also funny. If you scroll all the way to the bottom of her prolific list of credits — you'll see that she had a memorable 13-episode arc as Jenny Shaw on the beloved TV show, Ally McBeal. She played this endearingly dorky lawyer. And it was there people got a first look at her chemistry with actor James Marsden, who was equally nerdy and charming on the show.
They are now together again in the Hulu series, Paradise, where her chemistry with Marsden is electric in a different way. After all, it's a show about the end of the world and the survival of human civilization is on the line.
This Wild Card interview has been edited for length and clarity. Host Rachel Martin asks guests randomly selected questions from a deck of cards. Tap play above to listen to the full podcast, or read an excerpt below.
Question 1: What's a smell that brings back a vivid memory from childhood?
Julianne Nicholson: When I was growing up, my mom would use this cream – I think you can still buy it. It's a cream called Skin Trip. It's like coconut cream, very hippy-dippy. We started using it in the 70's. And my mom would put a bottle of that in my sister and my stockings every year from when we were probably 10 years old. And so now if I ever smell that cream, it takes me back to growing up in this little cabin in the woods in western Massachusetts when I was like 7, 8, 9, 10 years old.
Rachel Martin: I want to ask more about the cabin in the woods. Like it was rustic…
Nicholson: Yeah. Until I was 7, I grew up outside of Boston. And then my parents separated and my mom was single for a while and then she and my younger sister and I went and moved in with my stepfather who moved down from Maine into this tiny cabin with no electricity or running water in western Massachusetts.
Martin: Wow. I'm sure this is an annoying question, but when you say no indoor plumbing, do you mean you had an outhouse?
Nicholson: We had an outhouse. There was a toilet inside, but we weren't allowed to use it in the summers.
Martin: Right, so you would look forward to certain seasons when you're like, "I'm pooping inside!"
Nicholson: Exactly, exactly. Though now, I actually have very fond memories, even though at the time it was like, "Oh damn it. I have to go outside," and it'd be snowing. But I have memories of sitting in the outhouse with the door open, because there was nobody around for miles and miles, with a flashlight sort of shining outside, and it was all trees and snow falling through the beam of the flashlight.
So, actually, in hindsight, it's very beautiful. My mom and stepfather have a very beautiful lifestyle. One that takes work, but it's very simple and like being connected to the earth, and I find it really moving. I love to go unplug and be with them.
Question 2: What's something you've had to give up as you've grown up?
Nicholson: Well, alcohol.
Martin: I just did that six months ago.
Nicholson: Yeah. In 2016, I realized it was not working for me anymore. So that's been a huge gift. Not always easy, but really good.
Martin: You noticed a difference? I mean, I have a million questions about this, because this is still a relatively new thing for me. I also realized it was not doing me any favors. And had been a real crutch for me for a long time. But I still find it difficult to socialize.
Nicholson: I know, I completely understand. At first it was terrifying to feel like, "I can't believe I have to go in there sober." And now it feels like, "Actually, I'm not great at social situations. And that's okay." When there's a lot of people I can barely even pay attention to what anyone is saying, especially if I don't know them. I'm fine if it's a group of friends, that's easy. But if I'm at a work event or a school event for my kids and there's too many people and I don't know them well enough and people are talking to me, it's not my strong suit.
Martin: And so do you leave? Do you not go to those things?
Nicholson: I mean I have to go for my job, actually, but I usually try to latch on to someone who I know who's my little social security blanket. And I just give myself a break. Like, I don't have to be good at it.
Martin: And what do you drink?
Nicholson: Sparkling water [blows a raspberry]
Martin: [laughs] Not even drinking a ginger beer?
Nicholson: I like ginger beer with a meal. I like non-alcoholic beer.
Martin: I still struggle with people when there's so much excitement about, "oh, let's meet for a glass of wine" or like, you meet a person and they're really into whiskey.
And their enthusiasm for the event centered around alcohol is so acute. And I feel like the buzzkill being like, "I'll have your … nonalcoholic beer."
Nicholson: Probably the longer you have with that, I imagine you'll feel less worried and self-conscious about that and the other person can still do that. And then often when they're two drinks, three drinks in, I'm like, "Thank God I am clear and I'm going to feel good tomorrow when I wake up."
It's worth it, but I didn't want to have to give that up.
Question 3: When have you experienced awe?
Nicholson: The first time we went to Yosemite, my husband and kids and I drove through that tunnel, and you come out and you see El Capitan. I felt it in the pit of my stomach. It was true awe – just natural beauty. I don't remember having that particular feeling before.
I find a lot of awe in nature, actually. I find awe in flowers, the delicacy and the intricacy and the colors of flowers. It's probably a pretty common response to nature.
Martin: Inherent in the idea of awe is an idea of smallness, right? Like, perspective, I think, is kind of the wonderful feeling of feeling small.
Nicholson: Yeah, I agree. That's a beautiful way to look at it. It felt like more than a mountain face, it just felt like an expression of being small in a vast universe.
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