Julia Garner has become famous for her amazing transformations. In the new Netflix series “The Altruists,” she plays Caroline Ellison, business partner and lover of Sam Bankman-Fried, his accomplice in the multi-billion dollar fraud that led to the collapse of the FTX cryptocurrency exchange.
Her performance as Ellison is multifaceted. When asked how she puts it together, Garner replied, “I feel everything. I do! I might look like I’m a little [whistling and gesturing like birds are fluttering overhead]but I’m not!
“You know, you can tell a lot by someone’s eyes,” she said. “I’m looking at pictures, I’m obsessed with pictures. This is so crazy, but I’ll cover half the face and focus on their eyes. And I’m like, I want those eyes for that person that I’m going to be.”
When asked if she chooses characters based on complexity, she laughed, “Yes, but I feel like they choose me too!
To watch a trailer for “The Altruists,” click the video player below:
Garner grew up in the Riverdale section of the Bronx, taking arts and crafts classes at the Wave Hill Cultural Center near her parents’ home. Her father teaches art; her mother was an actress-turned-reformer (“Maybe that’s why I’m an actress,” Garner said).
Describing herself as “deathly shy” growing up, Garner took her first acting class at 14. “Now when I look back at my childhood, I think I was acting my whole life,” she said. “Because I had a lot of problems as a child. I had a lot of learning problems, for example, and I always felt so distant. And acting always protected me.”
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At 16, she landed her first film role in “Martha Marcy May Marlene” in 2011. Garner’s breakthrough came in 2017 in the Netflix crime series “Ozark”. Her performance as Ruth Langmore, a whip-smart hustler who runs a crime ring from a trailer park, won her a Golden Globe and three Emmys.
“My life was so different before ‘Ozark,'” she said.
When asked what Ruth taught her, Garner replied, “Don’t be so scared. And then ever since, for whatever reason, people say, ‘We’re going to hire her to play the most infamous people. She’s good for that!’ “
She would have earned another Golden Globe nomination for “Inventing Anna” (2022), playing Russian-born Anna Sorokin, who led New York society to believe she was a German heiress.
But the 32-year-old started to get distracted by the attention she was getting: “I didn’t like the feeling of being watched all the time and it got to my head,” she said.
During the 2023 actors’ strike, Garner signed up for a clown school in France: “I failed miserably, many times. And you know what? It was the best feeling.
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It was then that she realized that she felt ashamed of her own success – that she did not deserve it. In class, her teacher called her a clown one day: “It’s like, ‘You’re hiding from something, you feel a lot of shame, you’re not comfortable. Look, let me see your eyes.’ So, I had to open up.”
What did she learn by opening up? “Don’t be afraid to fail,” Garner said.
I noted, “It’s very interesting to me that he calls you out on your eyes, and you are someone who does so much with your eyes.”
“But I didn’t want anyone to see my eyes, you see?” Garner replied, “I got a lot out of it. I sometimes look for my inner clown.”
Aren’t we all? “Well, me you’re clown certified!” Garner laughed.
Perhaps Garner’s most famous role is in a film that has yet to be shot. Madonna chose her to play the singer in a biopic that was in development, but has since been shelved. Garner does not know if the film will be made: “Every hour it changes in a way,” she said, adding, “It’s not up to me. I would love to make the film, obviously, but I also feel that whatever happens, I made a good friend. I love Madonna, I think she’s amazing. She works, like, she taught me how to work properly.
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The audition process required Garner to sing, dance, and act as Madonna. “I was not a trained dancer,” she said.
Did she surprise herself? “Yes, but I always try to do it,” Garner said. “It’s the same thing with the role of Caroline Ellison. I didn’t want to identify myself, like, at all. That’s my goal. The thing that always worries me when I’m working is, how am I going to move people? How do I influence people? How do I make people feel less? Because I remember growing up when I felt alone, and I looked at it movie. of, you know, good trick.”
WEB EXCLUSIVE: Watch extended interview with Julia Garner (Video)
Story made by Julia Kracov. Editor: George Pozderec.
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