Latest news with #JulianneNicholson
Yahoo
18 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
How ‘Hacks' Found Comedy in Every Prop, Light, and Gesture
'I never actually made tooth-to-Emmy-winner contact. I did not bite.' That's co-creator and actor Paul W. Downs denying — to the best of his recollection — ever clamping down on Emmy-winner Julianne Nicholson's hand while lunging to bite her during their 'frantic' scene in 'Hacks' Season 4. More from IndieWire The Creators of 'Hacks' Want To Know Which TV You Own The Cinematography of 'Hacks' Outdoes Itself in Season 4 Finale and Makes Deborah Vance the Queen of the World 'I think that's the only take where you pretended to [bite her], actually,' co-creator Lucia Aniello said. 'She would've been fine with it. She's so game, if Paul bit her hand, she would've gone with it. She would not have stopped the scene.' 'She was really holding onto that bag,' Downs said. 'She was very committed.' The scene in question, which you can see in the full video interview above, is from Episode 9, 'A Slippery Slope,' which was written by Downs, Aniello, and co-creator Jen Statsky. They were joined by cinematographer Adam Bricker and production designer Rob Tokarz, for a virtual panel discussion as part of Universal Studio Group's USG University. Let's break it down: Jimmy (Downs) and Kayla (Megan Stalter) are helping a sleepy, hungover Dance Mom (Nicholson) into her dressing room, where they have to revitalize the TikTok star so she can perform on Deborah's (Jean Smart) late-night show. The premise is simple enough. But it's the details — the performances and props, the lighting and the wallpaper, the cinematography and the blocking — that elevate a funny scene to hysterical heights. 'There were some nicks and cuts. There were some injuries,' Downs said. 'That was a very physical scene. She threw herself into a bar cart. There was blood.' That being said, production designer Rob Tokarz and his team helped to protect the actors as best they could. When Dance Mom first enters the room, yes, she stumbles into a bar cart, which looks and sounds dangerous enough to get a laugh — even though it was perfectly safe. 'We had to make sure the bar cart is something safe for her to bump into multiple times, so we had to replace all the glassware with something that was not going to break apart,' Tokarz said. 'I think we replaced the glass on the bar cart itself with tempered glass so if it were to crack it would be safe.' Another astute touch by Tokarz was making sure any prop used in the scene for comic effect would also be something that would logically be found in a late-night dressing room — like the big metal bucket first glimpsed when the characters enter, when it's filled with bottles of water, and later seen in close-up as Dance Mom's getting dunked. 'We had options on what the ice bucket would actually be and what would look best cinematically,' Tokarz said. 'Then we kind of back it up and have it make sense to the room. It all has to tie together to be realistic, so it's not like something that suddenly appeared on the coffee table. It was holding the water bottles at one point, and then they used it for something else.' 'So we take all these elements and just make sure nobody's going to get hurt, [while giving the actors] the flexibility to do what they did.' 'We definitely scripted a lot of the physical comedy because it was such a frantic scene,' Downs said. 'They were essentially going to be dragging an unconscious woman into her dressing room and trying to revive her. There was a lot of opportunity for us to mine moments for physical comedy. […] Megan Stalter, Julianne Nicholson, and myself all had a lot of fun doing it, and I think we're all people who are open to improvisation and ad-libbing, but that was one that we kind of had to choreograph pretty specifically. There's so many props, and there's so much matching, continuity-wise. […] There was the clearing of the cocaine, which is a very common phrase in film and theater.' Aniello, who also directed the episode, said they don't often get to 'do a lot of rehearsal — some might say none' — but they make the time for more physical scenes like this one. It helps maximize the humor already written into the scripts while identifying unforeseen avenues for additional wit. 'When we reveal she's on all fours, that's written into the script,' Aniello said. 'They wrestle over the bag, she runs into the bar cart, all those beats are definitely there. In terms of 'they're sitting down and this is where they stand up,' that's the kind of thing that we work out.' 'It's a delicate dance of being very direct in the script and then also when we rehearse so we can match continuity and stuff,' Statsky said. 'But also, like Paul's saying — and credit to him — he and Meg and Julianne are so present and such incredible comedians that, in the moment, you also want to give space for them to make choices. One of the funniest moments in the scene to me is when Paul goes over to the door and throws the purse over his shoulder. That was not in the script. That was just something Paul found in the moment — or maybe Lucia, you told him — but it was found on the day, in the moment.' Then, of course, there's the act of actually capturing everything written down, designed, and performed. 'What I love about this scene from a camera perspective is just how reactive the camera is,' Adam Bricker, the cinematographer, said. 'We have incredible camera operators who are really in the scene, living in the moment. There's a great energy to the scene, and I think they strike the right tonal balance of not trying to introduce that energy with the camera, but sort of reacting to the performances in a way that keeps it really grounded and real.' 'Then from a lighting perspective, we wanted to keep it naturalistic but also make it feel a little scary, like something bad might happen in here.' Something bad did happen in that dressing room, but at least no one left with teeth marks — or so they say. 'Hacks' is available on Max. IndieWire partnered with Universal Studio Group for USG University, a series of virtual panels celebrating the best in television art from the 2024-2025 TV season across NBC Universal's portfolio of shows. USG University (a Universal Studio Group program) is presented in partnership with Roybal Film & TV Magnet and IndieWire's Future of Filmmaking. Catch up on the latest USG University videos here or directly at the USG University site. Best of IndieWire 2023 Emmy Predictions: Who Will Win at the Primetime Emmy Awards? 2023 Emmy Predictions: Outstanding Documentary or Nonfiction Special 2023 Emmy Predictions: Outstanding Documentary or Nonfiction Series
Yahoo
5 days ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Julianne Nicholson Was ‘Paradise' Creator Dan Fogelman's Only Choice for His ‘Complicated' Villain
On June 5, the IndieWire Honors Spring 2025 ceremony will celebrate the creators and stars responsible for some of the most impressive and engaging work of this TV season. Curated and selected by IndieWire's editorial team, IndieWire Honors is a celebration of the creators, artisans, and performers behind television well worth toasting. We're showcasing their work with new interviews leading up to the Los Angeles event. Ahead, 'Paradise' creator Dan Fogelman explains why Julianne Nicholson, this season's IndieWire Honors Performance Award winner, was so worth the wait (and the white lies) it took to get her 'transcendent' work in the series. More from IndieWire Natasha Lyonne: The Maverick Behind the Madness 'Stick' Review: Owen Wilson's Golf Comedy Takes Too Many Shortcuts Trying to Be 'Ted Lasso' It's summer of 2024. We are shooting Episode 2 of my new [Hulu] series, 'Paradise.' While a lot of my mental energy has been devoted to the pilot, I'm equally focused on the second episode… an episode that expands our world and tells the backstory of our complicated 'villain' — Samantha Redmond, AKA Sinatra. I have come to set today — a rarity for me. Because today Julianne Nicholson is doing her big therapy scene — a monologue where she processes the loss of a child and her failed attempts to move forward — and I want to see it live. There are some things you just need to see in person. Julianne begins her monologue. The directors — knowing what's about to happen before it happens — have chosen to start on her and shoot the scene in one shot. No editing. Just let her go. And, so, the scene begins. I am standing in the back room, watching on the rear monitors. Julianne launches in. It is transcendent. And to no one, or maybe everyone, I simply say, 'Oh, my God.' And with that, as I'm inclined to do in many of my screenplays, I FLASHBACK. It's a year earlier now. I've been an admirer of Julianne's from a distance for years, and I've been obsessed with the idea of her as Sinatra from go. We've Zoomed, connected, and agreed to take this journey together. I'm so excited. And then I get a phone call… there's been a hiccup. Julianne has been filming another project, a project that still has time left to go, and their dates conflict with ours. They conflict in a way that makes shooting with her impossible. 'Dan,' I'm told, 'You're going to have to move on and cast someone else.' A decade of running TV shows has taught me to roll with the punches. A location falls apart, you change the location. An actor can't get their head around a speech, you change the words. But having Julianne in my show — in this part — and then losing her? I can't roll with that. There's a multiple week overlap between projects. I would have to push our project multiple weeks to accommodate Julianne's schedule. At a very late date. It would cost the show, and the studio that employs me, a LOT of money. I worry I'll never be able to convince anyone to push, not for one actor in an ensemble, no matter how great they are. And so… I lie. I tell everyone I need more time to prep the show (which I kind of do), and that we are rushing into production before we were ready (also a partial truth). But the real truth: we could shoot now. Just not with Julianne. And I don't want to shoot without Julianne. BACK TO PRESENT Julianne only needs two takes at the monologue. We will wind up using her first take in the show. It is one of the most extraordinary single pieces of acting I've ever witnessed — a broken woman, a mother who has lost a child, grasping at anything she can hold on to as she tries to survive for her remaining child. It's so raw, and so real… one of those performances where the lines blur between reality and art. You can hear a pin drop on stage. Everyone knows they are witnessing 'special.' I have a five-year-old. We're entering the 'not good to lie' portion of his development. But the white lie I told that allowed Julianne to play Sinatra is one of those few lies I'll be proud of for the rest of my life. She's a woman at the very top of her craft, who is kind and generous to boot. Working with Julianne Nicholson is, indeed, Paradise. Best of IndieWire The Best Thrillers Streaming on Netflix in June, from 'Vertigo' and 'Rear Window' to 'Emily the Criminal' All 12 Wes Anderson Movies, Ranked, from 'Bottle Rocket' to 'The Phoenician Scheme' Nightmare Film Shoots: The 38 Most Grueling Films Ever Made, from 'Deliverance' to 'The Wages of Fear'
Business Upturn
20-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Business Upturn
Paradise Season 2: Release date speculation, cast and plot details – Everything we know so far
By Aman Shukla Published on May 20, 2025, 18:00 IST Last updated May 20, 2025, 11:00 IST Hulu's gripping political thriller Paradise has captivated audiences with its intense drama and stellar cast. Following the success of its debut season, fans are eagerly awaiting Paradise Season 2. Here's everything we know so far about the release date, cast, plot, and more. Paradise Season 2 Release Date Speculation While Hulu has not yet confirmed an official premiere date for Paradise Season 2, speculation points to a potential release in early 2026. Series creator Dan Fogelman has expressed hope for an early 2026 premiere, as mentioned in an interview with Deadline. Production is already underway, with filming announced by Fogelman via Instagram, suggesting a timeline that aligns with this estimate. Paradise Season 2 Potential Cast The cast of Paradise Season 2 is shaping up to be as compelling as its first season. Sterling K. Brown, who plays Xavier Collins, is confirmed to return, bringing his Emmy-winning talent back to the series. Other Season 1 stars expected to reprise their roles include: Julianne Nicholson as the cunning billionaire Sinatra. James Marsden and Krys Marshall, whose characters are likely to continue their arcs from the first season's bunker setting. Paradise Season 2 Potential Plot Details Plot details for Paradise Season 2 are being kept tightly under wraps, but hints suggest a continuation of the political thriller's high-stakes narrative. The story is expected to build on the Season 1 finale, with Shailene Woodley's character, a prominent survivor, playing a key role in Xavier's ongoing mission. The bunker setting and its complex dynamics will likely remain central, with returning characters like Sinatra (Julianne Nicholson) driving the tension. While specific plot points are scarce, the addition of new faces and the show's dystopian undertones hint at fresh conflicts and alliances. Fans can expect more twists in this intricate thriller. Aman Shukla is a post-graduate in mass communication . A media enthusiast who has a strong hold on communication ,content writing and copy writing. Aman is currently working as journalist at
Forbes
07-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Forbes
The Hidden Messages in Hulu's Paradise Costume Design
Xavier Collins (Sterling K. Brown) and Samantha "Sinatra" Redmond (Julianne Nicholson) face off in Hulu's 'Paradise.' Courtesy of Hulu/Disney Paradise has a deceptively simple premise. Deep within Cheyenne Mountain, a la Stargate , a much more old fashioned version of science fiction, construction has been secretly going on. Underground a cabal of uber wealthy CEOs has created a version of Eden, or More's Utopia , just in case the world falls apart. Of course the world then falls apart. It's a well written, rather timely series, and the excellent costumes add depth and dimension to the series which could not be achieved any other way. I met with the costume designer for the series' first season, Sarah Evelyn, to talk to her about the incredibly nuanced series, about deciding how to dress the inhabitants of this Brave New World, especially since it is riddled with literary and cinematic Easter Eggs, tiny references woven into the narrative in a seemingly endless series of winks and nods from show creator Dan Fogelman. 'It was interesting to think about how you would plan for that many people to move somewhere,' Evelyn told me, 'where there wouldn't be clothing readily available and how you would start those kinds of really important systems because we need to be dressed. I really thought a lot about how the clothing and the visuals would really do a lot of supporting. Like the social stability of these people who had just gone through a humongous trauma, must be on the edge, don't know what's going to happen, completely insecure. I thought that so much of the plan would have been how to keep the social fabric intertwined enough so that no one would want to take it down.' President Cal Bradford (James Marsden) before his cabinet. Courtesy of Hulu/Disney Ira Levin, the 20th century master of horror, is an immediately obvious reference. The saccharine, saturated palette evokes a novel that became a film twice, disturbing generations of readers and audiences alike. 'I think that there definitely was a Stepford vibe,' Evelyn said, 'because that reflected what was happening in the dome. But we thought to ourselves, you know, okay, if this was going to happen, there would be someone who was in charge of production design, basically. And that person would have a creative designer working under them. And they would have a head of textiles working under them, because you would have to procure all this stuff to be ready to receive all sorts of people underground in a world that you want to make feel very normal. Because I felt like that would be really important for social stability. And the clothing would be super important for social stability. Not only would it be things that you would want to biodegrade naturally, or things that you could reuse again, you'd want to have nice, peaceful colors. You'd want to have simple silhouettes. You'd want to have things that almost referred back to a more nostalgic time, like the 1950s and 60s. And then, as time went on, I felt like it would be the kids that started to kind of put these things together in new ways, you know, and that would start style and fashion trend in the dome. And so we did a lot of that.' Xavier Collins (Sterling K. Brown) and Presley (Aliyah Mastin) in "Paradise." Courtesy of Hulu/Disney Watching the series, Evelyn's diligent efforts shine through in the tiny details, like the hairstyle on our main character's daughter, Presley (Aliyah Mastin). Her hair is beautiful, it obviously took effort and skill. It is hair that evokes memories of staying up too late with one's teenage girlfriends, doing each other's hair and nails. She feels like a real person, and Mastin's excellent acting benefits from Evelyn's thoughtful character design. I was very curious about the youngest generation in this mountain bunker. Why there were uniforms at their school, how the kids would adjust after one reality ends and another begins. How that would come across in the clothes. 'I felt like there would definitely be uniforms,' Evelyn said, 'because you're trying to make everyone feel very normal. You're trying to make everyone feel very much on the same level. A couple of years ago, I worked in Australia and my kids came with me. In Australia, everybody wears uniforms and you have one uniform and you wash it once a week. I also felt like that would be necessary. Had I been in charge of a world like this, I would have made the same decision. I would have felt like everything that had to do with clothing would be both creating a sense of comfort, but giving people enough leeway, the kids enough leeway, the creative people enough leeway, to feel like they could do something with it. That they could have some freedoms. I thought there would be a lot of cotton T-shirts and sweatpants and things with plastic that you could grow into and grow out of and give to someone else. Or cut up or whatever.' President Cal Bradford (James Marsden) and Agent Collins (Sterling K. Brown) walk past a Marine in the White House. Courtesy of Disney/Hulu Since many of the characters in this show are Secret Service, including our wonderful protagonist Xavier Collins (Sterling K. Brown), and those they protect, there are obviously a lot of suits. Speaking very generally, men's clothing hasn't been very decorative for the last hundred and fifty years. The Business Man in his Suit is very much a thing, we can all imagine him easily, and in great numbers it would be easy for characters to seem to blur, or for details intended to lead to inference to be mixed. 'Those things are so nuanced,' Evelyn told me about the spectrum of beautiful bespoke menswear. 'A lot of the time I think it is about the tailoring. It's about the collar. It's about the shoes. It's about the tie. You know, you can't costume amazing acting. That's one thing that I feel like Sterling really has, just so much depth and so many layers. I felt like one thing I could really do for him and do for the character, I feel like whenever there's a character like this, I definitely like to think about kind of like the lexicon of cinema and who these men have traditionally been in cinema. So like always going back to thinking about important heroes in cinema. And thinking about that kind of tailoring. And then also thinking about the person that I'm working with and what's happening in the story. Good tailoring, choice of lapel, choice of whether it's single-breasted or double-breasted, choice on collar and choice on tie does a lot. I definitely did not put him in a spread collar. I definitely put him in a point collar. And kept the tailoring really simple, kept the suits really simple. I kept the ties pretty simple. I felt like he was understated and under the radar and wasn't interested in getting the attention and was really interested in being like a man who lived by these morals and beliefs that he really prescribed. And then just letting him do the rest.' Xavier Collins (Sterling K. Brown) and Samantha "Sinatra" Redmond (Julianne Nicholson). Courtesy of Hulu/Disney 'I really love suiting, but suiting is really, really hard,' Evelyn told me when I asked her about the challenge of keeping all these characters distinct. 'I'm obsessed with watching videos about Savile Row tailors. In my next life, I want to be a Savile Row tailor. I feel like suiting is the most interesting, like, three-dimensional engineering. Many, many suits, most suits that come off the rack, do not fit American men especially well. It was really important to me to have really well tailored suiting, which means we did a lot of custom made and we did a lot of really particular alterations, which I think makes the difference on TV. ' I asked her why that was, why the tailoring and cut of the suits added so much, because they make an undeniable difference. A crisp professional air is implied by the presence of anyone wearing clothing made to fit their specific body. 'I think we actually aren't that used to looking at well-tailored clothes,' the designer said thoughtfully. 'I don't mean that in a pretentious way at all. I say that in a craftsperson way, because so much is fast fashion now and because things that are bespoke are so expensive, unfortunately, and that these are really actually very, very beautiful crafts that we're losing. I mean, talk about the importance of the crafts. Talk about the importance of tradesmen. So getting to really work on that, and having the production really support that idea was just really meaningful, and who doesn't feel amazing in a well-tailored suit?' Nicole Robinson (Krys Marshall) in "Paradise" Courtesy of Hulu/Disney Of course, it is not only men who wear suits. There are many things this show does exceptionally well, but my favorite part is the character development we are treated to throughout, and how tightly those transitions are connected to wardrobe. In the real world, and in the world of Paradise , it is not always a simple thing, to know who is good or bad, or what those words even mean. Samantha Redmond (Julianne Nicholson), AKA 'Sinatra' to the Secret Service, is a perfect example. We learn early on about the horrific trauma that created a woman capable of literally building a new world. 'With Sinatra,' Evelyn explained, 'it was really important to do really good tailoring; she was dressing to portray a message. And the message was kind of like, I'm soft and I'm really strong. You don't need to worry. I got this. Sometimes she would have strong shoulders, but she would also have maybe a little bit of a drapier blouse. One idea that I thought was interesting about the character that we tried to show in the costumes was that people are capable of both being monsters and not being monsters. As much as that's a really uncomfortable thought, I would really prefer to think that people were absolutely a good person or a bad person. I don't like the idea that those two things can reside together. But I think in her they did. I think she was very damaged by her life experience, got very rigid. She had come up, she became a founder. I feel like once you're a founder, you learn how to sell. And in a lot of ways, she was a saleswoman. And she dressed the part.' Sinatra (Julianne Nicholson) and her son at the grocery store. Courtesy of Disney/Hulu Cognitive dissonance is something hard to sit with. Perhaps that's why it feels so important, so vital, maybe especially given the current state of the world. Living in the future is a very weird experience, and we see a pretty clear reflection of how that could go with Paradise . How do you dress an antagonist, a probable villain, a self-described monster, without resorting to cliche, without making the character into a parody or caricature? 'I think it's like the little things,' Evelyn told me. 'For example, when she was at the fair, you know, we saw her in jeans and T-shirt. And it's like, you know, when you see her it is something very, very relatable. And then later we see her in a Saint Laurent suit. That's got a little bit of a gangster vibe because it's houndstooth. Agent Robinson (Krys Marshall) in "Paradise." Courtesy of Hulu/Disney I asked Evelyn if this show was science fiction and it was obvious how much she enjoyed thinking about that question. Apparently the show was originally pitched in a way that was much more genre, but evolved over the time production takes. After all, the real world is feeling more and more dystopian every day, and art does its work best in contrast to reality. 'I used to really like to read science fiction, actually, like, as an escape. And I have to say, I am feeling different because I feel like science fiction is not an escape right now. I feel like an escape is things like Fast and the Furious . Stories that were clear about good and bad. And you knew the good guy was going to win, even though it was going to be a little hard, you know?' I understood exactly what she meant and I am sure you will too. After all, it was not that long ago that fascists wore uniforms or arm bands, or at least understood the power of a well tailored suit. Poster art for Hulu's "Paradise." Courtesy of Disney/Hulu The full first season of Paradise is available now on Hulu. A second season was greenlit earlier this month. MORE FROM FORBES Forbes Thousands Of Costumes Were Handmade For Amazon Prime's 'House Of David' By Rachel Elspeth Gross Forbes Janie Bryant Recreates The End Of The Wild West For Paramount's '1923' By Rachel Elspeth Gross Forbes In 'Watson' The Costumes Help Make A Medical Mystery Unlike Any Other By Rachel Elspeth Gross
Forbes
07-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Forbes
The Costumes In Hulu's 'Paradise' Style Utopia For Our Brave New World
Xavier Collins (Sterling K. Brown) and Samantha "Sinatra" Redmond (Julianne Nicholson) face off in Hulu's 'Paradise.' Courtesy of Hulu/Disney Paradise has a deceptively simple premise. Deep within Cheyenne Mountain, a la Stargate , a much more old fashioned version of science fiction, construction has been secretly going on. Underground a cabal of uber wealthy CEOs has created a version of Eden, or More's Utopia , just in case the world falls apart. Of course the world then falls apart. It's a well written, rather timely series, and the excellent costumes add depth and dimension to the series which could not be achieved any other way. I met with the costume designer for the series' first season, Sarah Evelyn, to talk to her about the incredibly nuanced series, about deciding how to dress the inhabitants of this Brave New World, especially since it is riddled with literary and cinematic Easter Eggs, tiny references woven into the narrative in a seemingly endless series of winks and nods from show creator Dan Fogelman. 'It was interesting to think about how you would plan for that many people to move somewhere,' Evelyn told me, 'where there wouldn't be clothing readily available and how you would start those kinds of really important systems because we need to be dressed. I really thought a lot about how the clothing and the visuals would really do a lot of supporting. Like the social stability of these people who had just gone through a humongous trauma, must be on the edge, don't know what's going to happen, completely insecure. I thought that so much of the plan would have been how to keep the social fabric intertwined enough so that no one would want to take it down.' President Cal Bradford (James Marsden) before his cabinet. Courtesy of Hulu/Disney Ira Levin, the 20th century master of horror, is an immediately obvious reference. The saccharine, saturated palette evokes a novel that became a film twice, disturbing generations of readers and audiences alike. 'I think that there definitely was a Stepford vibe,' Evelyn said, 'because that reflected what was happening in the dome. But we thought to ourselves, you know, okay, if this was going to happen, there would be someone who was in charge of production design, basically. And that person would have a creative designer working under them. And they would have a head of textiles working under them, because you would have to procure all this stuff to be ready to receive all sorts of people underground in a world that you want to make feel very normal. Because I felt like that would be really important for social stability. And the clothing would be super important for social stability. Not only would it be things that you would want to biodegrade naturally, or things that you could reuse again, you'd want to have nice, peaceful colors. You'd want to have simple silhouettes. You'd want to have things that almost referred back to a more nostalgic time, like the 1950s and 60s. And then, as time went on, I felt like it would be the kids that started to kind of put these things together in new ways, you know, and that would start style and fashion trend in the dome. And so we did a lot of that.' Xavier Collins (Sterling K. Brown) and Presley (Aliyah Mastin) in "Paradise." Courtesy of Hulu/Disney Watching the series, Evelyn's diligent efforts shine through in the tiny details, like the hairstyle on our main character's daughter, Presley (Aliyah Mastin). Her hair is beautiful, it obviously took effort and skill. It is hair that evokes memories of staying up too late with one's teenage girlfriends, doing each other's hair and nails. She feels like a real person, and Mastin's excellent acting benefits from Evelyn's thoughtful character design. I was very curious about the youngest generation in this mountain bunker. Why there were uniforms at their school, how the kids would adjust after one reality ends and another begins. How that would come across in the clothes. 'I felt like there would definitely be uniforms,' Evelyn said, 'because you're trying to make everyone feel very normal. You're trying to make everyone feel very much on the same level. A couple of years ago, I worked in Australia and my kids came with me. In Australia, everybody wears uniforms and you have one uniform and you wash it once a week. I also felt like that would be necessary. Had I been in charge of a world like this, I would have made the same decision. I would have felt like everything that had to do with clothing would be both creating a sense of comfort, but giving people enough leeway, the kids enough leeway, the creative people enough leeway, to feel like they could do something with it. That they could have some freedoms. I thought there would be a lot of cotton T-shirts and sweatpants and things with plastic that you could grow into and grow out of and give to someone else. Or cut up or whatever.' President Cal Bradford (James Marsden) and Agent Collins (Sterling K. Brown) walk past a Marine in the White House. Courtesy of Disney/Hulu Since many of the characters in this show are Secret Service, including our wonderful protagonist Xavier Collins (Sterling K. Brown), and those they protect, there are obviously a lot of suits. Speaking very generally, men's clothing hasn't been very decorative for the last hundred and fifty years. The Business Man in his Suit is very much a thing, we can all imagine him easily, and in great numbers it would be easy for characters to seem to blur, or for details intended to lead to inference to be mixed. 'Those things are so nuanced,' Evelyn told me about the spectrum of beautiful bespoke menswear. 'A lot of the time I think it is about the tailoring. It's about the collar. It's about the shoes. It's about the tie. You know, you can't costume amazing acting. That's one thing that I feel like Sterling really has, just so much depth and so many layers. I felt like one thing I could really do for him and do for the character, I feel like whenever there's a character like this, I definitely like to think about kind of like the lexicon of cinema and who these men have traditionally been in cinema. So like always going back to thinking about important heroes in cinema. And thinking about that kind of tailoring. And then also thinking about the person that I'm working with and what's happening in the story. Good tailoring, choice of lapel, choice of whether it's single-breasted or double-breasted, choice on collar and choice on tie does a lot. I definitely did not put him in a spread collar. I definitely put him in a point collar. And kept the tailoring really simple, kept the suits really simple. I kept the ties pretty simple. I felt like he was understated and under the radar and wasn't interested in getting the attention and was really interested in being like a man who lived by these morals and beliefs that he really prescribed. And then just letting him do the rest.' Xavier Collins (Sterling K. Brown) and Samantha "Sinatra" Redmond (Julianne Nicholson). Courtesy of Hulu/Disney 'I really love suiting, but suiting is really, really hard,' Evelyn told me when I asked her about the challenge of keeping all these characters distinct. 'I'm obsessed with watching videos about Savile Row tailors. In my next life, I want to be a Savile Row tailor. I feel like suiting is the most interesting, like, three-dimensional engineering. Many, many suits, most suits that come off the rack, do not fit American men especially well. It was really important to me to have really well tailored suiting, which means we did a lot of custom made and we did a lot of really particular alterations, which I think makes the difference on TV. ' I asked her why that was, why the tailoring and cut of the suits added so much, because they make an undeniable difference. A crisp professional air is implied by the presence of anyone wearing clothing made to fit their specific body. 'I think we actually aren't that used to looking at well-tailored clothes,' the designer said thoughtfully. 'I don't mean that in a pretentious way at all. I say that in a craftsperson way, because so much is fast fashion now and because things that are bespoke are so expensive, unfortunately, and that these are really actually very, very beautiful crafts that we're losing. I mean, talk about the importance of the crafts. Talk about the importance of tradesmen. So getting to really work on that, and having the production really support that idea was just really meaningful, and who doesn't feel amazing in a well-tailored suit?' Nicole Robinson (Krys Marshall) in "Paradise" Courtesy of Hulu/Disney Of course, it is not only men who wear suits. There are many things this show does exceptionally well, but my favorite part is the character development we are treated to throughout, and how tightly those transitions are connected to wardrobe. In the real world, and in the world of Paradise , it is not always a simple thing, to know who is good or bad, or what those words even mean. Samantha Redmond (Julianne Nicholson), AKA 'Sinatra' to the Secret Service, is a perfect example. We learn early on about the horrific trauma that created a woman capable of literally building a new world. 'With Sinatra,' Evelyn explained, 'it was really important to do really good tailoring; she was dressing to portray a message. And the message was kind of like, I'm soft and I'm really strong. You don't need to worry. I got this. Sometimes she would have strong shoulders, but she would also have maybe a little bit of a drapier blouse. One idea that I thought was interesting about the character that we tried to show in the costumes was that people are capable of both being monsters and not being monsters. As much as that's a really uncomfortable thought, I would really prefer to think that people were absolutely a good person or a bad person. I don't like the idea that those two things can reside together. But I think in her they did. I think she was very damaged by her life experience, got very rigid. She had come up, she became a founder. I feel like once you're a founder, you learn how to sell. And in a lot of ways, she was a saleswoman. And she dressed the part.' Sinatra (Julianne Nicholson) and her son at the grocery store. Courtesy of Disney/Hulu Cognitive dissonance is something hard to sit with. Perhaps that's why it feels so important, so vital, maybe especially given the current state of the world. Living in the future is a very weird experience, and we see a pretty clear reflection of how that could go with Paradise . How do you dress an antagonist, a probable villain, a self-described monster, without resorting to cliche, without making the character into a parody or caricature? 'I think it's like the little things,' Evelyn told me. 'For example, when she was at the fair, you know, we saw her in jeans and T-shirt. And it's like, you know, when you see her it is something very, very relatable. And then later we see her in a Saint Laurent suit. That's got a little bit of a gangster vibe because it's houndstooth. Agent Robinson (Krys Marshall) in "Paradise." Courtesy of Hulu/Disney I asked Evelyn if this show was science fiction and it was obvious how much she enjoyed thinking about that question. Apparently the show was originally pitched in a way that was much more genre, but evolved over the time production takes. After all, the real world is feeling more and more dystopian every day, and art does its work best in contrast to reality. 'I used to really like to read science fiction, actually, like, as an escape. And I have to say, I am feeling different because I feel like science fiction is not an escape right now. I feel like an escape is things like Fast and the Furious . Stories that were clear about good and bad. And you knew the good guy was going to win, even though it was going to be a little hard, you know?' I understood exactly what she meant and I am sure you will too. After all, it was not that long ago that fascists wore uniforms or arm bands, or at least understood the power of a well tailored suit. Poster art for Hulu's "Paradise." Courtesy of Disney/Hulu The full first season of Paradise is available now on Hulu. A second season was greenlit earlier this month. MORE FROM FORBES Forbes Thousands Of Costumes Were Handmade For Amazon Prime's 'House Of David' By Rachel Elspeth Gross Forbes Janie Bryant Recreates The End Of The Wild West For Paramount's '1923' By Rachel Elspeth Gross Forbes In 'Watson' The Costumes Help Make A Medical Mystery Unlike Any Other By Rachel Elspeth Gross
