Julianne Nicholson

Julianne Nicholson
Julianne Nicholson at the 2015 Toronto International Film Festival
Born	(1971-07-01) July 1, 1971 Medford, Massachusetts, United States
Occupation	Actress
Years active	1997–present
Spouse(s)	Jonathan Cake (m. 2004)
Children	2

Julianne Nicholson (born July 1, 1971) is an American actress. She played Det. Megan Wheeler on Law & Order: Criminal Intent, and also appeared in the HBO series Boardwalk Empire and Showtime's Masters of Sex, as well as Ivy in the film adaptation of August: Osage County. As of autumn 2016, she plays the lead role in the new USA series Eyewitness.

Early life

Nicholson was born and raised in Medford, Massachusetts (outside Boston), the daughter of Kate (née Gilday) and James O. Nicholson, Jr.^[1][2] She is the eldest of four siblings.

After graduating from Arlington Catholic High School, she modeled in New York for six months, quit for a year, then resumed her modeling career in Paris for another six months. After returning to New York, she attended Hunter College as a general studies major for two years. While in New York, Nicholson supported herself by waitressing and eventually left school to study acting and begin her professional career.

Career

Film

In her first feature film role, Nicholson starred opposite Michael Caine and James Spader in the Peter Yates film Curtain Call. Later she won what proved to be both her breakthrough and favorite role as a headstrong young feminist in Peter Chan's The Love Letter. She has worked with other international directors in films such Alain Berliner's Passion of Mind, and Nick Hurran's Little Black Book. Nicholson's domestic drama credits include William Vincent (Jay Anania), Staten Island (James DeMonaco), Brief Interviews with Hideous Men (John Krasinski), Tully (Hilary Birmingham), Kinsey (Bill Condon), and August: Osage County (John Wells), for which the ensemble cast was nominated for several awards. Her domestic comedy credits include Seeing Other People (Wally Wolodarsky) and Puccini For Beginners (Maria Maggenti).

Television

Among Nicholson's television credits are a supporting role in the television miniseries Storm of the Century and guest-starring roles in ER and Law & Order. She began to work with some of television's top producers. She was tapped by Steven Spielberg for the lead role in the paranormal drama The Others. In late 2001, Nicholson became one of the main cast members of the hit show produced by David E. Kelley, Ally McBeal, portraying the character "Jenny Shaw" for 13 episodes.^[3] She worked with John Wells on the medical drama Presidio Med and Steven Bochco on the HBO pilot Marriage. Julianne worked with Dick Wolf in his series on the short-lived NBC television drama, Conviction and in what is her best known role, as Megan Wheeler, in the sixth season of Law & Order: Criminal Intent.^[4] Nicholson said her favorite Criminal Intent episode was "Weeping Willow", which she described as "really different from a lot of the ones we've done before and very exciting and current."^[5] As of the Criminal Intent episode "Major Case", Nicholson departed the series and was replaced by actress Saffron Burrows.

In 2011, she guest-starred on Royal Pains as "Jess", one of Dr. Lawson's patients, suffering from panic attacks. She also appeared on Boardwalk Empire, as the recurring character of U.S. Assistant Attorney General Esther Randolph, that same year. In 2012, she guest-starred on The Good Wife as Callie Simko, an attorney who has an interest in Will Gardner.

On October 16, 2016, Julianne debuted in her lead role as Sheriff Helen Torrance in USA Network's new 10-episode police drama, Eyewitness. The series involves two teenage boys who are exploring their new feelings for each other when they witness a triple murder. But the boys hide as the murders take place, and the killer gets a good look at one of them. As Sheriff Torrance tries to start solving the murders, she finds that she has FBI competition on the case; meanwhile, the boys know that the killer is still at large and will be returning to eliminate the Eyewitnesses. Although the series is set in small-town far upper New York State, it was filmed in Parry Sound, Ontario, Canada.^[6]

Theater

Nicholson has been in a number of plays in New York. Her work in theater includes the following New York Performances:

Personal life

In 2004, she married British actor Jonathan Cake in Italy; they met playing a couple on an unaired HBO pilot called Marriage. They have two children. Their son Ignatius was born in September 2007^[7] and she gave birth to daughter Phoebe Margaret on April 30, 2009.^[8]

One of Nicholson's favorite movies is Living in Oblivion, by director Tom DiCillo.^[5]

Filmography

Film

Television

References

External links

• Julianne Nicholson at the Internet Movie Database
• Julianne Nicholson at AllMovie