Julia Garner reveals how she prepared for the role of Charlotte and the research that went into it, as well as reuniting with Christopher Abbott.
Julia Garner, star of the new horror film Wolf Man, sits down with us to discuss her role as Charlotte, a mother who must protect her family from a terrifying creature. Garner talks about the challenges of portraying a mother on screen, as well as reuniting with actor Christopher Garner and filming the “wolf vision” scenes.
Julia Garner Finds The Mother Inside Her, Plus Talks Working With Christopher Abbott Again
Tessa Smith: I love your relationship with Matilda Firth in this. Is there anything you pulled from to portray a mother?
Julia Garner: I called a lot of my mother friends, and really working mothers. I did a lot of research with that. But I also think just spending time with Matilda, and getting to know Matilda. It’s very important to know the people that you’re going to work with. So, yeah, but she’s so sweet, and she’s so great in this film.
Tessa Smith: Charlotte and Blake’s relationship is quite strained in Wolf Man. Can you talk about getting to that place with Christopher Abbott?
Julia Garner: We talked, Leigh and Chris and I. We spoke a lot about the history and the past, but then also how the couple got to the place that they are at. But it was kind of, I don’t want to say easy, because it wasn’t an easy shoot. It was hard shoot, but it was good shoot. But there was history there.
I did Martha Marcy May Marlene with Chris. That was actually my first job. And I think that that was his first job as well. I was 16 at the time, so Chris met me when I was like, 16. I was literally in high school, and I was like a child. So there was already some kind of history there.
Filming The Different Perspectives Throughout Wolf Man
Tessa Smith: In talking with Leigh Whannell and Christopher Abbott, I learned that the shifting perspectives was filmed practically.
Julia Garner: So we had rehearsal for that. And, basically, if there was a word or a line that we liked, that we wanted to make sure we got on camera… it was like a dance, in a way. You really had to hit your mark once the camera comes around on you and the light would change. It was really cool. That was one of the things that sold me when I read the scripts because I had never read anything like that.
Be sure to check out our full interview with Julia Garner to learn more behind-the-scenes details from Wolf Man, which comes to theaters on January 17th.
NEXT: Leigh Whannell Compares Wolf Man To The Invisible Man
About Wolf Man
Golden Globe nominee Christopher Abbott (Poor Things, It Comes at Night) stars as Blake, a San Francisco husband and father, who inherits his remote childhood home in rural Oregon after his own father vanishes and is presumed dead.
With his marriage to his high-powered wife, Charlotte (Emmy winner Julia Garner; Ozark, Inventing Anna), fraying, Blake persuades Charlotte to take a break from the city and visit the property with their young daughter, Ginger (Matlida Firth; Hullraisers, Coma).
But as the family approaches the farmhouse in the dead of night, they’re attacked by an unseen animal and, in a desperate escape, barricade themselves inside the home as the creature prowls the perimeter.
As the night stretches on, however, Blake begins to behave strangely, transforming into something unrecognizable, and Charlotte will be forced to decide whether the terror within their house is more lethal than the danger without.
Wolf Man comes to theaters on January 17th.
Tessa Smith is a Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer-approved Film and TV Critic. On Camera personality and TV / Film Critic with 10+ years of experience in video editing, writing, editing, moderating, and hosting.