Like many people on the internet, Paradise actress Nicole Brydon Bloom has latched onto Punch Monkey, the seven-month-old baby macaque at a Japanese zoo who quickly went viral after being spotted embracing an orangutan plushie following his mother’s abandonment. Unlike many people on the internet, however, she sees a direct parallel between the primate — and his desire for love and acceptance — and her antagonistic character Jane.
A key Secret Service member in Paradise, Jane’s cold and calculated ruthlessness has fatally ensnared in its crosshairs anyone who gets close to the truth, or is simply an inconvenience to her and Sinatra’s (Julianne Nicholson) path of unchecked power. In this week’s sixth episode of Season 2, titled “Jane,” viewers get a glimpse behind the curtain, underneath the carefully crafted veneer of relatability, to who Jane is, what motivates her and how she came to be such a formidable weapon.
“I think what we see in Jane’s backstory is a deep feeling of rejection, which obviously she does not handle well, but she channels it into this weird, dark, successful journey as a killer and finds purpose there,” Bloom tells Deadline.
Below, the season’s baddie breaks down Jane’s childhood abuse, her background as a CIA trainee and how the character fits into Sinatra’s bigger plans for Paradise.
DEADLINE: Some actors have discussed their entryway into a character necessitates a level of empathy and understanding, even when they’re playing an antagonist — the idea that you can’t play someone unless you lack judgment. I’m curious if that’s how you approach Jane.
I think that’s definitely how I wanted to approach it because I think judging her would almost be too easy. It was interesting though, because I think it was easier to play her before the reveal of truly how evil she is. Coming back for Season 2, and having our directors be like, ‘OK, now this is the sweet version of Jane,’ I felt more removed from it because I knew people had such strong opinions, and so it was an interesting challenge coming back for Season 2. I think there’s humanity in hopefully every character that you play, even if they struggle with a severe form of mental illness, which Jane kind of confirms, that she’s a psychopath or has sociopathic traits, but it makes her really strong and such an interesting character to watch navigate this weird world of Paradise.
What was your reaction to the standalone episode when you got that script? Did you know her backstory in Season 1, or was it a shock to you?
It was a surprise to me. I had always sort of assumed there was some type of abuse in her past that would have led her to either being born a psychopath or forced into that from some kind of trauma. But I remember talking to Dan [Fogelman] near the end of Season 1, and he shared that they were working on an episode diving into Jane’s past and why and how she became a sociopath. So I was really excited to get it. In Season 1, we had filmed some stuff that didn’t end up making it into the show, so there was a slightly different storyline with a character who was meant to be my mom, and they completely reworked that. Reading it was one thing, but then I had a chance to watch the episode and see the actors playing my mom and young Jane, and it was just so informative and so helpful in allowing me to create a deeper arc when it comes to Jane.
What you can say about the email spam warning about Jane being a killer, and how that’s possible? And what it sets up as a chicken-and-egg situation, which I believe Jane comments on: if her mom had that cruelty within her or it came out as a result of that incident where she was accosted at the hospital?
Yes. It’s one of those things that was meant to provide answers, and we’re just left with more questions, but I do know how Dan wants that piece of the messaging coming through to play out, but it also goes a little over my head at the moment, and I don’t think it’s been revealed. I don’t think the connection has been revealed yet, so I won’t really be able to say much on that, but it does create this weird thing of like, ‘OK, was Jane destined to be evil? Was she cursed? Was she born a psychopath, or was this traumatizing experience so jarring for her mother that it then made her mother reject her?’
I was talking about this earlier. I don’t know if you’ve been watching the videos about … Baby Punch, the orphaned monkey. I was literally watching it — I mean, it’s so sad — and I was like, ‘Oh, being abandoned by your mother is so traumatizing,’ and not being accepted by other people, and I think what we see in Jane’s backstory is a deep feeling of rejection, which obviously she does not handle well, but she channels it into this weird, dark, successful journey as a killer and finds purpose there. And I think it works well when she’s sane, but most of the time she’s not, and that’s when things become unhinged for her.
To your point, Jane’s always like looking to align herself with the most powerful person and that, most of the time, is Sinatra. What do you think drives her to do that? Does she see it as connection or protection, or does she enjoy being leaned on in this way?
I think it’s kind of all of the above. Partly she’s studying the people around her, particularly the people in power, perhaps craving that and wanting to emulate it. Something Dan and I discussed and explored in Episode 6 was: ‘How does this lack of a mother figure play into her desire to please these women in power in her life?’ I’m such a fan of Julianne’s, and getting to see her work has been incredible. And so it was kind of this cool parallel, being able to do a few scenes with her that felt like playing tennis. You always get better when you’re working or when you’re playing against someone who’s a better player. And I think I certainly felt that as an actor, but I think Jane even feels that in her dynamic with Sinatra. It’s like, ‘OK, can I pull the wool over her eyes a little bit, or do I want to please her in this moment, or do I want to serve my purpose entirely as her soldier?’
Going back to Sinatra being a symbol of the mother’s love Jane never got, I also saw that parallel with her CIA mentor who really champions her. The gift Jane brings, which is insane—
Insane.
also goes to show not only her allegiance, but wanting to prove that she is good and can earn someone’s love, respect. How did you view that aspect and go about playing that scene?
Oh my gosh, I know, when I read that, I was like, ‘Oh, everyone from now on is just gonna be like, you’re the girl who chopped off someone’s…’ Getting to work with Ryan [Michelle Bathe] — she’s so incredible and talented and lovely, and so that was such a cool gift for me in this episode, no pun intended with the gift comment. I think there’s a telling line in one of the conversations that I have with her where I asked her why she picked me and chose to champion me. There are lots of other women in the program, why me? And I think it again just speaks to Jane’s desire to be chosen, which shows like a crack in the veneer a little bit because I think she is capable of recognizing that she doesn’t feel tethered to anyone or anything and is trying to make sense of being good and serving a purpose, and doesn’t know why that doesn’t come naturally to her. So I think the scene with the gift is Jane believing that she’s just protecting someone who she cares about, and because she lacks emotional depth or empathy, she’s confused why Stacy’s so shocked and concerned. She was expecting a pat on the back instead of horror.
Did you look to any touch points other than Jane’s backstory in crafting her — famous antagonists in media — or is she entirely singular to you?
I don’t know that I directly pulled from anything necessarily, except The Americans is one of my favorite shows, and Keri Russell and Matthew Reese in that play these Russian spies who are very human, but also almost robotic in their commitment to Russia and the thing that they’re serving. So while they’re not necessarily sociopathic or they aren’t playing psychopaths, I think that allegiance and commitment to being killers stood out to me.
Jane is very singular in some ways, but I tried to imagine who I would be in her position. Why was she brought down to the bunker? She obviously has a very strong skill and has established trust with Sinatra, perhaps prior to Jane shooting her. I’m always influenced by other shows, other actors, other moments in history. I studied psychology in school and found it so fascinating. So I think being able to tap into that, and understanding that most people who are psychopaths learn how to study others very well and kind of disappear behind false human emotion.
This interview has been condensed and edited for concision and clarity.
English (US) ·