Hulu’s Paradise is a captivating political thriller from the mind of Dan Fogelman (creator of This is Us). The series is about a Secret Service agent Xavier (Sterling K. Brown) who makes it his mission to figure out who killed the President of the United States (James Marsden). Xavier’s pursuit of unlocking this mystery makes the audience question everyone’s motive. The big catch? The whole world of Paradise takes place in an underground bunker that was constructed years ago to keep society safe from a cataclysmic event.

The mastermind behind the bunker is Samantha Redmond aka Sinatra, played by a scene-stealing Julianne Nicholson. She’s a polarizing figure who’s been described as cunning or in some cases, downright evil. Whatever your opinion is on Sinatra, Nicholson looks like she’s having the time of her life getting the chance to embody not only a power hungry antagonist but a woman who’s at the center of making some truly erratic decisions. There’s a lot to chew on in terms of the layers underneath tech billionaire’s actions, especially how her grief changes her, and her darkest impulses in maintaining control.

We sat down over Zoom with Julianne Nicholson to unpack Sinatra and her perspective on TV’s most interesting “villain”.