Julianne Nicholson brought personal experience to her new film A dream scenario.
The comedy A24, by the Norwegian screenwriter and director Kristoffer Borgli, stars Nicolas Cage as an ordinary man who, for no apparent reason, begins to appear in the dreams of many people.
“I have terrifying acting dreams,” Nicholson, 52, tells PEOPLE when asked if her own naps helped prepare her for the role of Janet, the wife of Cage’s hapless Paul.
“Mostly I have recurring anxiety dreams [where I’m] right before going on stage,” she recalls, “or before shooting a scene, and you don’t know which scene it is!”
That “worst-case scenario” that plays out in her head while she sleeps speaks to deeper fears that most performers can relate to, the Emmy winner says Mare of Easttown star. “I guess it’s just the fear that you’re not ready, that you’re not doing your job, that you’re not giving enough.”
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Nicholson gave more than enough as an actor, with solid work in Law and order: criminal intent, Masters of sex and more on the small screen to fantastic performances on the big screen, including last year’s Blonde and Weird: The Al Yankovic Story.
The Massachusetts-born actress and former model will next appear on A24’s Planet Janet and is currently filming a BBC series Dope Girls in London, where she lives with her husband, actor Jonathan Cake, and their teenage son and daughter.
Julianne Nicholson 2022. Matt Baron/Shutterstock
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Is A dream scenario make her dream about Cage, like in the movie itself? “I guess I’m dreaming about him,” he says with a laugh. “He definitely pops up in my mind on a regular basis.”
Nicholson says she’s “loved Nicholas Cage forever,” especially his work in Raising Arizona, adaptation and Infatuated with the moon. “I find it endlessly watchable and interesting. You never know how he’s going to say a sentence, how he’s going to put words together, and I love that. It’s so nice when someone surprises you.”
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That was the truth “every day, face to face” on the set A dream scenario, she adds; even when playing a meek biology professor, Cage can keep his costars on their toes. “It’s very exciting to know that you have to pay attention.”
Cage’s Golden Globe-nominated performance as Paul works because the “wackiness,” as Nicholson calls it, comes from his and Janet’s “normal working long-term relationship.”
“I think we were both surprised at how much emotion came out [filming] that, and it was really nice to have that experience with him.”
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Nicolas Cage in “Dream Scenario”.
Courtesy of TIFF
Nicholson remains amazed at Cage’s ability to bounce from project to project over a long career.
Playing A dream scenariois a humble family man — especially after playing a mysterious kidnapper in a thriller Sympathy for the hell of itwacky Dracula u Renfield and myself inside The unbearable weight of immense talent – for him “is just the name of the game”, she says.
“He takes his job so seriously, but he still has a sense of humor, and I find that to be a very charming combination.”
The premiere of the film at the International Film Festival in Toronto A dream scenario in September, Cage also reflected on his dreams.
“I always love it when my dad shows up,” the Oscar winner told PEOPLE of the late Augusto Coppola. “I haven’t seen him in person since he passed away. So when he shows up, it’s always a good thing.”
A dream scenariostarring Tim Meadows, Dylan Gelula and Dylan Baker, is out now.
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Source: HIS Education