Court House Entertainment
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Dallas actress JJ Nolan loves playing complex women. In 2022’s Pretty Problems, Nolan played Cat, a wealthy woman who invites a couple to her sprawling estate in Sonoma County with hopes to help revitalize their marriage. And in a new independently produced short series called Before Marriage, Nolan must confront issues between her character, Hannah, and Hannah’s fiancé, Colin (Andre Boyer).
Each of the six episodes of Before Marriage is less than 7 minutes, but they touch on the heavy hitting subjects which many couples are often told to take into consideration before they tie the knot. In the “Money” episode, Colin suggests the two have a joint bank account, while Hannah would rather have separate accounts. In the episode titled “Kids” Hannah and Colin agree that they both want kids, but would rather not adopt, as they are “too narcissistic” not to have kids of their own. The two discuss the possibility of an open relationship in the “Sex” episode, and realize they each have different perspectives on what the rules should be within their dynamic.
We catch up with Nolan, and the show’s creator Courtney Pape, ahead of their appearance at Dallas’ Topaz Film Festival at the Media Tech Institute. At the time of our interview, Pape is looking forward to meeting other female independent filmmakers, and Nolan is excited to be back in her hometown.
Nolan says she was a tomboy growing up in Dallas, and shared that before she got into acting and filmmaking, she was very much into sports. Some of her fondest memories of her hometown include going to the Galleria after soccer practice, munching on chips and salsa after games, and continuing to ice skate in the shopping center’s rink.
“I competed in every sport that I could possibly compete in,” says Nolan. “I always tried to do the ones that my brother played to. I would try to make it onto his baseball team, and they let me come to practice with him.”
Nolan and Pape first began working together in 2016. Over the course of their creative partnership and friendship, Nolan has learned that Pape “writes a beautifully complicated woman.” This came full circle in their newest project. Pape had Nolan in mind for Hannah before she even finished writing the script. Nolan was immediately drawn to Hannah’s nuances, which are on full display within this series of vignettes.
“In a situation where you’re cohabitating, this is how you’re going to spend the rest of your life together,” says Nolan. “So knowing how the other person functions is useful knowledge before a huge commitment. Especially once you get a little bit older, and you’re a little more set in your ways, I think it’s it’s good to know if you can work together as a team.”
“There are some not glamorous times when you have to talk about your partnership, and really go through those nitty gritty bullet points. And I wanted to explore that aspect of the relationship and the comedy that can be had in those and put that on film to see.” -Courtney Pape
Pape says she “vaguely” drew from her own experience when writing Before Marriage but was mostly inspired by conversations she had with married couples. She found that most couples – both on- and off-screen – often focus on the wedding during the period of time between the proposal and the nuptials. But she finds that learning each other’s habits, and how they affect those around them, is equally, if not more, important.
“There are some not glamorous times when you have to talk about your partnership, and really go through those nitty gritty bullet points,” says Pape. “And I wanted to explore that aspect of the relationship and the comedy that can be had in those and put that on film to see.”
As the series goes on, the spats get more serious and more (oddly) specific. In the finale, the two take the ultimate test to see if they are, in fact, soulmates.
The topic of cohabitating before marriage is often polarizing, and both Nolan and Pape think couples can make it whether they live together before getting married or not. But the six topics highlighted in Before Marriage – money, kids, sex, chores, winning the lottery and death – are ones they both feel are absolutely vital to discuss before tying the knot.
“When you bring up these topics, [some couples are] surprised,” says Pape. “When you’re at a certain point in the relationship it’s like, ‘Well, you should be talking about those things. I did start asking around because I was like, well what is normal? What are people doing what’s out there?”
All six episodes of Before Marriage are currently available to stream on YouTube through Court House Entertainment.
