Julia Fox (born February 2, 1990)[1] is an Italian-American actress. Her debut performance was in the 2019 film Uncut Gems, for which she was nominated for the
Breakthrough Actor Award at the
2019 Gotham Awards.[2] She is also known for her eccentric style and online presence.
Early life and education
Fox was born in
Milan, Italy, to an Italian mother, Gracie, and an American father,[3] Thomas Fox,[4] who worked as a contractor.[5] The two split during her childhood.[6] Fox has two siblings.[4] Until age six, she was raised by her grandfather in the small town of
Saronno,[7] located outside of
Milan, while her mother finished college. During this time, Fox's father lived on a boat docked off of
New York City.[6] In Italy, she lived in a one-bedroom apartment with her mother's family,[8] and was raised in a
Catholic household.[9] At age six, she moved to New York City to live with her father in
Yorkville,
Manhattan,[10][11] while also regularly visiting her mother in Italy.[12]
At age 14, Fox moved back to Italy to stay with a
host family that lived near her mother's hometown, and attended a private Catholic school.[13] She was asked to leave the host family due to smoking and skipping school, and lived alone in her mother's empty apartment for some time until she returned to New York.[14]
While growing up, Fox experienced periods of relative homelessness,[5] and had a difficult relationship with her parents. Her father was "volatile and verbally abusive", and her mother was "absent for long stretches" when Fox visited her, and the two also "fought explosively".[14] At age 15, she left home to live with her boyfriend, who was a drug dealer. After he was imprisoned, she moved into a friend's home.[6] Fox ended their relationship after he sent her a death threat that also targeted her family.[14]
Fox worked several service jobs as a teenager, including at a shoe store, an ice cream shop, and a pastry shop.[3] While attending
City-As-School High School, she worked as a
dominatrix for six months in the
East Village, after discovering the job in a
Craigslist "adult gigs" section.[3][15][6] Fox also drank, attended parties,[16] went clubbing,[6] and was arrested several times. At age 15, Fox was caught shoplifting from
Bloomingdale's and banned from the store.[17] She was put on probation for three years for stealing and
grand larceny for
credit card fraud.[18] After a suicide attempt at age 16, Fox was placed into a psychiatric ward, where she was diagnosed with
borderline personality disorder.[14] Fox also developed a heroin addiction.[16] At age 17, she overdosed and had a near-death experience.[7]
Fox briefly attended the
New School in New York City as a
media studies major, and later dropped out.[7]
Career
Modeling, art, and fashion design
Fox started as a clothing designer and launched a successful women's knitwear luxe line, Franziska Fox, with her friend Briana Andalore.[3][15] She also worked as a model, posing for the last nude edition of Playboy in 2015,[19] and as an exhibiting painter and photographer.[20] She self-published two books of photography, Symptomatic of a Relationship Gone Sour: Heartburn/Nausea, published in 2015, and PTSD, published in 2016.[3][20] In 2017, Fox hosted an art exhibit titled "R.I.P. Julia Fox'", which featured silk canvases painted with her own blood.[21]
This section needs expansion. You can help by
adding to it. (February 2024)
Fox made her feature film debut in the 2019
Safdie brothersA24 film Uncut Gems, playing a showroom saleswoman and mistress of the film's protagonist Howard Ratner (played by
Adam Sandler), an erratic jewelry dealer and gambling addict.[20] Fox had known the Safdie brothers for almost a decade after meeting Josh Safdie through a chance encounter at a café in
SoHo, Manhattan.[20][21] She was subsequently nominated for
Breakthrough Actor in the
2019 Gotham Awards.[33]
She starred in
Ben Hozie's PVT Chat, playing a
cam girl named Scarlet. The film was released in the United States on February 5, 2021.[34][35] She was seen in No Sudden Move which released in the United States on July 1, 2021.[36]
She starred in the drama movie Puppet,[37] which was released in late 2022.[38] Fox is also set to portray Hollywood hairdresser
Carrie White in upcoming
biopicUpper Cut based on White's memoir.[39] In March 2022, it was announced that Fox is set to star in the
dark comedyThe Trainer opposite
Vito Schnabel, who also writes, and
Steven Van Zandt, led by director
Tony Kaye.[40]
Other work
Fox wrote and directed Fantasy Girls, a short film about a group of teenage girls involved in
sex work living in
Reno, Nevada, which was released in 2021.[41][2]
Fox was previously a co-owner and investor of a nightclub in the
Lower East Side named Happy Ending, now defunct.[41][42]
In February 2024, she performed her debut song, which name shares the same title as her 2023 memoir, at
Charli XCX's Party Girl DJ warehouse
rave set for The
Boiler Room.
In 2019, a close friend of Fox's died of a
fentanyl overdose. Fox has spoken about how her friend's death influenced her to remain sober.[55]
In an article she wrote for Interview in January 2022, Fox confirmed that she was dating rapper
Kanye West.[56][57] The two broke up the following month.[14][58] Shortly after the break-up, a doctored headline of Fox, claiming the relationship ended due to West's dislike of her going "
goblin mode" went
viral online, prompting the phrase "goblin mode" to become widely used. Fox confirmed that the headline was false.[59][60][61]
Filmography
Key
†
Denotes productions that have not yet been released
^Gendron, Nico (July 27, 2017).
"The Many Lives of Julia Fox". Office Magazine.
Archived from the original on January 28, 2021. Retrieved January 22, 2021.
^Testa, Jessica (March 3, 2022).
"Julia Fox Will Come for You". New York Times.
Archived from the original on September 28, 2023. Retrieved September 27, 2023.
^Coltrinari, Irene (January 8, 2022).
"Who's Julia Fox?". NSSG Club.
Archived from the original on July 14, 2023. Retrieved July 14, 2023.