The trifecta comes together to front Gucci Guilty’s latest campaign.
Julia Garner, A$AP Rocky, and Elliot Page walk onto a set…
It’s an eclectic crew, and, it turns out, the beginning of a whole new era for Gucci Guilty—specifically, the Guilty Pour Femme and Pour Homme fragrances. The just-released campaign is an ode to self-acceptance, friendship, and love in all its forms, making this trio the perfect one to drive the message home. After all, each featured talent has recently gone through their own massive period of growth: Garner, a Golden Globe- and Emmy-winning actress, catapulted into the spotlight and streamers in Netflix’s Inventing Anna; Page, an Oscar-nominated actor, director, and producer forged his own path and will soon tell his story in an upcoming memoir; and Rocky, a Grammy-nominated musician, recently became a father.
The star-studded trifecta come together to create a pure moment of open-hearted bliss. They gaze at each other—truly seeing one another—creating an ambiance of ease and care within a safe space. “They celebrate the countless iterations of love, embodying complete self-acceptance and showing how openness unleashes the purest form of expression,” Gucci explains via a press release.
“I met both of them for the first time on that shoot, but it didn’t feel like it. Within the first 10 minutes, it felt like we all knew each other for a long time,” says Garner of her co-stars, before adding, “Humor is such a big quality for me, and they both have such a great sense of humor. It was such a special memory.” The synergy in the video and the shoot exemplifies the vibe—something, no matter how good of an actor you are, you can’t fake or force. Adds Page, “I had never done a campaign before, so I felt a tad shy at the beginning to be honest, but Rocky and Julia are the loveliest people, and upon meeting them, my nerves evaporated. They are big-hearted, kind, sincere, hilarious, and grounded.” The song “Life Is But a Dream” by The Harptones plays in the background as the three dance, laugh, and simply exist with one another, which can feel like a rarity for this caliber of celeb. “It just felt normal,” says Rocky of the experience. “It didn’t feel like I was with two other celebrities; I didn’t feel like a celebrity.”
Prominently featured in the campaign is Gucci Guilty Eau de Parfum Pour Femme, an energizing, spicy, and refreshing scent featuring notes of pink pepper, lilac, and Mediterranean Mandora citrus, with a strong, warm base of amber and patchouli. It quietly commands your attention. The yin to its yang, Gucci Guilty Eau de Parfum Pour Homme, generates a deep sensuality, embracing a base of patchouli, leather, and incense, while deviating from a traditional male scent profile with uplifting notes of orange blossom and neroli. And though the bottles are binary, the fragrances themselves are not, billed as being interchangeable between the sexes, with the scents marinating and marrying with individual pheromones, versus a specific gender profile. “I prefer the feminine one,” Rocky says, unabashedly. “To me, the liquid in here smells better on my body,” as he holds up the shimmering gold bottle of Gucci Guilty Eau de Parfum Pour Femme.
Continue reading »
“It’s so hard to play around with your identity,” she says. “It’s dangerous, actually.”
Julia Garner is a little nervous at the start of our interview, and it has nothing to do with her slew of upcoming film projects, many of which are being kept under wraps. “My dog might come in at any second,” she says, eyes darting back and forth between the door and our Zoom. After a long pause, she lets out a sigh. “I think he’s good,” she says. When I tell Garner, who appears on our 2023 Hollywood cover, that I’m thinking of getting a dog myself, she smiles. “You’re going to understand the stressful Zooms of locking your dog in a room, and then…[mimics her dog whining].”
One thing Garner remains calm and collected about is her career. “I don’t worry about it because, to be honest, I know what I’m capable of doing as an artist,” says the actor, who’s been on an award-winning streak since starring in Ozark back in 2017, earning an Emmy nomination last year for her performance in Inventing Anna as well. Still, she remembers the moments of doubt from earlier in her career: “I actually remember those moments more than the good, because I feel like any kind of professional trauma is character-building. It makes you work to the point where you don’t get to that place again. It makes you work harder.” Now, Garner has two new movies coming our way: The Royal Hotel (from Kitty Green, who directed her in The Assistant) and Apartment 7A. Ahead, excerpts from a conversation about navigating a career and wrestling with the complexities of social media.
Vanity Fair: When was the first time you truly felt like a professional actor?
Julia Garner: The first time I felt like acting wasn’t just a hobby, honestly, was when I got my first professional job in Martha Marcy May Marlene. I was 16 and I remember getting that first paycheck and becoming a member of SAG. 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.
At that time, Sundance was still super independent. There weren’t tons of endorsements happening there. Only certain people had iPhones and BlackBerries. You had to pay for the internet every month, and the people who did have internet were lawyers, not actors. My mom wasn’t going to pay the extra money. Things were a little different.
In terms of your career, how far ahead are you strategizing? Are you always thinking, say, five years in advance?
It’s such a complicated question. 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. It was really hard. I remember thinking, If I’m still in the same place in five years, I don’t want to do this. It’s a really hard business and there are other businesses out there other than acting. I was still young at the time, but it’s tough because in the acting world, 21 is young, but it’s not so young. 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.
When you told yourself that you’d quit acting and do something else if you were in the same place in five years, did you know what that “something else” would be?
No. So I’m going to be honest: I’m not good at a lot of things, so I was like, “This acting thing better work out.” I’m somewhat decent at acting. And I just continued to have the stamina, worked really hard, and not have entitlement.
Continue reading »
The Ozark star discusses her third Emmy win and how she crafts her own characters through fashion.
There are certain fashion collections that just make so much sense with certain stars. For Julia Garner, it’s perhaps Alessandro Michele’s poetic Cosmogonie collection for Gucci. Earlier this month, the Ozark star won her third Emmy for Best Supporting Actess while wearing an embellished velvet gown from the resort 2023 collection. Less than two weeks later, she’d touch down in Milan to attend Michele’s stellar spring 2023 show in another velvet look—this time a dramatic wide-legged jumpsuit. There were edgy, skin-baring elements to both ensembles, with Garner’s Emmys gown featuring a diamond-shaped cutout that revealed her midriff. Meanwhile, her front-row outfit boasted wide shoulder straps that left just enough to the imagination.
On-screen and off, Garner is a fashion chameleon and often likes to disappear into a character when approaching her style for special events. For this occasion, the velvet jumpsuit afforded the 28-year-old the opportunity to reference 1920s Hollywood, a time and place she often returns to in her dressing. Working with her stylist Elizabeth Saltzman, Garner accessorized the look with a multi-strand choker necklace of glass pearls, as it was seen on the runway. Gelled-down hair and strong brows were the finishing touches to turn the actress into what she has dubbed “an old Hollywood tomboy.”
Here, Garner chats with W more about the inspiration behind the ensemble, her recent Emmys win, and how she curates her Instagram mood boards.
What was the inspiration behind your look for the Gucci spring 2023 show?
My brilliant stylist and friend, Elizabeth Saltzman and I had so much fun with this look. We love having a story behind every look. When I first tried on the suit, it felt very feminine and masculine at the same time, almost something you would see in a Helmut Newton photograph. For hair and makeup we were going for a silent film era, Louise Brooks vibe mixed with ’90s Linda Evangelista. I had my other friend and hair guru, Bobby Eliot, do my hair and the wonderful Emily Cheung do makeup.
Do you ever approach your outfits as a sort of character creation like you do in your acting? What character were you embodying for the Gucci show?
I always approach my looks for fashion events as some kind of a character. The character for the look yesterday was kind of like an old Hollywood tomboy.
Continue reading »
The star of hit series ‘Inventing Anna’ reveals details of meeting the now-famous grifter in prison in our March cover story: “It was very intimidating”.
You know her as a money launderer on Ozark, and her next role—that of real-life SoHo grifter Anna Delvey, sees Julia Garner embody a chaotic and intense life. But the 28-year-old actor tells marie claire her life is rather ordinary in comparison.
“My career is not normal, but my life is pretty normal. I live with my husband [Mark Foster, of the band Foster the People] and my dog [a bulldog named Biz].”
In a cover story for the March issue of marie claire Australia, Garner reveals details of meeting the now famous grifter Anna Delvey (real name Anna Sorokin).
During their meeting at the medium-security women’s prison, Anna bluntly asked Garner to show her how she would portray her. “How are you going to play me?” Anna said in her hybrid accent. “Can you do me right now?”
There was a beat of silence, before Garner parroted Anna’s question back to her. “So, how are you going to play me?” replied Garner, uncannily mirroring her accent. Anna burst into laughter.
“It was very intimidating, but when I just repeated what she was saying, she thought it was so funny,” says Garner. “I told Anna that it was my goal for people to see her as a person instead of a caricature. They don’t have to agree with what she did, but they should be open and willing to understand why she did it. People make mistakes and Anna is a person.”
The so-called SoHo grifter, who swindled New York’s elite out of hundreds of thousands of dollars between 2013 and 2017 pretending to be a German heiress, is a gifted linguist who speaks seven languages. Under her monotone German infliction is a hint of her Russian homeland, mixed with notes of her school-taught British English and a light touch of American learnt from watching reruns of Gossip Girl.
Continue reading »
High fashion, high society and a conwoman who tricked them all: the story of Anna Delvey gripped the world. Now, a new TV show is set to tell the tale of the ‘fake heiress’. Laura Pullman meets its star
Julia Garner hasn’t got to where she is as one of Hollywood’s most sought-after actresses by half-heartedly getting into character. Her portrayal of the money launderer Ruth Langmore in Ozark, the drug cartels and hillbillies Netflix series, shows she’s someone who dives in deep. However, transforming into Anna Delvey, the real-life con artist who swindled friends, bankers and hoteliers out of $275,000 (£200,000), pushed her to the brink.
“I kept on having this feeling like I was going to get caught all the time,” she recalls of the period filming Inventing Anna, the hugely anticipated Netflix adaptation of Delvey’s crime spree. “My anxiety was through the roof. I didn’t know why at that moment, but it was really because it was the character.”
Garner’s musician husband, Mark Foster, was alarmed by her anxiety-ridden dreaming. “I’m a sleep-talker and I woke him up apparently. I was saying [Garner adopts Delvey’s accent], ‘I don’t want that bag, I want this one,’ and then I kept saying, ‘I didn’t take it.’ ”
Let’s rewind on the fake heiress. This is the outrageous tale of how Delvey — now 31 but then in her mid-twenties — cast herself among Manhattan’s glitterati as a German trustafarian awaiting her $67 million inheritance. She had a killer wardrobe, killer connections and — for the influencer crowd — a lifestyle to die for, bouncing between countries, superyachts and five-star hotels. In 2017, as she dished out $100 tips and got $400 eyelash extensions, everyone from celebrity hoteliers (André Balazs, owner of Chiltern Firehouse, for example) to Wall Street suits were pulled into her orbit as she plotted to open a $40 million private members’ club, the Anna Delvey Foundation, in the heart of Manhattan.
Continue reading »
In Inventing Anna, Julia Garner plays a con who scammed her way into life among the Manhattan elite. Offscreen, the actress has figured out a way to make it without having to fake it at all.
A funny thing happened at the Albion Correctional Facility. When Julia Garner traveled to the prison outside Buffalo, New York, where Anna Delvey was being held, the actress discovered someone different from what she expected. “She’s actually really sweet,” the 28-year-old Garner says sheepishly of Delvey (née Sorokin), the socialite swindler who Garner plays in the Netflix series Inventing Anna. Garner allows that what Delvey did—bilk banks and friends alike out of hundreds of thousands of dollars—was “really bad,” but that when she met Delvey in prison, “she was extremely charming. She’s very gentle. But then her voice gets less soft-spoken when she wants something.”
What did Delvey want? For one thing, to hear the accent Garner had prepared to play her. “She’s like, ‘Please, let me hear it,’ ” says Garner, who began parroting whatever Delvey said in the German-inflected accent she had honed with her dialect coach. (Delvey was born in Russia, grew up in Germany, learned British English, then mimicked American English by watching shows like Gossip Girl.) “It got very meta.”
Delvey is a millennial Becky Sharp gone bad, a faux heiress who charmed and then scammed the downtown elite while posing as an insouciant Eloise of Soho’s hippest hotels and restaurants. She was made infamous by a May 2018 New York magazine article by Jessica Pressler, which quickly ignited an adaptation arms race, with Shonda Rhimes and Lena Dunham both rushing to produce versions of the viral fable. Rhimes’s will come first, her 10-episode series premiering on Netflix this month. “It’s a classic New York story: the outsider who comes to the city looking to make it,” Pressler says. “Plus, there’s the digital piece of it. Everyone is reinventing themselves online. That tipped it from being a classic grifter story.” Of course, there’s a long tradition of charlatans both fictional (Tom Sawyer, Tom Ripley) and real who have been catnip to the public. Showtime has a new Talented Mr. Ripley in the works, and in March Hulu will air The Dropout, a series based on the Silicon Valley scam perpetuated by Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes, proving the fascination is alive and well.
Continue reading »
