Julia Garner, 31, is well aware that silver suits her to perfection. Recently, the actress was quizzed about her approach to managing the backlash against her gender-bent portrayal of the Silver Surfer in "Fantastic Four: First Steps." At the Marvel film's red carpet premiere in London on Thursday, Garner, with a nonchalant smile, shared with the BBC, "Oh, you know how it is. I simply said, 'I'm just going to keep doing my job.'"
She further clarified that she was embodying Shalla-Bal, a feminine incarnation of the Silver Surfer, distinct from Norrin Radd, the male character portrayed by Doug Jones and voiced by Laurence Fishburne in 2007's "Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer." "Moreover, it's Shalla-Bal, so it's an entirely different kettle of fish," she elaborated.
Garner couldn't help but acknowledge the immense anticipation surrounding the film within the Marvel fandom, set to release later this month. "I was thrilled to see people resonating with it, just as they would with any other project," she confessed. "To be honest, I'm just grateful to be part of this grand ballet."
Among her co-stars are Pedro Pascal as Reed Richards/Mr. Fantastic, Vanessa Kirby as Sue Storm/Invisible Woman, Ebon Moss-Bachrach as Ben Grimm/The Thing, and Joseph Quinn as Johnny Storm/Human Torch.
While chatting with Entertainment Tonight on the red carpet, Garner responded to her Silver Surfer voice taking the internet by storm and sparking a new TikTok trend. "I was just acting and preparing," said the "Ozark" veteran. "Frankly, I don't even have a TikTok account. My friends were flooding me with these TikToks, but I couldn't even open the app. So, I'm just happy people are digging it."
Back in April, Garner revealed her astonishment upon learning she would be portraying the Silver Surfer during her meeting with director Matt Shakman. "I was puzzled because I thought, 'Wait, isn't the Silver Surfer a man?'" she recalled to Entertainment Weekly. "But I was like, 'Okay, I'll play anything.'"
"I've always been a huge fan of Matt's work, so I thought, 'I should probably meet with Matt Shakman because he's incredibly talented and I admire his directorial prowess.' During our meeting, he explained that it was actually Shalla-Bal I'd be playing," added the three-time Emmy Award winner.
Garner also shed light on her preparation for her debut superhero role. "I was familiar with the Silver Surfer, and I delved deeper into his lore when I signed on," she shared. "I really immersed myself. I read numerous Fantastic Four and Silver Surfer comics before kickstarting the project, and I knew this 'Fantastic Four' would be narrated in a manner vastly different from previous installments."
"Fantastic Four: First Steps" hits theaters on July 25.
