Dan Fogelman‘s newest show, Paradise, shocked viewers — and the cast — by killing off James Marsden‘s character Cal during the first episode.
During an exclusive interview with Us Weekly, Julianne Nicholson and Sarah Shahi revealed their reaction when they finally found out who was behind the fictional former president’s death.
“We were kept in the dark when we started filming,” Shahi, 45, who plays psychiatrist Gabriela Torabi, recalled. “At least I was, I didn’t know until later.”
Nicholson, 53, meanwhile, wanted to know as much as possible. “I’m always happy for me — the actor — to have as much information as the character does because it is just nicer to not have to fake it sometimes,” the actress, who portrays a top advisor to Marsden’s President Cal, noted. “We knew fairly soon after filming.”
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Hulu’s political thriller Paradise premiered on Tuesday, January 28, with a three-episode series introduction. Paradise initially appeared to be set in a serene and wealthy community forced to face the realities of a shocking murder. In typical Fogelman fashion, however, there was a twist at the end of the premiere when Paradise was revealed to be an underground bunker housing the world’s most prominent individuals after an apocalyptic event destroyed the rest of humanity.
“The biggest lengths [we had to go through to keep the twist secret] are happening now when we’re actually talking to people about it,” Nicholson told Us about how they have managed to keep the true Paradise story a surprise. “When we were on set, everybody knows what’s up, so we don’t have to be that secretive.”
She continued: “But now the trick is how do you grab people’s attention and assure them that this is something different without giving away any of the details? But we’re very excited for people to get on the ride with us.”
The narrative shake ups kept on coming when Marsden, 51, was killed off minutes into the premiere. While it was already revealed that Paradise would be following the high stakes investigation into Cal’s death, the first three episodes introduced several suspects who could have benefited from the former president’s death.
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“Whenever the scripts would come out, they weren’t secretive. I’ve been on projects in which they would not release the script until you were ready to shoot those pages,” Shahi told Us. “But then this one, they were not selfish with their scripts. The minute one was ready to come out, they would send it over to us.”
Despite knowing all the answers, Shahi and Nicholson were still caught off guard when they learned who killed Cal.
“I don’t think anyone saw this coming. I am still surprised,” Shahi admitted. “I’m still surprised and I know what happened.”
Nicholson credited Paradise for finding a way to utilize Marsden’s skills as an actor, adding, “He’s James Marsden. He is one of the most charming, affable, funny, lovable and handsome people. I think he also has a self-deprecating side of himself that I saw within this character that makes you feel for him.”
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As the show continues to unfold, the audience will be surprised by Cal’s journey.
“Your heart breaks for him being this figurehead of a president who was never able to live up to his father’s definition of who he thought he could be,” Nicholson teased. “That just goes to show how great James is in terms of balancing all of those things at once. That you feel that way for him.”
New episodes of Paradise will be released on Hulu every Tuesday.
With reporting by Johnni Macke
