"It wasn't a great year for me as an actor"- When Julia Garner opened up about her "dry year" in Hollywood

Julia Garner may have firmly established herself as one of the most popular actors in the industry, but this was not the case years back when the actress struggled significantly before her breakthrough role. Julia Garner broke out with the role she is best known for, Ruth Langmore in the Netflix crime drama series Ozark.

However, she, too, despite her talent, faced a tough spell before she landed this defining role. She discussed this period in a 2023 interview with PEOPLE, where she opened up about her struggles before she landed the role in Ozark. She also addressed how it made her doubt herself.

Speaking to PEOPLE, Garner opened up:

"When I was 21, I had a pretty dry year...This was before I booked Ozark. 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 elaborated:

"I remember thinking, If I'm still in the same place in five years, I don't want to do this,...You're not 16 or 17 anymore. You're not the bright, shiny new toy, and this business relies on shining. They love a shiny new toy. I booked Ozark and I kept pushing because I felt like I still had a lot to do."

Of course, this was only a phase, and she managed to overcome this after her role in Ozark. In this same interview, she also elaborated on how much of herself she allows the public to see.

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"And when a person doesn't have mystery anymore, you can't get it back"- Julia Garner on how she presents herself in public

After her breakout role in Ozark, Julia Garner did manage to accumulate enough critical acclaim to her name. She not only won some major awards, but also became a Hollywood regular with some defining roles like the ones in The Perks of Being a Wallflower (2012), Sin City: A Dame to Kill For (2014), and most recently Wolf Man (2025).

But being a renowned name in the industry takes more than just acting skills. For Julia Garner, it also has to do a lot with the personality and the mystery surrounding a public figure.

She revealed in this interview how she likes to keep herself out of the public eye and only always reveals a part of herself to the world. Garner said:

"I try not to give too much of my personal opinion away, because I feel like that's going to make my job harder. The whole point of my job is for people to relate to me and feel moved and escape...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."

Perhaps her immense talent on screen and her attitude towards acting off it makes her such a brilliant actress. She is now firmly established at the very top of the industry.

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Julia Garner's latest movie, Leigh Whannell's Wolf Man, is currently playing in the theatres. Garner stars alongside Christopher Abbott, Matilda Firth, and Sam Jaeger, among others. The film has received mixed response.

Garner is also set to appear in The Fantastic Four: First Steps.