“The Altruists” actor Julia Garner on surprising herself

Julia Garner has become known for her remarkable transformations. In the new Netflix series “The Altruists,” she plays Caroline Ellison, the business partner and girlfriend of Sam Bankman-Fried, his accomplice in a multi-billion dollar fraud that led to the collapse of the cryptocurrency exchange FTX.

Her performance as Ellison has many mannerisms. Asked how she puts them together, Garner replied, “I notice 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 with somebody’s eyes,” she said. “I look at photos, I obsess over photos. This sounds so crazy, but I’ll cover half of their face and I’ll just focus on their eyes. And I’m like, I want those eyes for that person that I am about to become.”

Asked if she chooses characters based on complexity, she laughed, “Yes, but I feel like they also choose me!”

To watch a trailer for “The Altruists,” click on 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-therapist (“Which is probably why I’m an actor,” Garner said).

Describing herself as “deathly shy” growing up, Garner took her first acting class at 14. “Now when I look at my childhood, I think I was acting my whole life,” she said. “Because I had lot of problems as a kid. I had a lot of, like, learning problems, and I always felt like such an outcast. And acting always protected me.”

At 16, she landed her first film role in 2011’s “Martha Marcy May Marlene.” Garner’s breakout would come 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, would win her a Golden Globe and three Emmys.

“My life was so different before ‘Ozark,'” she said.

Asked what playing Ruth taught her, Garner replied, “Not to be so scared. And then since then, for whatever reason, people are like, ‘We’re gonna hire her to play the most unhinged people. She’s great for that!'”

She’d earn another Golden Globe nomination for “Inventing Anna” (2022), playing Russian-born Anna Sorokin, who conned New York society into believing she was a German heiress.

But the 32-year-old began to be unnerved by the attention she was getting: “I just didn’t like the feeling of being watched all the time and it kind of got to my head,” she said.

During the actors’ strike in 2023, Garner signed up for a clown school in France: “I failed miserably at it, a lot of times. And you know what? It was the best feeling.”

It was there she realized she felt ashamed of her own success – that she wasn’t worthy of it. In class, her clown instructor called her out one day: “He’s like, ‘You are hiding from something, you feel a lot of shame, you are not comfortable. Look, let me see your eyes.’ So, I had to open up.”

What did she learn by opening up? “Not being afraid to fail,” Garner said.

I noted, “I find it very interesting that he calls you out on your eyes, and you are someone who does so much with your eyes.”

“But I didn’t want someone to see my eyes, you see?” Garner replied. “I got a lot out of it. I’m still sometimes looking for my inner clown.”

Aren’t we all? “Well, I have a clown certificate!” Garner laughed.

Perhaps Garner’s most famous role is in a film yet to be shot. Madonna picked her to play the singer in a biopic that was in development, but has since been shelved. Garner doesn’t know if the film will get made: “Every hour it changes in a way,” she said, adding, “It’s not up to me. I would love for the movie to get made, obviously, but I also feel whatever happens, I made a great friend. I love Madonna, I think she’s incredible. She works, like, she taught me properly, like, how to work.”

The audition process required Garner to sing, dance, and act as Madonna. “I wasn’t a trained dancer,” she said.

Did she surprise herself? “Yeah, but I always try to,” Garner said. “It’s the same thing with the Caroline Ellison role. I really didn’t want to recognize myself, like, at all. That’s my goal. The thing that I’m concerned about always when I’m working is, how am I going to move people? How am going to affect people? How am gonna make people feel less alone? Because I remember growing up when I felt alone, and I watched a movie. It gave me this endless sense of hope, because I didn’t feel alone. And that’s the beauty of, you know, good acting.”

WEB EXCLUSIVE: Watch an extended interview with Julia Garner (Video)

     
Story produced by Julia Kracov. Editor: George Pozderec. 

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