Early life

Nicholson was born and raised in Medford, Massachusetts (outside Boston), the daughter of Kate (née Gilday) and James O. Nicholson, Jr. 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. 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. 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." 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.

Theater

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

Title	Producer	Director	Theater
Stranger	Craig Lucas	Mark Brokaw	The Vineyard Theater
Parlor Song	Jez Buttersworth	Neil Pepe	The Atlantic
This	Melissa James Gibson	Daniel Aukin	Playwrights Horizons
Parents Evening	Bathseba Doran	Jim Simpson	The Flea
The Hallway Trilogy: Rose	Adam Rapp	Adam Rapp	Rattlestick Playwrights Theater
The Hallway Trilogy: Paraffin	Adam Rapp	Daniel Aukin	Rattlestick Playwrights Theater

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 and she gave birth to daughter Phoebe Margaret on April 30, 2009.

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

Filmography

Film

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1998	Harvest	Lou Yates
1998	Long Time Since	Phoebe
1998	One True Thing	College Student
1998	It All Came True	Sandra Hewson
1999	Love Letter, TheThe Love Letter	Jennifer
2000	Hero	Young German Woman	Short film
2000	Passion of Mind	Kim
2000	Godass	Nancy
2000	Tully	Ella Smalley	Nominated - Independent Spirit Award for Best Supporting Female
2001	Dead Dog	Charity
2002	Speakeasy	Rebecca
2002	Strike a Light	Girl
2002	I'm with Lucy	Jo
2004	Seeing Other People	Alice	US Comedy Arts Festival Award for Best Actress
2004	Little Black Book	Joyce
2004	Kinsey	Alice Martin
2005	Seagull	Julianne
2005	Her Name Is Carla	Carla
2006	Flannel Pajamas	Nicole Reilly
2006	Puccini for Beginners	Samantha
2006	Two Weeks	Emily Bergman
2009	Brief Interviews with Hideous Men	Sara Quinn
2009	Staten Island	Mary Halverson
2010	Shadows & Lies	Ann
2012	Keep the Lights On	Claire
2013	August: Osage County	Ivy Weston	Hollywood Film Festival for Ensemble of the Year Nominated - Broadcast Film Critics Association Award for Best Cast Nominated - Phoenix Film Critics Society Award for Best Cast Nominated - Screen Actors Guild Award for Outstanding Performance by a Cast in a Motion Picture Nominated - Phoenix Film Critics Society Award for Best Cast Nominated - Washington DC Area Film Critics Association Award for Best Acting Ensemble
2015	Black Mass	Marianne Connolly

Television

Year	Title	Role	Notes
1997	Nothing Sacred	Cara	Episode: "Parents and Children"
1998	Dellaventura	Carol Dakin	Episode: "David & Goliath"
1998	New York Undercover	Daisy	Episode: "Sign o' the Times"
1999	Storm of the Century	Cat Withers	TV miniseries
2000	Others, TheThe Others	Marian Kitt	Main role (13 episodes)
2001	Law & Order	Jessie Lucas	Episode: "All My Children"
2001-02	Ally McBeal	Jenny Shaw	Main role (13 episodes)
2002	Presidio Med	Dr. Jules Keating	Main role
2004	ER	Jordan	Episodes: "Just a Touch", "Abby Normal"
2006	Water Is Wide, TheThe Water Is Wide	Barbara	TV film
2006	Conviction	Christina Finn	Main role (13 episodes)
2006-09	Law & Order: Criminal Intent	Det. Megan Wheeler	Main role (24 episodes)
2011	Royal Pains	Jess Walsh	Episode: "Fight or Flight"
2011-12	Boardwalk Empire	Esther Randolph	Recurring role (10 episodes)
2012	Good Wife, TheThe Good Wife	Callie Simko	Episodes: "Pants on Fire", "The Penalty Box"
2012	Covert Affairs	Anna Lise Pound	Episode: "The Last Thing You Should Do"
2013	Masters of Sex	Dr. Lillian DePaul	Recurring Role (7 episodes) Nominated - Critics' Choice Television Award for Best Guest Performer in a Drama Series
2014	The Red Road	Jean Jensen

[ Source: Wikipedia ]