The Time Ozark Made Julia Garner Way Too Uncomfortable

Julia Garner, who plays Ruth Langmore in the Netflix series Ozark, won an Emmy for her role in the suspenseful drama in 2019. However, Garner has since revealed that some scenes in the show weren't easy to film. Garner's character on the show is a beloved, rebellious badass, with a penchant for speaking her mind and finagling her way out of sticky situations. And there's plenty of those to go around when she's working for money launderers Marty and Wendy Byrde. As The New York Times put it: "There aren't many actors who can break your heart or break your nose with equal aplomb, but that's the block [Garner] has claimed in her still burgeoning career." But in real life, Garner told W magazine that she's pretty different from Ruth - who lives in a trailer in the backwoods of Missouri's Ozark Mountains. Talking about the stark differences, she said: "Are you kidding me? I'm from Manhattan. I'm some Jewish girl from the Upper West Side. Like, I should not be here." In fact, Garner couldn't even face one of her biggest fears in order to shoot a pivotal scene - something she will remember forever. Specifically, she can't stand rodents. During Season 1 of Ozark, Garner holds a mouse by its tail so her character can test out a plot to kill Marty involving a metal boat, the lake, and an electric current. The problem with the scene, for her, was the mouse. She told W magazine the crew urged her to just think of the tail as a phone charger or a piece of spaghetti. To that, she said: "I was like, 'I'm never going to want to charge my phone or eat pasta ever again. This is gross.'" That wasn't a case of a privileged diva making a fuss over something she deemed beneath her. To her, the fear was real. Garner explained: "I went to the bathroom to wash my hands, and then I realized I couldn't breathe. I was like, 'Oh, my god, I was seriously going to faint from this little mouse.'" Garner felt embarrassed by her reaction, but she could not overcome her phobia. Garner may not have been able to nail that infamous scene with the mouse, but she's earned critical acclaim for mastering the other elements of Ruth Langmore's complex character, including her Missouri drawl. She told W magazine: "I wanted to make sure that I did it right." Garner said she worked hard before auditioning for the part to try to ace the Southern dialect, but she second-guessed her efforts when she realized others weren't auditioning with an accent. She told Fashion magazine: "But I couldn't remember my lines when I wasn't doing the accent. So, I just had to do the accent - and it worked." Putting on Ruth's accent helps Garner transform, something she says is, quote, "like almost [...] wearing a wig." She also keeps a fascinating fictional journal of sorts, telling W magazine: "I don't write a journal personally, but I have an acting journal where I write as the characters that I'm playing." Garner also said something very telling in an interview with Net-A-Porter. The young star quipped: "I think art is most interesting when it contradicts itself." In many ways, Garner's journey has melded together contradictions. She may have been too afraid to hold the mouse, but at the same time, she's matured and grown up alongside the character of Ruth Langmore. "In season one, Ruth was a child in a lot of ways. Now, she's becoming more of a woman [...] I can say this because I am at that age myself - that's really weird; you're transitioning from a young adult to an actual adult." She may be garnering rave reviews for her role, but Garner doesn't let it go to her head. No matter what, she believes artists need to work hard and be kind. Considering The New York Times called the actress the, quote, "tough but tender heart of Ozark," it's clear she's been heeding her own advice. Watch the video to learn about The Time Ozark Made Julia Garner Way Too Uncomfortable! #Ozark #JuliaGarner