6 TV Roles That Made Her A Star

Julia Garner has been on a rocket ship recently, so it’s a good time to go back and look at the fantastic TV performances that brought her to national attention in the first place. Weapons is currently playing in theaters, as is The Fantastic Four: First Steps, meaning Julia Garner is all over the big screen this summer.

It’s a meteoric rise for the young actress, but it’s far from a surprise. Julia Garner began appearing in movies as early as 2011, but it was her television roles that began in 2015 that revealed she was a special talent. Since then, she’s had a handful of memorable and award-winning TV roles.

6

Michele Jones (6 Episodes, 2018)

Waco (2018)

Waco

Release Date

2018 – 2018-00-00

Network

Paramount Network

• 

  Michael Shannon

  Gary Noesner

• 

  Taylor Kitsch

  David Koresh

• 

  Rory Culkin

  David Thibodeau

• 

  Paul Sparks

  Steve Schneider

Waco is a 2018 miniseries developed for Showtime that depicts the events of the tragic 51-day standoff between the FBI, ATF, and the Branch Davidians. In 1993, the religious sect led by David Koresh (Taylor Kitsch) engaged in a gunfight and protracted siege with the government, resulting in 96 dead.

Julia Garner plays Michele Jones, the younger sister of Koresh’s wife, Rachel (Melissa Benoist), who has also had a child by Koresh. Michele eventually becomes another of David’s wives, much to her sister’s chagrin. At first, honored, Michele soon comes to regret her fate and questions David’s “plan”.

It’s a much different performance from Garner than we’re used to seeing. She doesn’t have many answers in this role and is totally beholden to the cult, a result of her being 12 when she was married off to Koresh. It’s affecting and frightening, and Garner proves she can move an audience with a different kind of material.

5

Maddy (2 Episodes, 2019)

Modern Love (2019-2021)

Modern Love

Release Date

2019 – 2020

Network

Amazon Prime Video

Modern Love is an underappreciated TV show currently available on Prime Video and is based on the popular weekly column of the same name in The New York Times. The show depicts reenactments of real love stories that range from meet cutes to friendships to moments of self-love and discovery.

Julia Garner stars in season 1, episode 6, “So He Looked Like Dad. It Was Just Dinner, Right?” as Madeline “Maddy” (and makes a brief reappearance in the season 1 finale along with many other characters). In the episode, Maddy begins a friendship with an AI engineer at her work, Peter (Shea Whigham).

Having lost her father at a young age, Maddy sees a father figure in Peter, who understands her interest as romantic. It’s awkward, occasionally cringe-inducing, but also honest and non-judgemental. Garner is charming and sweet, but carries a lot of baggage. Her relief at the end of the episode mirrors the audience’s, as they watch her gain some important insights.

4

Terra Newell (8 Episodes, 2018-2019)

Dirty John (2018-2020)

Dirty John

Release Date

2018 – 2020-00-00

Network

USA Network, Bravo

• 

  Amanda Peet

  Betty Broderick

• 

  Connie Britton

  Debra Newell

Dirty John is a true crime anthology series based on the podcast of the same name by Christopher Goffard. The first season tells the story of John Meehan (Eric Bana), a charming man who meets single and successful businesswoman Debra Newell (Connie Britton) on an online dating site and begins a romance.

Like any good true-crime story, things quickly take a turn for the worse. Meehan proves to be a violent and unpredictable individual and a terror to Debra and her daughters. The youngest daughter, Terra, is nearly abducted by Meehan, leading to the events that inspired the series in the first place.

It’s a strong performance from Garner, who hides her toughness under a sweet and kind layer. It throws you off from the ending and makes Terra’s involvement with the main part of the story all the more believable. Garner shows a real knack for playing a frightened character who is far from cowed.

3

Kimberly Breland (10 Episodes, 2015-2018)

The Americans (2013-2018)

The Americans

10/10

Release Date

2013 – 2018-00-00

• 

  Keri Russell

  Elizabeth Jennings

• 

  Matthew Rhys

  Phillip Jennings

One of Julia Garner’s first roles ever, and her first TV role ever, came in the incredible Cold War thriller series, The Americans. Garner was a recurring character, Kimberly Breland, who first started appearing in season 3, and later made appearances in seasons 4, 5, and 6.

Kimberly is the daughter of the head of the CIA’s Afghan group, Isaac Breland (Frank Deal), and becomes an unsuspecting pawn for Philip Jennings (Matthew Rhys). A lonely child who grew up in relatively secure luxury, Kimberly was happy to receive attention from someone like Philip, allowing him to plant a listening device on her.

Kimberly is the quintessential diplomat’s kid. She’s precocious, a bit fearless, but also lonely and wayward. Garner is able to inject a lot of personality into the character with her bored facial expressions when her peers are talking, versus the excitement she shows when someone interesting like Philip approaches her.

2

Anna (Sorokin) Delvey (9 Episodes, 2022)

Inventing Anna (2022)

Inventing Anna is a miniseries biopic on a woman whose life is stranger than fiction. The story goes, in the mid-2010s, a woman going by the name Anna Delvey began hanging out in the upper-class New York social and art scenes. It was later revealed that Delvey was a con artist, and not at all who she said.

The nine-episode series is told from the point of view of Delvey and of Vivian Kent (Anna Chlumsky), a stand-in for Jessica Pressler, the journalist who originally wrote the story about Delvey for New York magazine. The series has been accused of misrepresenting the truth of the scenario, but Garner is still mesmerizing.

Even with a ridiculous accent, it’s hard not to be entranced by the slick Delvey, who crafts wild stories and steals her “friends” money at every opportunity. It’s a great performance and earned Garner a Golden Globe and Emmy nomination, despite the series itself being a bit of a disappointment.

1

Ruth Langmore (44 Episodes, 2017-2022)

Ozark (2017-2022)

Ozark

Release Date

2017 – 2022

Network

Netflix

• 

  Jason Bateman

  Marty Byrde

• 

The role that made Julia Garner a household name, Ruth Langmore, is the tertiary protagonist of Ozark, one of the best crime dramas in recent years. Ozark stars Jason Bateman as Marty Byrde, a money launderer who moves to the Lake of the Ozarks region to continue abetting cartels and keep his family alive one day at a time.

Already in the Ozarks when the Byrdes arrive are the Langmores, a poor family of petty criminals led by the young but fearsome Ruth. Ruth is only 19 at the start of the series, but she already thinks bigger than anyone else in her family. She’s foul-mouthed, clever, but has a big heart that doesn’t forgive easily.

It’s an incredible performance from Garner, who affects the attitude of a young girl forced to grow up quickly to find that she’s actually more capable than everyone else around her. Julia Garner is electric in the role. Ruth is formidable to her core; it’s her moments of childlike worry that are the real mask over her utter fearlessness.