I’m Julia Garner, and this is my last meal. [Heavy metal intro music] Every person has exactly two things in common. We all gotta eat and we’re all gonna die. Today’s guest is a three time Emmy award-winning actor who you might recognize from Ozark, Inventing Anna, and the Fantastic Four: First Steps. Her new movie Weapons is out in theater’s August 8th, and she’s the reason I will never be able to look at a vegetable peeler the same again. Julia Garner, welcome to the show. Yes, vegetable peelers. Not to give anything away from the movie, but I did get to see Weapons in theaters the other day. Mm-hmm. And then the next night I found myself trying to peel sweet potatoes and gripped by a very visceral sense of terror. And you just kept on thinking about my face. And the vegetable peeler. I really did. It was haunting my dreams that night. Yeah. And uh, so I threw my vegetable peeler away and so now I’m just eating potato skins. I think they’re healthy. Yes, I think so. Have you thought about your last meal before? Of course. I have a hard time making decisions like for little things for ordering. So this is really great ’cause there’s a lot of different options for this. So what made you think of this concept? Are you okay? Oh no, but thank you so much for asking that. Yeah. Are you not somebody who hyper fixates on death? Yes and no. I mean, I, to sound like really dark, but I feel like everything has… dies. Everything ends, yeah. But I think it’s harder for the people that stay. Yeah. I think, you know, that’s, but that’s, you know, anybody that stays, I mean, you can have somebody and they’re leaving to go to the airport or they’re going somewhere and it’s always harder for the person that’s staying. Are you somebody who tends to feel better about it when you talk about it? Or do you just try and sort of avoid it, live your life to its fullest and then whatever may happen may happen. When you avoid, it’s, it’s much worse. Mm-hmm. Um, and it just, that, that will eat you, that will kind of drive you nuts. But I also just, I, I think too, just avoiding anything is probably the worst thing that you can do. Yeah. I think that exposure, ultimately, it kind of takes the power away from something. Mm. And then also having lasagna and chocolate chip cookies, you know, that sort of feeds and nourishes the soul. I mean, a hundred percent. But even that dies because you’re eating. But Julia, for a, for a brief 45 second period. Mm-hmm. Because that is how long it takes me to eat a whole tray of lasagna. What? 45 seconds. I inhale it like Garfield. I don’t even need to chew him. Oh my, I’m a veteran. I’ve been doing this for a while. Okay. You are Garfield. That’s crazy. And then I feel like Garfield would, would think about death. Yeah. A hundred percent. Yeah. A percent. There was a malaise about him. Yeah, there was a melancholy kind of. He had a, a, a writer’s soul in a way. He really did. He really did. Today, Julia, you and I are both Garfield. Yes. I, I’m a little bit Garfield. You ready to eat? Yes, I’m ready to eat. Bring it. I’m hungry. Julia, for the first course of your final meal on this earth, we have a lovely and refreshing tabouli. This is made with fresh, cracked, bulgar wheat. A whole lot of curly parsley in there. Tons of lemon, olive oil and tomatoes. And then we took some liberties with the halloumi. We did a little grilled halloumi dish with a honey vinaigrette, kalamata olives and toasted hazelnuts. Then we have a fattoush salad with a pomegranate molasses vinaigrette, fresh toasted and fried pita in there. And then a side of pita, as well as the diet Coke. The world’s healthiest drink. The healthiest drink, it’s balance. You know, you have the vegetables and all the health, and then you have this. I like to view it like how the Catholic church used to sell indulgences. Mm. Oh, that’s interesting. They were like, you can sort of buy your way out. What’s your drink? What’s your vice of like, drink? Do you like Diet Coke? Like, what is, what is your, uh, go-to? I would go Coke Zero over Diet Coke. I don’t have the long answer. Why? I don’t have, I, I don’t know why, why I was doing that, but people are doing all sorts of things now that they can get hits. I mean, they’re like, yes, they’re always talking in ASMR and then the diet Coke and this. Why did you. Why do you like diets? Wait, Coke Zero. I like, I think, yeah, I think Coke Zero. If I do this, my throat’s gonna bleed. No, I like that voice. That’s good. Wow. So why do you like Coke Zero? I like Coke Zero. ’cause I think Diet Coke was a victim of coming first. You know what I mean? Like Diet Coke, I can’t keep doing it. Did you put a lot of thought to it, a victim of. This is all I, this is all I think about Julia. This is all I think about. This is that Diet Coke. So you think about food, diet, coke and death. Yeah, mostly. Uh, and diet Coke’s related to both food, but it’s also probably killing us. Yes. So it’s kind of the bridge. I’m, I’m taking a flight today, by the way. So, but think about the fact that you’re much more likely to die choking on a hazelnut or on the 4 0 5 freeway than you are on a plane. Does that not make you feel better? That makes me feel better. What is wrong with you? I don’t know. I’m hoping at the end of this, yeah, you can tell me what’s wrong with me. Normally people are asking me what’s wrong with me. So this is, I’m I it’s a nice break. It’s very refreshing if you like this. Yes. It’s very refreshing. What is wrong with you? I, I am a overthinker. Um, I think of, uh, the worst case scenario. I try not to jump to conclusion, but that’s been a, a thing of mine. Can I dish you up some tabouli? Yes. Yes. Please enough of me. The food makes it all better. Yes. Um, this is delicious. Tell, tell me about the choices here. Tell me about the connection to, well, to tabouli. There’s a very Mediterranean theme here. Yeah. I, you know, I grew up eating a lot of, you know, middle Eastern food. It’s also just like the most delicious, and you can eat a ton of it, and you still don’t feel tired or heavy, and it’s just great. It’s just like the world’s most beautiful cuisine. Eating vegetables and like eating healthy can taste good too if, if it’s marinated right. You know, can I serve you up some halloumi? Yes. Yes. I would love some, thank you. Food’s so interesting because it just opens, it’s such an icebreaker and even when you think of like the most like universal word. It’s, I mean, it’s a drink, food, drink. It’s, it’s coffee. Yeah. Truly that is just so interesting to me that everybody starts their day with the same joy in the morning, which is either coffee or tea. Yeah. And that has to do with food. So, and also the universal, uh, want to have legal stimulants. That just get your heart rate up and kind of get you ready for the day. Yes, this is very good by the way. I, I am digging this halloumi dish. It’s amazing. Can I dish you up some fattoush? Mm-hmm. I would love some. Thank you. It’s so funny how it’s like very universal. Oh, I just, that’s, that’s interesting. I just thought of something. But like that it’s so universal. It’s, it’s food and death. It’s just, it really is. It’s like, it’s the two most simple things. Mm-hmm. And when you think about it, life is just, it’s so simple. Everybody always complicates everything. Yeah. They really do. But it’s like people just want to eat. And they wanna die in peace. A hundred percent. And that was, that was almost the entirety of human history until like the agricultural revolution maybe. Yeah. Until people kind of messed it up. Thanks. Ancient mesopotamians with your fields of wheat. Julia, you’re in a movie called Weapons. One of the major themes that I took away from this, and maybe the most heartbreaking theme, is that the way that fear is used to control people, especially control people. Hmm. Children, vulnerable people into silence, where if you could just summon that courage to speak, you know, something, uh, that you need to, this whole situation could have been avoided, but also this fear is just such a crushing feeling. Yeah. What were the themes that you took from weapons that really drew you to the role? Zach Kreger, the director. He’s such a, he thinks so outside the box, it’s always been rare, but it’s becoming a rare and rarer thing in a way. Um, the thing that I find fascinating with weapons is, it’s not about this, but it ties into, uh, addiction a lot. Like every character’s having, uh, an, an addiction in, in their own way. Yeah. And I think. With addiction, there’s shame and you’re trying to manipulate and control and avoid the feeling of shame. So they’re all kind of…. Llike tied together, and I think that’s always interesting to play out in a way. Yeah. This was my first horror movie that I’ve seen in theaters in over a decade. Do you, are you not a horror fan? The thing that I try and generally avoid is this incredible stress where I’m not in control. Mm-hmm. I love stress where I’m in control, but the thing that I found was this like beautiful, collective human experience. Mm. Where not only are we all terrified at the same time, but it’s also such a deeply sad, empathetic human story. So we all, you know, felt that sadness at the same time. There’s laugh out loud jokes. Yeah. It was like our emotions were all being pulled by the same string at same time. Have you had that experience in a theater? And what was the first time you can remember that happening? Well, all my favorite movies have that. Yeah. And ’cause I, I don’t, I, and it’s the same thing when I read a script, if I feel like it’s like one color, I think it’s, it’s really important to it. To have comedy in every project. Mm-hmm. In, in a way, because if you have comedy, then when you have the drama within the story, it’s going to be more heartbreaking because you kind of fell in love with those characters that made you laugh and, and you are invested more. And that’s what I love about his Zach’s tone is that he has such a, it’s such a unique tone that I have. I’ve never seen anything on screen. It just, it’s, it’s very strange in the most beautiful way. As somebody who’s a chronic overthinker, horror movies seem to be an interesting genre to find yourself in, especially knowing how deep you go into roles. This is like your sixth or seventh major, major horror movie that you’re starring in. I mean, that’s what I’m getting. Sorry. I mean, no, but it’s true. I also think too, that’s where like the interesting work is now. I mean, think about the amount of like filmmakers that, amazing filmmakers that are coming out and they all got their start in horror. Um, and I think that’s kind of the genre where you are allowed to kind of do anything and be unapologetic and not feel like you energetically have somebody hovering over you and being like, no to that. No to that. You kind of can just play and create and yeah, I think, I think that’s why horror films are so popular now in a way. Does any part of you just wanna like do a rom-com? You’re just like, God, I wish I could just be, oh my God, walking down New York City. That’s, that’s like all I watch. So yes. But there, but I please, if anybody’s hiring for a rom-com, hire me. I’m, I promise I’ll be funny. I promise. Please. I am desperate. And that’s funny. It’s really funny. I think this is what gets you casted horror movies though is making the unhinged looks you’re giving to the camera. Oh no. Julia, for course number two of your final meal on earth. We have the lasagna bolognese. This is four layers, uh, ragu made with beef and lamb ricotta. A little bit of bechamel on top with Parmigiano regiano. We have the capese salad. Heirloom tomatoes, we’re flat in tomato season. It’s beautiful. Buffalo mozzarella. Little bit of salt, olive oil and balsamico. Simple spaghetti pomodoro, fresh grated tomatoes. Little bit of garlic tossed with olive oil and spaghetti. Why did I say that like Johnny DeMarcus. I know. I love it. Bon appetito. Do you wanna start with the caprese? That’s, I, I, you’re going Italian? Italian. I’m just going, I’m just going New York. So is that like Bob daughter? Yeah. Yeah. Like it’s just like Sopranos the right. You. I love this. Tony. I grew up on the oc, so like I, oh yeah. I was never a Sopranos guy. Were you watching the OC while you were living in the OC? So I actually, no, I never watched the oc, but what I did watch was the Real Housewives of Orange County. Did you watch the OG season? Season one. I watched Vicki get heckled in a Target. Because she was just trying to buy more stuff. A man after my own heart. Oh my goodness. And then everybody’s staring at, and then somebody just goes, Hey, I didn’t know they sold Gucci at Target, haha. And then the whole store started laughing at her and she left the target. Have you ever seen the Real Housewives of Orange County out in the wild when you were younger growing up? Oh no. That was in the wild, in Target. I watched Vicki get laughed out of a Target. I thought you were just talking about like B roll from there. No, no, no, no. I was, that was my neighbor. They lived right across the street, their gated community that we would hop the fence to build BMX jumps in and then get chased away by security. They lived there. I used to play basketball against, what’s up Colton? Colton Keo. Oh. He played for my rival high school and me and my buddy used to look up plot lines to talk crap on him. So I’d be guarding him and be like, Hey, sorry, your mom got divorced and started dating. Look, look at into the camera and say that. So I’d be guarding him. I’d be like, here, and I’d be like, Hey, sorry, your mom’s divorce papers finally went through and she’s dating Slade. And then I’ll never forget this. He goes, that was shot nine months ago, asshole. Oh my God. Wait. So I said, it’s new to me, so that’s insane. No, we, should we go? Should we go melon or spaghetti? Yeah, let’s go. Let’s do a melon. Um, do you, do you knife and fork this or do you just I do. It depends If I’m like really sitting in a proper setting, I would knife and fork it. But if I’m at home, I mean this is just, yeah, you’re just gonna put in just Yeah. Gar, Garfield side, but we’re on camera so I know we still have to be well-behaved. Or can also just. There. She finally think, God, that’s what I’m gonna do. We can lose the pretense. We’re about to die. We’re gonna die. Shoot. If I was about to die, I would do a lot crazier than, this is not like, what would you do before you would die? Yeah, we can’t put this in. I mean, just like, like I, oh, okay. Yeah. Good, good. We, I think we should put this in. Julie, what’s the craziest thing you would do that you’re comfortable saying on camera if you were about to die? I mean, that’s a terrible question because I would do the most obscene. Mm-hmm. Crazy sh-t. Yeah. Self, self-destructive sh-t. Would you mind if people knew it was you? Like, would you, would you go ski mask? I don’t. I don’t give an f. I don’t care. I’m just gonna go rogue baby, because at that point I’m gonna die. Yeah, but you’re your legacy, your family, presumably you a family life come, is anybody gonna remember me in like 30 years when all my family dies? Okay. But if someone was like, Hey, six time Oscar winner, Julia Garner, age 74. Well, robbed a bank and then like jumped out of an airplane. See, that’s, that’s kind of cool. I agree with that. There’s something wrong with me that I’m like, wow, what a freaking legend. Is there something about that intensity that is always been attractive to you? No, bring that back. Like bring back the movie star that would sit in the Academy Awards, watching the Oscars wearing sunglasses. Indoors and going like, like bring, bring that back. I like that. Where do you think that comes from for you? You know what it is? I think it’s the sense of like. Authority. Mm-hmm. That’s really attractive. And that makes a star. Yeah. We’re, we’re in a weird age for movie stars because people have someone’s access. They sit down and eat lasagna with strangers talking about death. No, but no, but it has an edge. You’re talking about death. You’re saying, oh, I’m eating this beautiful meal, and how, how would you like to die? What would you eat? What would I eat before I died? I would use the world’s best products to create the greatest carne asada burrito. But that would be your last meal is to work? Yes, actually, yes. No, that is the only, it’s sort of the reason I got this tattoo of a vegetable. ’cause leeks are the hardest, uh, vegetable to prep and clean. And it’s like a reminder to myself how much I love doing the hard work because it’s something that. Calms me down. It distracts me from death for the time being. And I think like the hunter gatherers people, they want something to work towards. Isn’t it so interesting? Like, to me, the process is so much more interesting than the result. Like a hundred percent. It’s, you know, once you get that final result. It’s then all of a, it’s just just like boish and you’re like, what? What? What’s gonna happen next? It’s always about the process. So I do like that, that leak tattoo. Thank you. What is the end of the process for you? Is it after you wrap filming or is it after the project comes out and do you get almost a sense of like melancholy or depression? After you’ve finished your work on the project. I don’t wanna say I get depressed. There’s a sense of letting go that I think there’s a, there’s an art form to letting go in a way. And I think when you finish a production, especially with my job, when you’re acting, you know, it’s so much in your control and then all of a sudden it just. It’s not in your control at all. You know, you, they could, you could give this amazing performance and then the way that they edit you is just awful. Yeah. Yeah. And then you kind of, there’s a lot of like, I’m gonna hope for the best and, uh, maybe expect for the worst. So, yeah, I think it’s not a bad way to live. Can I, can I give you some spaghetti? Yes, yes, yes. The spaghetti’s getting cold as long as you don’t break the spaghetti. That’s, that’s good. That’s what’s the most insufferably California thing that you brought to your family in New York? That they give you crap for? Moving. They just, moving. Just that, just moving in general. My sister, God, it was so annoying, and she was like, oh yeah, you’re, you’re an la you’re a California girl now. You’re an LA girl now. And I got, so I got, for some reason I got so offended. I mean, sorry, youre from California. What am I doing? But it’s, I could tell that you are from the East Coast, by the way you pronounce California. Really? There’s a vow sound in the A. Okay. California. It’s like’s, say California, California. Okay. There’s almost a vocal for like a California, like if you really slow it down, it becomes like California. Dude. You from San Clemente San? Yeah, dude, I grew up in Southern California. Southern California. That’s, that’s great. You’re the queen of accents. Killed it. I’m got also, you’ve like literally worked with a dialect coach to master pretty much every accent, just in your downtime, right? Yeah. Like aside from your fantastic work. I’m like you, I like, I like working. Give me something to do. Because then the bad thoughts enter your brain if you stop. Well, I like being busy. Same. Yeah. I kind of was like, you know what, I kind of wanna learn something. You know? I, you always want different skill sets in a way that once the job. That, that job comes by, you’re gonna be ready to go and not think about it and have the confidence to kind of do what you need to do. So I, I just wanted to learn every, somewhat, every dialect, um, in, in a way. So I hired a dialect coach and kind of learned the basics of every dialect. And by the time that that project came about, then I could, you know, fine tune it in a way. How much does your love of the work come back to, like your childhood start in acting? Because I know you had a pretty severe learning disability and you said that you all felt really insignificant in school and then it wasn’t until you started acting. Sorry. I know I laugh when things are really awful. I’m sorry. It is. No, it is. Sorry. So when you, I clearly you’re making your English eating and we’re talking about death. This is, but I want to go all the way back to the beginning. Well, I was bad at a lot of things and Yeah. And acting. I was somewhat okay. Yeah. You know, it’s so funny with acting, it’s like there’s a sense of putting yourself out there. Mm-hmm. But there’s also a sense of hiding. Mm-hmm. And I do like to hide. In a way, but you mentioned like you’re almost wearing a character like a cloak, where despite the fact that you are the body saying the words, it’s almost not you person, it’s somebody else’s words, but it’s my emotions. Whoa. Do you actually feel those emotions as your own then? They like intertwine. That’s a fascinating state to be in. Mm-hmm. What’s the, what’s the feeling of being in that flow State? Athletes call it being in the zone. I mean, it’s very, we call it meditation. Yeah. It’s very similar to playing sports. You know, there’s the team aspect of it and everybody’s working together. And then there’s also chasing the flow state and, um, being the, the prep work, but then letting that go and just being very lost in the moment. Um. Or hoping that you’re gonna get lost in the moment because that’s the best work is when you’re lost in the moment. Well, oh, we haven’t even eaten the lasagna. Eat the lasagna. I, I’m distracting you from, I can yap all day. I love, I do make, that’s what I make. Well, I make a good lasagna. If you could make one dish in the world to impress somebody, would it be lasagna? Mm-hmm. Hell yeah. Absolutely. Come back here. Cook lasagna with us. We won’t talk. I’ll, I will. I put pepperoni in my lasagna. That’s the craziest sh-t I’ve ever heard. Is it? You’re talking about how much you love Italian food, New York and Italian food, and didn’t trust as a pizza. You’re putting pepperoni in your lasagna. Yeah, it’s really good. It sounds great. I’m just, I didn’t expect it as well. Says the chef, he’s critiquing me already. He’s writing a review. You said you were a journalist. Oh my God. Sometimes I’m not a great, oh my God. I’m, I’m not gonna give you lasagna and I would love to try your pepperoni lasagna buckets. It’s very good. I was gonna ask a pertinent question about characters. What character have you felt yourself get lost into the deepest flow state with? All of them in different ways, especially the ones where I’m playing them for a very long time. Like Ruth, I was playing her for a really, really long time. So I really got to know her for really long time. And then, you know, Delvy. Like, I’m, I’m a sleep talker. Like I talk in my sleep apparently like this, My husband, like, I’ll, I’ll have a full conversation and I’m not even aware. And this, there was this one time he woke up and I like went like, like this. And he’s like, what’s going on? And I was like, I don’t wants this purse, I want that purse. I was like in full conversation as Delvy and he’s, and then he will talk back to me and ask me questions and yeah, so I think that probably. It gets to that point. That’s how I know I’m really deep in it. Julie, for course number three of your final meal on earth, we have the schnitzel sampler. You didn’t ask for this, but we wanted to make you this. We have the chicken schnitzel with the sesame and the breadcrumb. Chicken’s been brined overnight, pounded thin. Then we have more of a classic Austrian pork schnitzel, and then we wanted to do a little something funky and actually go with the whole roasted eggplant schnitzel. You can still, wow. Kinda see the stem right there. That looks really good. We’ve roasted it, flattened it out, fried it. Got some fresh fries. Lemon, please enjoy. There’s, there’s a lot of food going on. Ooh, do you want, thank you so much. Um, what’s the connection to schnitzel? So, you know, how lasagna is the thing that I like to make. So my mom makes really, really good schnitzel. You know, my family, on my mother’s side, they’re German. Mm-hmm. So I grew up eating schnitzel and like cucumber salad and um, yeah. Yeah. Some of my earliest scent memories is the smell of schnitzel. As somebody who loves the intensity of experience, do you try and balance that out with like equal amounts of coziness? Like do you also chase that cozy safety? When I’m not working, um, I have like two sides. Either I’m like super intense when I’m working or I’m like complete bed rat. Mm-hmm. And I just will rot in bed, just rot away for like three days straight. That’s all I need. Mm-hmm. I need to be by myself. In a bed not moving, just rotting away, and then I’m like, rebirthed. I like that. Mm-hmm. I think there is something beneficial to the human existence about having a high variance of experiences. Mm-hmm. I love being around people, but they don’t recharge me. Mm-hmm. In a way. Yeah. And a person they said to me once, they’re like, oh, so you’re an outgoing introvert? Mm-hmm. And I was like, yeah, I, I, people make me very happy. Like, I think the thing that inspires me the most, if people are always like, oh, do what? Movies, books, whatever. That, that doesn’t inspire me. Like a great conversation, a deep conversation always inspires me, so with another human. And, um, but I like to reflect alone and kind of recharge and think about that conversation in a way. Yeah, the thing that really attracts me to food, I, I love, you know, the actual act of cooking and I love serving people in the conversation, but to me it’s always been about the people behind the food. Mm. Anytime you can learn about schnitzel and see its migration, you can learn about the history of the world. This is actually ketchup made from bananas because this is based on a Filipino dish. Oh wow. And you can trace the origin of banana ketchup back to like World War II and GI Occupation of the Philippines. And so the point is like people are the most interesting thing. Is that why you think you love the prep behind character so much? ’cause ultimately Banana ketchup. I don’t know. It it, it’s interesting. I’m not used to it though. It’s good. Oh yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. It’s very sweet. Mm-hmm. And it’s dyed red ’cause they didn’t have access to tomatoes. Got it. But to you it is like studying these characters and inhabiting them. It’s like meeting a new person and learning every single thing about them for the first time. It’s kind of like when I read something. Um, and I’ll kind of judge it in the same way as like when I was single and going on dates in a way where it’s like, is this interesting enough for me to wanna keep going on a date with this person. And get to know this person and then maybe eventually fall in love with this person. And kind of in that, that same way, but I, if I’m not interested in the person or getting to know the person, it can even be like a friendship. It’s the same thing with characters. If I’m not interested in getting to know them, I, I should, I don’t wanna do it. Again, the horror movies, it all makes sense because they are so multidimensional. Mm-hmm. I know you tend to keep a journal as the character when you take a role. What did your journal entry say for Justine Candy played in weapons. It was just not, I think for her not feeling enough or like worthy in, in a way, and, and feeling, uh, misunderstood. I think was her big, big thing. Mm-hmm. Because I think people judge her in the beginning of the film. They think of her as one way and then it, it’s completely different by the end of it. Mm-hmm. So maybe they were judging her. And seen through different perspectives. Mm-hmm. Which is also really cool. Yeah. If someone were playing you in a biopic and they were writing a journal as you, what do you think they would find as your major motivation? That’s a great question. One, I, I don’t know how interesting my biopic would be. Um, so that’s one. Just rotting in bed for one shot. Yeah, just rotting in bed and, just like being stuck in a green room somewhere in like Baton Rouge. I know you said that typically– What would you write. You just met me and if you wanted to get to know me, like what your observation. I think I’ve heard you say this, that you tend to go back to characters, childhoods, even if they aren’t ever presented as a child from that. And so I would say that you are somebody who. Likely grew up feeling very insignificant from school. I think we’re all sort of stuck in this age of when we’re like six, seven years old and coming into consciousness and learning what it means to be a human, and you’re somebody who found that initial dopamine rush of being good at something for the first time, and it happens to be the thing that people get most famous for being good at, which is really interesting ’cause I don’t think any of your motivation was to be seen in that way to be famous. Right. No, I think you’re stuck a little bit in this paradox where you grew up on the classic movie stars and I think you have a certain amount of yearning for that time. But also this bittersweet nostalgia of knowing that you can never go back. And so that’s what I’d say about the motivations from childhood. You’re wrong. I’m wrong. No, no. You’re not wrong. You’re not wrong. Oh, thought you said I’m wrong. You’re like, no, no, no. Yeah, probably no, but I, I think too, there’s. There’s a certain, I think that there’s, I have a fixation on like the old time stars because there’s also a sense of mystery. Mm-hmm. And there’s no more mystery, or it’s very hard to maintain. Uh, mystery. There’s, you know, and if, if you are keeping that, then you know there’s somebody else and they’re doing some crazy shit online and they’re gonna, you know, get clicks or something. It’s, it’s very hard now. Do you still believe that the quality of your work can actually cut through all? Because I think you are specifically one of those people where the actual quality of your work, no matter what role you’re in, the emotions that you are able to convey to the audience cuts through all of this BS about who is the most marketable or whatever, because they open themselves up to so much social media. Do you still believe that there’s a future in which like that can be the main thing? Absolutely. That makes you a star. Absolutely. You can kind of to. Um, I think we live in a day and age where marketing and sales is like viewed as number one. Mm-hmm. But just because something’s viewed as number one doesn’t mean it’s always gonna win. Yeah. And I think great art. Great storytelling. Um, that always wins. I, I think also moving people always wins. What does the phrase, failure is a friend of the clown mean to you? Exactly that. It means– Where did you learn that? So I learned that in clown school. I learned a lot of crazy, amazing things and I got a certificate and a red nose. The teacher you studied under, Philippe Goer. Mm-hmm. Is known for some of the craziest insults you have ever heard in your life and known for just berating people when they got on stage. Mm-hmm. What was the craziest thing you said? I loved it. He was telling the truth. It was bad. It was terrible. Yeah. Couldn’t hear a laugh. Nothing. At least he was telling the truth, and I loved that. I loved that. You don’t like liars? I don’t like liars, and I can, I, I’m very good at telling when someone’s lying. And I’m bad at lying. I’m awful at lying. Is is that not part of acting? Mm-hmm. Oh, no. Is, that a misconception? Absolutely. Oh, interesting. Yeah. Why do you say that? Well, lying is lying. Lying and, and acting is. It’s not my truth, but whoever I’m playing, that’s their truth. Mm-hmm. Unless the character’s lying, but then still within the lie, there’s the truth. There’s the lie here with whatever my scene partner, and then there’s the truth in here. That’s the character. Yeah. So you’re never really lying as… That’s interesting. Yeah. That’s my reality at the, at the moment. I know part of like the goal of pedagogy about clowning, I fell down this rabbit hole. I have special interests. Uh, so when I found out you trained with him, I just couldn’t stop watching his videos. But it sounds like so much of his belief is that ultimately to be a clown is to be an idiot, and the ultimate idiot is the child because the child is out of place in a world that was never built for them. And we still find them sort of amusing. There’s like an innocence to it. And finding your clown is about finding your inner child. Did you find anything out about your inner child from going to clown school? I’ve always tried to maintain the inner child. Um, I think the inner child stops when you close up. Mm-hmm. And I, I wasn’t realizing, ’cause there was so much, there were so many changes in my life over the last few years and, um, all the like, pressure and things that really don’t matter, even though it does, but it’s, it doesn’t really, right. Yeah. And when I went to clown school, that kind of, it reminded me of like, it doesn’t matter, just stay open. Because if you stay open, good, bad, magical things happen. I love that. You know, and that’s what he means by failure is a, a friend of the clown. It’s like, you’re not gonna get a laugh. There’s nothing funny. He would always say, there’s nothing funny about the gucky clown. All clown, great clowning is tied to being humble, Julia, for the final course of your final meal on earth. We have the chocolate chip cookies, fresh baked. We have the flat white, that’s two shots of risto espresso with micronized foamed milk, some sugar if you please. And then we have an Entenmann’s style cake because Entenmann’s discontinued at least regionally, maybe for good. The chocolate icing, chocolate fudge cake. So we recreated it from scratch. Entenmann’s like periodically discontinues so many of their products. Entenmann’s, if you are watching, I’m looking at you directly in the eye. Do something about this. This is a ‘tragesty’. Yes, you’re tragesty, please. Yes, please. So we have made it from scratch. Uh, fresh homemade whipped cream on top. Please dig in. So that was my birthday cake. We’ve timed that, like synchronized divers. Mm. Have you had, you’re from Orange County, have you, did they have Entenmann’s? Oh yeah. I grew up, my grandma had a frozen Entenmann’s coffee cake. At any point it was always frozen. At no point was it ever thawed. And she would cut off, give it to me for an afterschool snack. I like your grandma. She’s wonderful. Yeah, she’ll love you. Yeah. And then a frozen, um, half a gallon of milk. Just depression era stuff, you know? What is it with grandma’s and milk? My grandmother. Okay. My grandmother, Georgia. Georgia Garner. Mm-hmm. She only, she hated water. She only drank, uh, grapefruit fruit juice. Mm-hmm. Absolute vodka, no ice and milk. No one drank water before, like 1993. Yeah. What is that? It just wasn’t a thing. I Did your grandmother drink water? No. Absolutely not. No. She drank like a, you know, Manischewitz. Uh, a lot of whole milk and then, you know, trader Joe’s orange juice. That was six months past the expiration date. No, that’s healthier than my grandma. My grandmother like was like 98 pounds and just drank a lot of vodka and yeah. No ice. No ice. It seems like you have a lot, like, you genuinely have like a lot of love and admiration for you can like see the way your face lights up thinking about your grandma. Because she was, she was hilarious. There was no one like Georgia. Yeah. How do you personally deal with grief in your own life? Are you somebody that handles it well. Do you like to distract yourself with work? Hmm. I’ve always liked to distract myself with work a little bit. Same, but I’ve, I’ve had that experience and that it doesn’t, it’s not smart and it doesn’t like end well. Your problems are always gonna follow you no matter what. So might as well just, you know, deal with them. Face on. You said that when you played Ruth Langor on Ozark, you inhabited that character for so long that you felt a certain kind of grief, we can give away spoilers. She dies. What kind of like grief did you feel in that moment and how did you snap yourself outta that? Was there like a long process? I get that, I get emotional thinking about it because she was, uh, such a huge part of my life and, um, you know, I started. That role I started playing, you know, when I started I was 22 and I was doing that show for years, and I feel like the, the formative years and she changed, she changed my life and I loved her. I absolutely loved her. So yeah. It’s, it’s so interesting hearing you say she changed my life because obviously from my perspective it’s like, well, you, you changed your life. By giving life to that fictional character in a lot of ways. Do you think there’s something about, I don’t know, you almost not giving yourself credit in that regard? No, I do. I mean, I do for allowing myself and opening up, letting myself go. And getting to know somebody else really well that I could tap into that. So I do give myself credit, but in, in, in like a different way. There, there’s one line read from Ozark that has gone down in, in infamy for all the best reasons. But if you wanna stop me, you’re gonna have to kill me and I will not do you the disservice of imitating you doing that. But there’s like something so special about that that we’ve seen blow up online for all, all the appropriate reasons. What place do you need to get to in your mind to be able to deliver a line read that is that, bordering on like feral in such an awesome way? During that time with her cousin and everything, she was saying, if you wanna stop me, you’re gonna have to kill me. But she was already dead inside. She already died because of that significant loss. So she kind of was like, what’s the worst that, you know, if you’re gonna do something, what’s I, I have nothing to lose. Like I can do whatever I want and I’m not gonna feel guilty because I’m already gone. Speaking of death, that’s really what it was. It is actually so incredible to like, hear that firsthand how much thought and depth. Went into that scene because it is something that you feel, and going back to what you said about this whole business is just about making people feel something. Yeah. And I also think too, like especially with acting. You have to be very cautious of like, besides it being visual, it’s also audio. So like the rhythm of how somebody speaks. They’re very sensitive to that. So like there might be, there’s different types of screams and I think. I, I was very, I remember obsessing over like wanting to go up instead of screaming down. Mm-hmm. Because that was the less predictable. And also it’s, it’s more feral if you go, ah, like kind of, sorry that was really bad, but it ah, but like really up. Well, ADR, yeah. Got a couple pickups of you. Julia, please. No, we have to eat this cookie. I mean, it’s very good, but like I’ve never been more full in my life. Oh my God. As we near the end of our journey, what do you think happens? Oh my God. So good. I’m so full. What do you think happens when you die? Oh yeah. What the hell do I know? Ready to go to the lightning round? Yes. Who’s the one person dead or alive you’d want to share your actual last meal with? That’s so sad. Oh my God. I don’t know. Can I just have like one big party? You can have a party because then everybody’s gonna get like angry and I’m just, I don’t wanna leave this earth where people are angry at me, so I’m just gonna have one big party. It’ll be a Last Supper. I’m coming. Uh, what song do you want to be played at your funeral? Nothing by Foster the People, they would not relinquish the rights to their music. Wait, we got that note. Probably, probably Hypnotized by Notorious BIG. I can’t help, but like it’s just, it’s a great song. It’s a bop. We’re already having a party, you know? Yeah, exactly. All set. It’s the Last Supper, hey! If you were in charge of Turner Classic movies programming for a day, what are the three movies you’d show? All About Eve. I always pick that every interview, All About Eve, All About Eve, but All About Eve. Um, the Godfather. Dr. Zhivago. What’s your greatest regret? Honestly, I don’t know. Even the times where I have made mistakes, I, I own, I own up to it, even with myself. And, um, I just, I try to make it a part of the story and not do it again, and not let it take control over my narrative in my life. Yeah. So I don’t know. Well said. If a cosmic entity and his shiny metal herald on a surfboard was about to destroy earth and the only thing stopping him was a ragtag team of four mutants, what’s the first thing you’d do? Wait. If a cosmic entity– Wait, what is this question? I don’t understand. If a cosmic entity and a shiny metal herald on a surfboard was about to destroy earth and the only thing stopping him was a ragtag team of four mutants, what’s the first thing you’d grab from your house? Oh my God. I’m like the worst. Like if I was in a zombie apocalypse movie, I would be the first person to die or the second person. Mm-hmm. Um. Maybe my phone, but even then, like, what if the service goes out, then you can’t a, a cliff bar. I don’t know. I don’t know. A stealing package. I told you. What would you, what would you bring a cat? Cat. You would bring your cat. I would bring Pippin, my Garfield ass cat. Yeah. Yeah. He’s nice. That’s nice. You know, that’s not gonna do much, but that’s nice. Finally, Julia, are you happy? I’m very happy/ And I’m incredibly happy that I got to share this wonderful meal with you. Everybody go see Weapons. Julia, if you wanna say your last words to that camera right there. Lasagna. There it is. We love a callback. Truly you are freaking fantastic. Weapons is fantastic. If I can brave seeing a horror movie in theaters for the first time in a decade because of how good it was, you can too. I believe in you. Just curl up in the fetal position. It’s nice. Yeah, that’s, that’s the thing to do. And, uh, don’t be afraid of vegetable peelers after this. Or do. The perfect way to elevate all of your meals. The Last Meals Bar Set is available now at mythical.com.