Julia Garner
AGE: 22. HOMETOWN: Raised in Riverdale, based in Manhattan. DEBUT: Martha Marcy May Marlene (2011). UP NEXT: Good Kids; Tomato Red; Baz Luhrmann’s Netflix series The Get Down.
COLLEEN KELSEY: You started acting fairly young. What attracted you to it?
JULIA GARNER: I started taking acting classes when I was 14. That’s when I knew I wanted to try it professionally. Before that, I watched movies, always, but I didn’t think it was a real job. I watched Turner Classic Movies with my parents. I’ve always loved the old classics. What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? [1962] is my favorite movie ever. I didn’t know anything about the business, and also I never thought I would be involved in it.
COLLEEN KELSEY: What was your first acting job?
SMITH: Martha Marcy May Marlene. From the actors to the PAs, it seemed like most of the people were just starting; it was a lot of people’s first big thing, really. It was really special. For me, I learned how to be on a movie set. I didn’t know what it would be like. Basically, everything that I learned, it’s from that movie.
KELSEY: Do you have any secret talents or hobbies?
SMITH: Yes, I like matchmaking.
KELSEY: What’s your success rate?
SMITH: I did make one match, but I’m very happy with this one. They’re engaged.
KELSEY: Are there any directors who you really want to work with, or that you admire?
SMITH: So many. I could never direct. Alejandro González Iñárritu, Woody Allen, David Fincher, Bernardo Bertolucci … And how could I forget Martin Scorsese!
KELSEY: If you were to have any superpower, what would it be?
SMITH: Either to be invisible or to fly. I feel like flying is cool and everything, but the more practical one is being invisible.
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