Anthony and Joe Russo‘s The Gray Man has an absolutely stacked cast. The action thriller movie, which comes out July 22 on Netflix and is based on Mark Greaney‘s 2009 novel, stars Ryan Gosling, Chris Evans, Ana de Armas, Alfre Woodard, Wagner Moura, and Jessica Henwick. But the scene-stealing credit goes to 13-year-old Julia Butters, who effortlessly holds her own alongside her talented adult co-stars. Julia is a rising child star whose career should continue to take off once The Gray Man comes out. Below, HollywoodLife has rounded up five key things to know about Julia.
Julia plays Claire in ‘The Gray Man’.
Julia stars in The Gray Man as Claire Fitzroy. Claire is an orphaned young girl with a heart condition. Billy Bob Thornton plays her uncle, Donald Fitzroy. Julia was officially cast in the film in December 2020, along with the majority of her co-stars. “I’m so excited to start working on this new project,” Julia wrote on Instagram at the time.
She’s from Los Angeles.
Julia was born and raised in Los Angeles, California. Her father is Darrin Butters, a Disney animator who has worked on movies such as Encanto, Moana, and Frozen. Julia was raised by Darrin and her mom Lorelei Butters. Her parents manage her Instagram page, which has over 100,000 followers.
She started acting at 2 years old.
Julia began acting at the age of two in commercials. Her very first speaking role was in an episode of Criminal Minds in 2014. She went on to play Ella in the comedy-drama series Transparent for eight episodes. She also had a role in the 2016 film A Family Man which starred Gerard Butler and Alison Brie. From 2016 to 2020, Julia starred as Anna-Kat Otto in the ABC sitcom American Housewife.
‘Once Upon a Time in Hollywood’ was her breakout role.
In 2019, Julia received critical acclaim for her scene-stealing role as child actress Trudi Frazer in Once Upon a Time in Hollywood. Director Quentin Tarantino apparently cast Julia in the role after seeing her work on television. For her performance, Julia received several awards nominations including Best Young Actress at the Critics’ Choice Movie Awards.
Her next project is a Steven Spielberg movie.
Julia has been cast in the upcoming semi-autobiographical drama film The Fabelmans from director Steven Spielberg. Gabriel LaBelle plays Sammy Fabelman, a young aspiring filmmaker who is loosely based on Steven. Julia will play Anne Fabelman, Sammy’s sister. The character is inspired by Steven’s real-life sister, Anne Spielberg, who works as a screenwriter. The film, which also stars Michelle Williams, Seth Rogen, and Paul Dano, will be released in Nov. 2022.