Posted in: ABC, Disney+, FX, Hulu, TV | Tagged: dan fogelman, Paradise, sterling k. brown

Paradise Stars Beavers, Bloom & Marshall on Fogelman, Brown & More

Paradise stars Jon Beavers, Nicole Brydon Bloom, and Krys Marshall spoke with us about Hulu and Dan Fogelman's mystery thriller series.

Jon Beavers, Nicole Brydon Bloom, and Krys Marshall all have their share of opportunities to shine within powerful ensemble dramas, with Beavers' work in TNT's Animal Kingdom, Bloom's in Max's The Gilded Age, and Marshall's in AppleTV+'s For All Mankind. When all three heard about working with creative powerhouses like Dan Fogelman and star Sterling K. Brown, most famous for their work on NBC's This Is Us, for their new Hulu political murder-mystery thriller, Paradise, they dove right in. The series follows an upscale community inhabited by some of the world's most prominent individuals. But this tranquility explodes when a shocking murder occurs, and a high-stakes investigation unfolds. Beavers, Bloom, and Marshall spoke to Bleeding Cool about working with Fogelman and Brown and how their leadership resonated with the cast and scenes. [Ed. Note: The interviews were conducted prior to the premiere episode's big reveals]

Paradise Stars Jon Beavers, Nicole Brydon Bloom, and Krys Marshall on Dan Fogelman's Political Thriller

Bleeding Cool: What's it been like working with Dan as a creative and storyteller? How well does he weave your characters' narratives?

Beavers: There's a long track record with Dan and the American television audience, twisting plots and undercutting expectations. He's a master, and we all know that. He's given himself an even greater challenge with this one. He's working inside a circumstance where we're talking about heightened everything. Within that, he's still writing about three-dimensional people who want and expect things, and those expectations don't come true, and they experience disappointment. What's exciting as an actor is to play fast-paced, murder-mystery stakes, but the want, the intention is still to connect with the person across from you. We're whole people too, it's a joy, man. You never get stuff like this where it's that fleshed out you want to sink your teeth in and never let go.

Marshall: I remember while we were shooting when we spent a week at this carnival. We turned this hotel area into enormous fairgrounds, and it was hot during the day and cold at night. It was such a gruesome, long week. At the end of that week, when we all worked it out, spirits were low, folks were exhausted, and Dan sent the most emboldening, beautiful email to all the cast and crew. It said, "I know this has been a tough week, and I'm so grateful for every stitch of work you guys are putting into this. We are making something beautiful. I'm so proud of what we've done. Please keep going!" For your head boss to take note of spirits being low and that we needed to be bolstered was enormous and commonplace for how Dan operates. He's such a great leader, and that's the leadership I hope to model someday, is a guy who can feel the temperature of the room and help you out when you need it.

Bloom: Absolutely. Do you want my separate answer to this question?

That's fine. Was there anything you guys did psychologically to prep for your roles and maybe a brief word about how Sterling's presence has on the screen when you're having scenes with him?

Bloom: Sterling's the best! He's so energetic, supportive, and lively, and like Krys was saying, even on long nights, he was always in sort of good spirits, aware that all of us were working hard and were tired. He was a joy to work with, and he made the show excellent, which will surprise no one. It's a cool color to see him in because at least from what I've seen, it's like a brand new take from him.

Marshall: Yeah, definitely. As far as sort of psychological prep, it's interesting to get into the mind of a person who has a gun and is not afraid to use it. That's fun, but also to wrap my mind around what it's like to be in a romantic relationship with a man who's not available. There were so many aspects to [my character] Robinson that were delicious and complicated to dive into, and I found myself in each episode looking for a new aspect of her. In this episode, she feels austere and severe. In this episode, she feels raw and kind of naked. This one, she's a girl in love, so each episode throughout the eight we share our season with you guys felt for me like I was rebirthing this character again and again as she was revealed to me.

Beavers: So many of these characters have these massive secrets that are scandalous and murderous. When you try to approach that as an actor, sometimes you go, "Well, I've never killed anybody, so I don't know how to feel that and then hide that from somebody, but you look for an equivalent." You look for the feeling of shame, and guilt, and you can get in touch there. When it comes to trying to play something as big as a presidential murder, you can sometimes forget that it's immediate and human. Being across from an actor like Sterling K. Brown brings you back to that moment. This is a guy who's playing right now in the moment, and you don't want to lie to him because he's not lying to you. What you end up doing and what we ended up doing, and what makes the show so great, is playing these human moments and playing them with all our hearts, trying to be right there for each other. That's his leadership that stands for writing, and that's us jumping on board and paddling with all we got.

The premiere episode of Paradise, which also stars Julianne Nicholson, James Marsden, Sarah Shahi, Aliyah Mastin, and Percy Daggs IV, is available on Hulu and Disney+, with a trio of episodes available on January 28th, and new episodes on Tuesdays. The premiere will also be broadcast on ABC on January 29th and FX on February 1st.

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