Since premiering at Telluride in Fall 2023, the directorial debut of playwright-turned-filmmaker Annie Baker, “Janet Planet,” has been lauded as an understated gem, with Julianne Nicholson garnering particular praise for serving as one of the central forces the film gravitates around. The film opened in New York yesterday and hits Los Angeles on June 28th and with it, perhaps the recognition Nicholson finally deserves after her multi-decade career as an actress.
“Normally, the first thing that’s said about me is ‘underused,’ ‘underappreciated,’ ‘overlooked,’” said Nicholson in a recent interview with the Los Angeles Times. “Normally, I’m fine with it because I continue to work. But every once in a while, I feel like, ‘Oh, my God. I’m so tired — am I still trying to get people’s attention?’”
Pretty much all of “Janet Planet” is seen through the eyes of Janet’s daughter Lacy, played to precocious perfection by newcomer Zoe Ziegler. For “Gilmore Girls” fans, it will feel like relatively familiar territory, but in focusing on a younger period in life and one specific summer in 1991, Baker’s tableau of growth at all ages finds a greater depth by mining the quiet moments as much as the talkative ones.
“I actually think the human experience is pretty lonely,” Nicholson said of how she came to relate to her character and the story. “For me, it’s ultimately a pretty solitary experience — and I’m lucky, because I have a full, rich life with a family that I love deeply. But there’s a deep sense of loss somewhere in Janet. Not to say that I feel it, but I had an understanding of what that could feel like for her if she really dug down to experience it.”
Despite being a mother and friend to many in the film, Janet isn’t exactly one of Nicholson’s softer roles, rather one that utilizes her ability to handle all the contradictions of being present in life, but also wanting to be somewhere completely different. In reflecting on this dichotomy, Nicholson said, “It’s so funny, because sometimes I feel like a deep people-pleaser, but in my work life, I think people feel like I’m pretty forthright and clear. I don’t know if it’s my Boston Irish Catholic upbringing, but sometimes I think it can be a little intimidating. Sometimes if I don’t sugarcoat something, it can feel harsh, even though that’s not my intention.”
