Julianne Nicholson Can’t Stop Moving

If you poked your head into a certain London dance studio for a period in 2024, you would’ve found Emmy-winning actress Julianne Nicholson preparing for a role of a lifetime: Dance Mom. She plays the suburbanite with a proclivity for sharing TikTok videos with upbeat choreography, known only by her social handle, on Hacks season 4. In the HBO Max comedy packed to the brim with guest stars, the influencer who gets a slot on the fictional Late Night with Deborah Vance is undeniably this installment’s standout new character—and the last role you would expect Nicholson to play.

“I feel like most people want to see me doing the heavier lifting,” Nicholson, age 53, tells Marie Claire over Zoom, two days before her Hacks debut in episode 5, “Clickable Face.” Since breaking out in 2013 with her scene-stealing turns in August: Osage County and Masters of Sex, the Massachusetts-born actress has become best known for dramatic roles, often playing complicated mothers (like in Janet Planet and Mare of Easttown). Just three months before Hacks, Nicholson wowed fans and critics as Sinatra, the billionaire villain viewers loved to hate in Hulu’s dystopian thriller Paradise.

With Dance Mom, the actress is excited to make viewers laugh instead of cry. “I loved it so much,” Nicholson gushes about her time working on Hacks’s “unbelievable” set. “'Lifetimes’ [by Katy Perry] was on a loop in my head. But then it was so cute, because the crew started doing it too. They started memorizing the dance and doing it back to me, which was so sweet. It made me feel so good.”

Nicholson is already getting Emmys buzz for the guest arc, and fans are obsessed with her performance; though Dance Mom is fictional, internet sleuths have even dug up a real-life TikToker who bears a resemblance. But viewers are in for a surprise with episode 7. In “D’Christening,” which hits streaming on May 15, agents Jimmy (Paul W. Downs) and Kayla (Megan Stalter) discover that their client from rural Alberta, Canada isn’t the wholesome wine mom she appears to be. Not only does she not have children, Dance Mom is spiraling after her overnight success, huffing inhalants and sexting Adam Levine while renting his $25,000-a-week home. Jimmy and Kayla’s house call is the season’s first hint that Dance Mom’s family-friendly image is going down the drain, and if you know Hacks, you know that chaos will follow.

“She's this small-town woman who had this very sheltered experience,” Nicholson says of Dance Mom’s many layers. “She's like a kid in a candy store, and she wants to eat all the candy. And some poppers.”

Below, Nicholson chats with Marie Claire about how she landed her Hacks role and what went into making her dance—no, she hasn’t done a real TikTok challenge; yes, she wants Dance Mom to become one—as well as her hopes for Paradise season 2.

Marie Claire: How did Dance Mom come about? Did Hacks come to you with the role fully formed?

Julianne Nicholson: They had written this part and had me in mind for it. They asked my agent to set up a Zoom so they could tell me about who she was and what her arc is, and I was all in. I never get to do comedy. I love Hacks anyway. They very kindly condensed my days, because I don't live in L.A. I was so flattered and excited to be invited, and I'm delighted that Dance Mom has been released into the world.

MC: Dance Mom is a departure from the dramatic roles you’re known for. Did Hacks co-creators Lucia Aniello, Paul W. Downs, and Jen Statsky tell you why they thought of you for the role?

JN: No. I should ask them, because a few people have asked me that. First of all, I'm such a huge fan of each of them individually, and of them as a party of three. They're incredible. They're so smart, so funny, and they wear it so effortlessly. I think they have big imaginations. I feel like so much in our industry, there's a way of thinking. For business models, people feel like they have to follow a certain rule or go the known way, and I feel so excited when someone takes a risk. There's no character that I've played before that they could point to and be like, 'Yeah, I think because of that she could do this.' They just told me that they were fans of my work and thought I'd be good at it.

MC: We really get to know Dance Mom and see her spiral out of control through Jimmy and Kayla. What was it like performing opposite Paul W. Downs and Megan Stalter?

JN: I loved Hacks from the first episode, but I feel like it's gotten stronger and stronger. Every season, they get deeper into who those characters are as people and those relationships. And I love Jimmy and Kayla. That dynamic is so funny, so to get to do most of my work with them was a dream. It feels like they're just playing. It doesn't feel serious; no one makes it a big deal. There's a lot of laughter and lightness all around. Nothing's precious, so it's like, 'Try this. Try this.' They're so into it, so sometimes looking across at them, they were like little kids blinking back at me. It was a joyful place to go every day.

MC: What was the process of crafting and learning the dances?

JN: Thank God I had a choreographer. I said to my agent, 'We're gonna get a choreographer, right? Because I'm not able to come up with these dances. I don't have that in my bag of tricks.’ So I worked with this wonderful choreographer named Corey Baker. He is one of the most upbeat, sparkly, talented, joyful people I've ever met. He was my cheerleader every step of the way. I'd go up to London a couple times a week. We'd work for a few hours, and I'd be sweating by the end every time. Corey would film me, and I also would film him, so I would have both to refer to, because every move he does was completely effortless. I was never gonna get to where he did, but I could at least have ideas in my mind of where I could relax things or move my body more.

MC: Dance Mom takes a turn in episode 7. Do you feel that the fame in L.A. slowly corrupted her, or is she showing her true colors?

JN: I think that there is a sadness to her. There is a dark side there, but I don't think she's had the opportunity to explore that. I feel like some people, especially from smaller towns, when they suddenly find themselves in L.A. or New York City, it's more than they know what to do with. I think because she's a little bit unfulfilled and unhappy, this feels like it's going to be a band-aid. It's the thing that's going to fix everything, and the world is her oyster—and I think that's too much for her.

That's the genius of the writers, too. It's not commented on, so you're not expecting it at all. When you show up at her house with the pink G-Wagon outside, it's like, Oh dear.

MC: Hacks was a rare opportunity where you got to flex your comedic muscles. What do you enjoy most about doing comedy?

JN: Well, it's so fun to laugh, right? That is also a release. It's so fun to not take yourself so seriously. There is no making a fool of yourself, really. If you don't feel like a fool, then who cares what everybody else thinks? It's fun to be a part of a show that brings so many people joy and laughter. What a gift, especially right now.

MC: You were also in Paradise this year, which is nothing like Hacks. Do you feel like playing such different roles is ushering in a new era for you as an actress, or that the public perception of you could change?

JN: Honestly, I don't know. I've been doing it long enough now that it's like building a body of work. You don't know where people are going to discover your work, and you don't know which role or show people will even respond to, so I feel like it continues to shift. The more different things you do, the more different things you can show people you do, then hopefully that opens people's eyes to like, 'Well, what else can she do?' That is exciting to me.

And to be on shows of such quality. Hacks is like a top show ever made. I can't write to Paul and Lucia and Jen again and thank them because they're going to think I'm too needy or something. But I really am so grateful that they had the imagination to think of me for the role and invite me along, because I feel like most people want to see me doing the heavier lifting.

MC: What can you share about Sinatra’s journey in Paradise season 2? You said in a previous interview that Sinatra hit her lowest point in the season 1 finale, so I'm curious whether that'll force her to change her behavior in any way.

JN: I think it will. I think there will be subtle shifts, some enforced just by the nature of being unwell, and what happens in the time where she's recovering. But something like that, when you are so close to death, it will shake things up for a person. [Showrunner] Dan [Fogelman] has told me that we will be discovering much more about how Paradise actually came to be, and what needed to happen to get that place even built. There will be plots outside the bunker and inside the bunker, which is very interesting. I can't wait to see how they bring it to life.

Even in season 1, it was all on the page, so we were using our imagination with what the bunker and the whole world looks like. That first episode when we pull out from the duck and you pull up, up, up, and see those people walking along on grates, keeping the place moving. I didn't even think about the people involved in keeping this place going behind the scenes, which is, of course, a huge part of the storyline, haves and have-nots, and all of that. I'm excited to go back and see what's in store for season 2.

This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.