Julia Garner Wins Third Emmy for Final Season of ‘Ozark’
Julia Garner is officially a three-time Emmy winner.
The “Ozark” actress took home her third Emmy Award for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama Series for the Netflix show, co-starring Jason Bateman and Laura Linney. Garner is also nominated in the Lead Actress in a Limited or Anthology Series or Movie category for Netflix’s “Inventing Anna.”
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“Ozark” has been nominated for 45 awards across its four seasons. Since debuting in 2018, the family crime drama landed three wins: two for Garner for her role as Ruth Langmore, and one for Outstanding Directing for a Drama Series in 2019. The series, which concluded earlier this year, is nominated in 13 categories for the 2022 Emmy Awards on September 12.
“First of all, I want to thank the Television Academy. I want to thank everybody at Netflix and MRC,” Garner shared during her acceptance speech. “I would say, our showrunner Chris Mundy and all the writers in the writers room. Thank you for writing Ruth. She’s changed my life.”
Garner continued, “I want to thank Jason Bateman for taking a chance on me, and Laura Linney. He’s been such a guiding light to me and, and I just feel really grateful. I feel really grateful to be here. I have eight seconds left to be here. And to playgroups and to be with such amazing, beautiful artists, and I love you all. And now I’ve got to go. Thank you all so much. I love your art.”
IndieWire’s Ben Travers wrote that “Ozark” came to a “fitting, pointed close” with Garner getting “to explore Ruth beyond swearing vengeance” and continue to shine in her role. Lead star and director Bateman called the conclusion to the tense series a “limping” happy ending. Garner and Bateman even teased possible spinoffs or a movie to continue the “Ozark” run.
Garner previously told IndieWire that she approached playing Ruth as a “constant but not repetitive” character.
“I wanted to make sure that she was growing,” Garner explained in 2020. “The thing you see this season is a more sensitive, vulnerable, and gentle side of Ruth and I think it’s because she has a love interest. She always has that wall, and with Ben she put down that wall, because she actually needed to be loved because…she lost everybody in her life. [But] there are certain things that are the same, like she’s going to walk the same; she’s going to react in the same way.”
After the series wrapped in April 2022, Garner penned a tribute to her “Ozark” family on Instagram.
“Today is the day. It’s weird to think this is the beginning of the end,” Garner wrote. “The end of an era, so near and dear to my heart. I love everyone on this project so much. It really is a family. Here I am with Jason and @itsmelauralinney. Thank you for being a guiding light in my life on and off screen. There is so much unconditional love on this set and that’s really the thing that stands out the most. I hope you enjoy the season. @Ozark is out today on @Netflix. Thank you thank you thank you. I love you all.”
She also told Entertainment Weekly that she “could shoot ‘Ozark’ for the rest of my life, selfishly.”
Garner summed up, “I feel like ‘Ozark’ changed all of our lives for different reasons. So when you have a life-changing experience, you’re always going to be connected to those people.”
Garner was also nominated for “Inventing Anna,” which she compared to “Ozark” when speaking with IndieWire.
“With Ruth [in ‘Ozark’] she sometimes talks really fast or she talks really, really slow. Just playing with that music and tonally, the delivery of how she speaks or anyone speaks is really very important,” Garner said of switching accents. “Otherwise, it’s just going to be like you learned it from a book.”
Courtesy of Netflix / YouTube
Up next, Garner is starring in Natalie Erika James’ “Apartment 7A” alongside Dianne Wiest, and reuniting with “The Assistant” writer-director Kitty Green for “The Royal Hotel.” Garner and Jessica Henwick play two friends working at a resort who end up being trapped in an abusive work relationship with their boss, played by Hugo Weaving.
Garner is also slated to play Madonna in a musical biopic written and directed by the “Like a Virgin” icon herself. Garner is rumored to have endured a “grueling” audition process to beat out Florence Pugh, “Euphoria” star Alexa Demie, Odessa Young, and Emma Laird, who were also on the shortlist to portray Madonna.
The untitled film culminates with Madonna’s 1990 Blonde Ambition tour and will require multiple dancing and singing sequences. Madonna has worked with Diablo Cody and playwright Erin Cressida Wilson on the script.
Casting director Carmen Cuba led a boot camp of sorts with the final five actresses up for the role of Madonna going through “up to 11-hour-a-day choreography sessions” with Madonna’s personal choreographer, followed by choreography sessions with the “Like a Virgin” singer herself. Callbacks allegedly consist of readings with Madonna, plus singing auditions.
As for how the film is coming along, Madonna said last year, “It’s a pretty crazy experience so far, I’m just in the writing process, and just deciding which stories to tell, how much detail to go into, which characters to develop. It’s really been a long and arduous process, but it’s been really therapeutic as well.”
The rest of the cast for the untitled film is still under wraps, but “Uncut Gems” breakout Julia Fox is rumored to portray longtime friend and fellow actress Debi Mazar.
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