Julia Garner

Garner was born in the Riverdale neighborhood of the Bronx, New York. Her mother, Tamar Gingold, is a therapist who had a successful career as an actress and comedian in Israel. Her father, Thomas Garner, is a painter and an art teacher originally from Shaker Heights, Ohio. Garner is Jewish through her mother. Her older sister is artist Anna Garner. She understands Hebrew because her mother speaks it, but is not fluent in speaking it herself.

Garner attended Eagle Hill School in Greenwich, Connecticut. She began taking acting lessons at age 15 to overcome her shyness.Garner made her film debut at age 17 in Sean Durkin's Martha Marcy May Marlene, playing the role of Sarah.

In 2012, director David Chase invited her to play a small role he had written specifically for her in his film Not Fade Away. Her first starring role was in the 2012 film, Electrick Children. In 2013, she starred alongside Ashley Bell in the horror film The Last Exorcism Part II, and played the lead in the American remake of the Mexican horror film We Are What We Are.

Garner co-starred in Sin City: A Dame to Kill For (2014) as new character Marcie, a young stripper who crosses paths with another new character, Johnny (Joseph Gordon-Levitt). This marked the first time she acted against a green screen.

In 2015, Garner starred in the Paul Weitz-directed comedy film Grandma alongside Lily Tomlin. Garner played a teenaged student eliciting the help of her lesbian poet grandmother (Tomlin) for an abortion. In 2016, she appeared in an episode of Lena Dunham's HBO comedy series Girls titled "The Panic in Central Park".

Garner continued acting in television and was cast in a recurring role in the third season of the FX period spy-thriller series The Americans. She continued the role through season six. She was to have made her off-Broadway debut in Noah Haidle's play Smokefall at MCC Theater in 2016, but had to drop out during rehearsals because of scheduling conflicts.

Beginning in 2017, Garner starred as Ruth Langmore in the Netflix crime drama series Ozark, opposite Jason Bateman and Laura Linney. The role gained her critical acclaim and three Primetime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series.

In 2018, Garner appeared in the Netflix miniseries Maniac as Ellie, the sister of Emma Stone's character. Garner also made regular appearances in the Bravo true crime anthology series Dirty John (2018–19). She starred as Terra Newell, the daughter of Connie Britton's character.

In 2019, Garner appeared in the Amazon anthology series, Modern Love. She was featured in two episodes of its first season as a woman who has a crush on a much older man, played by Shea Whigham. In the same year, she starred in the independent drama film The Assistant as a production assistant in a toxic work environment. The film which was directed by Kitty Green, addressed the current culture surrounding the MeToo movement. The film premiered at the 2019 Telluride Film Festival to critical acclaim. Garner received acclaim for her performance as well as an Independent Spirit Award nomination.

Garner also co-stars in the Netflix miniseries Inventing Anna, playing the title role of fraudster Anna Delvey. The series was created and produced by Shonda Rhimes, based on the New York article "How Anna Delvey Tricked New York's Party People" written by Jessica Pressler. It was released on Netflix on February 11, 2022.

In 2022, Garner was cast in thriller film Apartment 7A which serves as a prequel to 1968's Rosemary's Baby, directed by Natalie Erika James. Her company Alma Margo also signed a first look deal with Tomorrow Studios. In June of the same year, Garner was chosen by Madonna to play her in her self-produced biopic Who's That Girl; the project was put on hold while the singer was touring, and work on it had reportedly restarted in 2024.

In 2023, she starred in The Royal Hotel directed by Kitty Green.

In April 2024, Garner was cast as Shalla-Bal / Silver Surfer in the upcoming Marvel Cinematic Universe film, The Fantastic Four: First Steps.