How to Get Cast on Hulu’s ‘Paradise’

Created by Dan Fogelman (“This Is Us”), “Paradise” follows a series of twists and turns few viewers could have predicted. (Major spoilers ahead!) 

The show begins with Agent Xavier Collins (Sterling K. Brown) finding former President Cal Bradford (James Marsden) dead on the floor of his residence. As Cal’s lead Secret Service agent, Xavier feels compelled to find Cal’s killer. The series appears to be a run-of-the-mill political thriller to start, but Episode 1 ends with a major reveal—Collins, Bradford, and approximately 25,000 residents have been living in a bunker that protects those who survived a doomsday climate event. Built inside a mountain, the settlement features artificial sunlight that mimics what Earth once looked like. 

Through flashbacks, we learn about the lives of the main characters leading up to the cataclysmic event and how the end of civilization as we know it came to be. But as the truth of what really took place on the surface comes to light, a citizen uprising throws life underground into upheaval as Xavier learns his wife, who supposedly died during the event, has been alive the whole time. 

On the outside, Xavier soon learns what happened to those who weren’t saved by the bunker as survivors make their pilgrimage to the not-so-secret Colorado site under the guidance of Link, aka Dylan (Thomas Doherty), whose connection to Sinatra (Julianne Nicholson), the billionaire creator of Paradise, may run far deeper than anyone realizes.

Seasons 1 and 2 of Hulu’s “Paradise” featured:

• Sterling K. Brown as Agent Xavier Collins
• Julianne Nicholson as Samantha “Sinatra” Redmond
• Sarah Shahi as Dr. Gabriela Torabi
• Nicole Brydon Bloom as Agent Jane Driscoll
• Aliyah Mastin as Presley Collins
• Percy Daggs IV as James Collins
• James Marsden as Cal Bradford
• Jon Beavers as Agent William “Billy” Pace
• Krys Marshall as Agent Nicole Robinson
• Shailene Woodley as Annie Clay
• Thomas Doherty as Link
• Cassidy Freeman as First Lady Jessica Bradford
• Gerald McRaney as Kane Bradford
• Enuka Okuma as Dr. Teri Rogers-Collins
• Richard Robichaux as Carl
• Matt Malloy as Vice President Henry Baines
• Charlie Evans as Jeremy Bradford
• Ian Merrigan as Trent
• Michelle Meredith as Maggie
• Kate Godfrey as Hadley Redmond
• Tuc Watkins as Tim Redmond
• Geoffrey Arend as Dr. Louge
• Michael McGrady as Geiger
• Cameron Britton as Gary Jones
• Benjamin Mackey as Bean

With the series’ strategic use of flashbacks, it’s impossible to count anyone out—even if their character is supposedly dead. But we can confirm that Julianna Margulies (“The Good Wife”), Elijah Wood (“The Lord of the Rings”), and Melissa Benoist (“Supergirl”) will join the show for Season 3. We don’t yet know anything specific about their characters, but Fogelman shared a photo of Wood and Benoist in what appears to be astronaut gear, suggesting “Paradise” has something unexpected planned for the upcoming installment.

Tiffany Little Canfield (“Wicked,” “Only Murders in the Building”) and Josh Einsohn (“One Day at a Time,” “Doctor Odyssey”) of the Telsey Office cast Seasons 1 and 2 of “Paradise.” They both worked as CDs on Fogelman’s “This Is Us” as well.

So, what can actors expect when auditioning for Canfield? “I hope that people can expect to collaborate with another artist on material that they are hopefully passionate about,” she told us. “I think it’s really important to be kind and respectful and know that it’s really difficult to show up to an audition. I always try to treat that person with respect and kindness.”

As Canfield explained, many of her team’s previous projects feed other projects. “One person gets a job when you’re casting people, but that doesn’t mean [only] one person was good. On every project we work on, we’re constantly learning new actors and seeing actors we love try something new. This happened with a pilot I just cast,” Canfield said. “A young actor we cast in a play years ago had gotten close to a show that I had done three years ago, didn’t get the part, and now that producer and I are working on a new project. She came in and slayed and got the lead in a series. I don’t know if that would have happened if I hadn’t seen her for so many different kinds of projects and gotten to see how much range she actually has.”

And that’s exactly what happened on “Paradise,” as the team immediately turned to Brown for the lead after having worked with him on NBC’s “This Is Us.” “Sterling is a clear leader. He has the loudest voice and loudest laugh. It creates a joy on set when your number one has that kind of energy,” Fogelman told the Washington Post. But Fogelman admitted he hesitated to ask Brown to read the script at first. “It’s self-protection,” he said. “Sometimes you don’t want to go to college with someone you went to high school with. I see what’s to come for Sterling. The world is his oyster.”

Of course, Brown hopped aboard right away. “I’ve read 106 of the dude’s scripts before, and all of them slapped, so I was like, ‘Let me go ahead and see what kind of magic this dude is cooking up,’ ” he told the Post. “I’m reading the thing, and I’m like, ‘Oh, who killed the president?’—completely forgetting that my dude has a penchant for flipping things. Then you get to the end of the script, and it’s like, ‘We ain’t really in the world? We in a mountain! Are we all cool to be here?’ Honestly, I was like, ‘I have to figure out how this story ends, so I guess I have to be a part of it.’ ”

Fogelman also approached Nicholson and Marsden with the intent to collaborate. When the creator told Nicholson she’d be playing an evil billionaire, she was quickly drawn to the unconventional female role. “I love mixing things up as an actor, and I love that Sinatra is a complex woman. Feeling her vulnerability doesn’t also mean that she can’t be tough as nails. We don’t have to be one thing,” she told AV Club.

“Reading the premiere, I was already into ‘Paradise,’ but when I read the second [episode, which focuses on Sinatra], I knew I would do it,” Nicholson said. “I didn’t even need more episodes. I’ve never read a single hour of TV that so deeply dives into one person’s history like that. It’s so beautifully written. I just feel like I understood her.” 

Marsden told the Wrap he was “always chasing good material,” but when it came to “Paradise,” it seems the material chased him—all the way to the Emmys. “I was familiar with [Fogelman’s] work. He stopped me at the Emmys, not last year, but the year before, and he was like, ‘I know we are not supposed to do this and talk business at these things, but I have a role for you in this show that I’m developing.’ And immediately I lit up because I knew his work, and I knew that Sterling was involved and I was playing the president,” Marsden noted. “That was one of the things I was a little nervous about, but when he told me in what capacity I would be playing the president, and that he’s sort of unconventional and loose and drinks and smokes—he’s not your typical president—I got more excited about it, that we were going to highlight more of his life as a human being and less of what he’s doing behind the desk.”

When Bloom first auditioned to play the formidable Agent Jane Driscoll, she knew as little about the character’s true nature as audiences did at the start. “It just said she was one of the younger Secret Service agents and was a little bit naive, kind of coming up in that position. And it said that she was sweet and liked her job, and I was like, ‘I think I could probably swing that,’ ” Bloom told WWD. But then her first callback took an unexpected turn. “[Fogelman] wanted me to play one of the scenes a little bit differently, which sort of caught me off guard,” she added. “He was like, ‘Could we just hypothetically try this character as if she’s a psychopath?’ I was super surprised and didn’t really know what to do with that.”

Having studied psychology in college, Bloom was eager to deliver. However, she still didn’t learn what Jane was really capable of until her final audition, when she was asked to play out that revelatory Season 1, Episode 4, scene. “And my mind was blown,” she admitted.

“Paradise” Season 3 began filming in April 2026, with production slated to last until August 2026. Season 3 will be the series’ last as Fogelman’s planned story arc will come to an end. “It’s going to be a three-season show,” Fogelman told The Hollywood Reporter in January 2025. “I know where it goes. I know what the shape of each season is…. I didn’t have it all mapped out when I wrote it, but by the time people got the first script, I knew where it was going to go.”

Currently, there are no open casting calls available for “Paradise” Season 3. Due to the show’s popularity and all-star roster, it’s likely that the powers that be will turn to agents to cast more prominent roles. If you do not yet have representation, check out our guide to landing an acting agent. Getting your foot in the door as an extra might also be a viable path, so consult our guide to auditioning for background work. 

As you await more details about the show’s next installment, we also recommend studying up on how to audition for Hulu and bookmarking our casting directory page dedicated to the streamer’s active notices.

Both Nicholson and Marsden agree it’s important to say no if you need to. Initially, Marsden had smaller goals in mind. “I figured I would be a news anchor in Oklahoma or something. That way, I could at least feed my ego a little bit and get to be on camera and be some sort of local celebrity,” he told us. “But I soon realized I wasn’t satisfied, so I moved to L.A. at 19 to pursue an acting career.” 

Marsden’s dad just so happened to know casting director Gary Oberst, who set him up with an agent. That agent imparted wisdom about being selective. “He explained I was getting a lot of good response and could make this a long career if I made the right choices. And I realized at an early age that the choices you make in this industry—and in life—are important. Sometimes saying no is just as valuable as saying yes.” That’s why Marsden passed on a three-year contract on a soap opera during his first year in L.A. “It was a steady job and good money, and I would have been happy to do it,” he explained. “But I was encouraged to turn it down and find the most challenging, interesting roles possible.”

Nicholson echoed this sentiment, telling us actors must be selective when it comes to classes and roles. “If the first one doesn’t make sense to you, keep searching.... And if you can be in a class environment instead of just privates, then you’re around other people who you can be inspired by,” she explained. “In the beginning, in particular, do the work that you’re excited about, whether it’s the role, or the director, or scene partner, or the whole story. And if there’s nothing that feels good to you in it, then say no, and wait for the one that will feel good.”

Woodley, who plays survivor Annie Clay, began acting at age 5. Though she completely diverged from her parents’ roles as educators, they were always supportive of her passion. “They had three rules growing up in order to be an actor: I had to stay the person they knew I was, do well in school, and have fun,” Woodley told Jimmy Fallon on “The Tonight Show.” “And I’m so thankful for that last rule of having fun, because it still applies to me today. It’s so easy to kind of get lost in ‘career’ or ‘success’ or these notions that we put in our mind of what success means and lose the fun in it. And at the end of the day, it’s all make-believe.”

As Brown told students at USC School of Dramatic Arts, actors need to prepare themselves for external rejections by strengthening internal acceptances. “Give yourself a tremendous amount of grace, because you’ll need it,” he noted. “It’s a hard business. Your internal yes needs to be louder than those external noes.” Brown added, “If you continue to do work, you will make fans—out of casting directors, out of people who have agency in your career. Don’t be discouraged…. Failure is part of the process. The sooner you can embrace that and make peace with it, the better.”