Julia Garner Has Had A Head-Turning Transformation

Julia Garner's appearances in the likes of "Ozark," "The Americans," and "Dirty John" have made her a huge star, but this is one A-Lister you probably don't know a whole lot about. And that's intentional. Though Garner operates her own public social media accounts, she's no Kardashian when it comes to daily (or even hourly) life updates. "It's tricky because nowadays, everyone is so out there, and the mystery is disappearing. And when a person doesn't have mystery anymore, you can't get it back..." Garner told Vanity Fair, sharing she also purposefully keeps her political views to herself.

Though the actor may prefer to keep her cards close to her chest, that hasn't stopped us from noticing her head-turning transformation. This star has evolved from a shy young girl to a happily married A-Lister with multiple Emmys to her name — and much of that is down to her determination not to take the easy road. "If I hear that a part's going to be hard, I'm like, 'That sounds terrifying, that sounds terrible.' And then I'm like, 'I'm doing it,'" she told Rolling Stone. That's a mantra the actor has abided by most of her life, pushing through learning difficulties and acting setbacks to make her dreams come true, all while staying true to herself at every turn. "It does come naturally for me to embrace myself, whether it's with beauty or anything," she told Elle U.K. "I always just try to, when in doubt, listen to my instinct. I never try to force things. I'm open to things happening by chance," she added. As her transformation proves, that mentality has clearly served her well.

Julia Garner was born in New York in 1994 and had an interesting childhood growing up around her therapist mother, artist dad, and teacher sister. "You know how every family has their family fights? Ours would be for hours because it would be like a group therapy session," Garner recalled to The Hollywood Reporter. "It would start off with just one person, but then each person had to have their own hour."

The star told W her parents gave her and her sister freedom to grow up and explore who they were, which may be why Garner never felt the need to change herself, even when it came to her hair. "There were all these girls who straightened their hair in middle school. They would have, like, curly roots and straight ends. I knew they looked worse than how I looked, so I wasn't even going to bother," she said of learning to love her natural curls and dance to the beat of her own drum. "People want so bad to be cool. They're doing things because they want to be perceived a certain way, or because that's the most popular thing to do. And I'm like, 'F**k popularity,'" she added. And that bolshy mantra would take her far.

Despite learning early that being true to herself was more important than popularity, Julia Garner struggled with confidence and was diagnosed with epilepsy as a youngster. She had multiple learning disabilities and didn't learn how to read until she was 10, before being home-schooled as a teen. "Even after I learned how to read, it still affected my confidence to the point where I was so shy. Everything that I said, I felt stupid," she told The Hollywood Reporter. That's when acting entered the future star's life. She began taking classes after seeing her sister attend, which changed everything. "I started ... to overcome my shyness, and I fell in love with it," Garner said.

Though a lot of children start performing for attention, that wasn't Garner. "I did it because I liked how it made my heart and soul feel. It wasn't because I wanted that teenage attention," she told CR, admitting she wasn't comfortable with having all eyes on her. "I felt like acting was actually hiding for me, in a weird way, because it wasn't me," she said. Finding her passion for performing young set the trajectory for the rest of her life, as she told Vanity Fair she'd unknowingly practiced her craft for years before considering acting as a serious career. "I almost had to learn how to act even from that age, act like I knew and I could understand what everybody was talking about. My whole life in a weird way was prepping me to do what I'm doing now," she said.

Julia Garner was 16 when she landed her first big acting role in the 2011 movie "Martha Marcy May Marlene," which also starred Elizabeth Olsen and Sarah Paulson. "I remember getting that first paycheck and becoming a member of SAG," she told Vanity Fair, referring to the Screen Actor's Guild. "I was fixated on the SAG card and remember being like, 'Wow, I'm a real actor.' That's where I really learned how to be on a set," she added. Now a fully-fledged (and paid!) actor, various parts came in thick and fast for the rising star, and she continued rubbing shoulders with big names on set. In 2012, she appeared in the independent movie "Electrick Children," "The Perks of Being a Wallflower" alongside Emma Watson (who's had a gorgeous transformation too), and "The Sopranos" star James Gandolfini on "Not Fade Away."

But Garner wasn't your typical teen actor. She quickly learned her niche laid in more off-beat roles (as proven by her appearance in 2013's "The Last Exorcism Part II.") "When you think about teen actors, you think of them having this gorgeous, luscious hair and being so pretty ... I was definitely not [the luscious hair girl]," she told The Hollywood Reporter. Instead, Garner was unapologetically herself and embraced her curls, fair skin, and quirky personality, which set her apart from more cookie-cutter actors her age. "I've never been in those girl-next-door TV shows because they never hire me," she admitted. Not that she cares. "... It all happened perfectly in a way. Every part has to be different from the last — for me, at least," she said.

By 2015, it looked like Julia Garner had it all. She'd appeared in a slew of major projects and worked with some of the biggest celebrities in the world, including Lily Tomlin on the movie "Grandma," Lena Dunham on "Girls," and Keri Russell on "The Americans." But Garner is living proof that everything isn't always as it seems. Though it looked like she was experiencing a skyrocketing career going from strength to strength, the actor was struggling behind the scenes. "When I was 21, I had a pretty dry year ... It wasn't a great year for me as an actor. I felt a little hopeless. I wasn't getting jobs for a few months," she told Vanity Fair. "I remember thinking, 'If I'm still in the same place in five years, I don't want to do this.'" 

Thankfully, she pushed on and used the difficult time to inspire herself to aim even higher. "I actually remember those moments more than the good, because I feel like any kind of professional trauma is character-building," she said. "It makes you work to the point where you don't get to that place again. It makes you work harder." And luckily (for us and her) she didn't let the difficult time discourage her, because her big career break was just around the corner.

Julia Garner got her groove back after she landed the role of Ruth Langmore for "Ozark." "I remember thinking, 'Oh my God, this character is amazing ... If I don't get this, I don't think I can watch this show,'" she told The Hollywood Reporter. "I don't think like that. I'm usually like, 'One bus comes, one bus goes, try to get on the next bus.' This time, I was like, 'I've got to get on that bus.'"

"Ozark" would become hugely successful for Netflix (Nielsen Analytics reported the first batch of season four episodes were streamed for 1 billion minutes in one week, per E! News). But Garner was happy the show's popularity increased gradually rather than immediately thrusting her into huge fame. "Season one got the perfect amount of attention. People were excited enough to invest in it, but ... I don't think anybody knew that that was gonna be the outcome of that show during that time of television," she explained to CR.

"Ozark" got so popular over its four-season run that Garner was considered a major star by the time the final season aired in 2022. This marked a major milestone in her independence. "I started coming to Atlanta to film in 2017, and it was the first place where I actually lived on my own," she told W. But the dark drama didn't exactly provide her with her easiest role to date. "When I was first playing Ruth, it was really tough. It almost felt like I had been hit with a frying pan every single night," she told The Gentlewoman.

2019 was a busy year for Julia Garner. She got engaged to Foster The People's Mark Foster in May 2019 and wed that same year. The two had originally planned their big day for June 2020, but Garner told The Hollywood Reporter they decided, on a whim, to move their big day up to December. "For some reason, I was like, 'You know what? Let's not wait until June. Let's just do it," she recalled. The romantic ceremony included a surprise from her husband, who composed and performed the song "Lovers in a Stream" for her. "It was very surreal, and the most beautiful present I've ever received. It felt like I was floating up in the air — it was the most magical moment I've ever had," she gushed to Vogue.

The star ensured her personality shone through in her wedding ensemble, as she flexed her non-traditional fashion muscles by tying the knot inside New York City Hall in a white pantsuit. "I love pantsuits, and I always thought that if I were to get married in a courthouse, I wanted to wear one. I wanted a Carrie Bradshaw moment," she said. However, the star changed after they exchanged vows and wore a more traditional dress by Danielle Frankel. "Her pieces have everything I love. They're beautiful, modern, smart, classic, edgy, original, flattering, and powerful," Garner said.

She wasn't just thriving in her personal life though, as Garner was also seeing the recognition she deserved for her acting roles. She won her first Emmy in 2019 for Outstanding Supporting Actress In A Drama Series for "Ozark," which she'd also take home in 2020 and 2022. But, unfortunately, she'd also have a fashion disaster on the Emmys red carpet.

Though "Ozark" brought Julia Garner more notoriety, it wasn't her only project. Between 2017 and 2020, the talented star had also appeared in "Dirty John," "The Americans," and "Modern Love." So, when the Covid-19 pandemic hit in 2020 and temporarily shut down TV and movie sets across the globe, she took the opportunity to catch up on some much-deserved rest. "I haven't had a really good night's sleep in the last four years. So for the first two or three months, I just slept," she told The Hollywood Reporter in 2020.

But, having been on-the-go for so long, the actor struggled with a slower paced life. "Something I learned during COVID that I was struggling with was, for me acting is like meditating. I had a problem. I was like, why am I not feeling so present? It was because I haven't been acting," she said. The New Yorker was back to work by the end of 2020 though, filming both the Netflix and Shonda Rhimes project "Inventing Anna" (in which she played con-artist Anna Delvey) and "Ozark." "That whole year and a half was just back and forth on those two roles. And both of the women I was playing were very intense!" she told W.

Despite her life having changed so drastically since childhood though, that didn't mean Garner had become a totally different person. She proved that via her fashion choices. "My style, it's still the same. It's been the same since I was 6 years old, which is a black turtleneck," she said.

After a tough time in lockdown, Julia Garner was fully back to work by 2022 — the same year "Inventing Anna" was released. She was firmly back on the promo trail and admitted to Cosmopolitan she was surprised she was cast in the drama, which was based on a true story. "I knew that I could play this type of person, but I didn't know that Hollywood would cast me because I look so different from [Anna Delvey]," she said. But the star became a true acting chameleon and donned various wigs for the role, which transformed her into Delvey.

That same year, she landed another movie gig playing a real-life person. Only, this time, she was cast as a true icon — Madonna! Garner revealed on "Smartless" (which her "Ozark" co-star Jason Bateman co-hosts) that she took dance classes before auditioning in front of the "Vogue" hitmaker. "I kind of just wanted to see if I could do it because I wasn't a trained dancer and I had to learn how to dance and then dance in front of her and convince her that I can dance, basically, and sing with her!" News broke the following year that plans for the biopic had been put on hold, though Garner hinted to W in 2025 the project would be moving ahead, sharing, "It's a work in progress."

Julia Garner cemented her status as a blockbuster star in 2025 when she officially joined the Marvel Cinematic Universe in "The Fantastic Four: First Steps" as Shalla-Bal/Silver Surfer. The actor shared she was ready to reach a new audience with the role. "She's so different than anyone I've ever played, and that was also another reason why I wanted to do it," she told Entertainment Weekly. "I want to branch out to every genre, and that's one of the reasons why I wanted to do Marvel — it's reaching a different kind of audience," she added. But while the star has always shared her hopes to take on diverse roles, she admitted she may not be one and done with Marvel. When asked if she'd be open to playing the character in a spin-off, Garner replied, "A hundred percent, I would love to do that. The Silver Surfer is such a cool character, and I feel like it's so rare to be presented with any sort of mystery in this day and age."

But despite being such a huge star, she hadn't lost herself in Hollywood. Garner still stunned with the same porcelain skin and vintage-inspired beauty look that her to fame. "I still do the same makeup that I did when I was in high school," she told Elle U.K., despite makeup trends changing drastically between 2015 and 2025. "I think people bury themselves a little bit with the makeup nowadays," she noted, cementing her position as a celebrity who loves minimal makeup. 

Julia Garner's star was bigger than ever in 2025, but she made it very clear she was in the business for her love of acting. She told CR she'd become more selective over the roles she takes on — a far cry from her struggles of 2015. "Now, I'm focusing on people. Who do I want to work with that's going to make me grow as an artist? Who's going to challenge me in the best way?" she said. Part of her career transformation also included a turn toward modeling. The star walked the runway as par of Vogue World: Hollywood 2025 in an outfit from "Marie Antoinette" and appeared in Gucci's silk craftsmanship campaign. She also showed off a drastic new look on the cover of the January 2025 issue of WWD, rocking an edgy leather look with power move pink hair.

But, as much as Garner had transformed from her childhood days, she was still the same girl at heart. And she wasn't looking to capitalize on her fame via social media, either. "I haven't posted in two weeks, and there's a part of me that's like 'Are people still seeing my movies?'" she told CR, sharing a refreshing take on fame and social media. "It feels like an unnecessary work rat race, and your currency isn't what you're making ... It's about how famous you are; how much attention you're getting — even if it's negative," she added. With such an astute perceptive and self-aware head on her shoulders, we can only see the next step of Garner's transformation bringing her more happiness, contentment, and big-time roles.