By Philiana Ng

In “Paradise,” Hulu’s twisty sci-fi political thriller from creator Dan Fogelman, Julianne Nicholson plays Samantha “Sinatra” Redmond, a self-made tech billionaire and the mastermind behind the underground utopia that’s constructed after a doomsday event. Ruthless and power-hungry, Sinatra stops at nothing to accomplish her mysterious endgame: Ordering murders, blackmailing enemies and kidnapping family members are just boxes she checks off her daily to-do list.

But beneath Sinatra’s icy exterior is a woman far more complex than viewers are initially led to believe. It’s all by design. “I don’t want her to be a traditional villain or bad guy, but a more layered person — one who has put one foot in front of the other and gotten to this place,” Nicholson said.