Julia Garner addresses criticism regarding her Silver Surfer role in ‘Fantastic Four’

Julia Garner Talks About Her Role in “Fantastic Four: First Step”

Julia Garner is confident that the character of Silver will be a good fit for her.

The 31-year-old actress recently discussed the reactions she faced regarding her gender-switch role as a silver surfer in “Fantastic Four: First Step.” During her appearance at the Marvel Film premiere in London, she remarked, “Oh, well, you know. I said, ‘I’m still going to do my job.’

Garner clarified that she portrays Shara Bal, not Norrin Rad, the original male character voiced by Laurence Fishburne in the 2007 film. “Also, it’s Sharabal, so it’s not,” she emphasized.

She acknowledged the excitement surrounding this Marvel film, which is set to premiere later this month. “I was delighted that people resonated with it, just like any other project,” Garner expressed. “I’m grateful that you’ve been involved in this dance and that you’re totally honest with you.”

Garner’s co-stars include Pedro Pascal as Reed Richards/Mr. Fantastic, Vanessa Kirby as Sue Storm/The Invisible Woman, Ebon Moss-Bacharach as Ben Grimm, and Joseph Quinn as Johnny Storm/The Human Torch.

During the premiere, Garner went viral for her interactions regarding the trending TikTok phenomenon related to silver surfers. “I was just acting and preparing,” she said. “To be honest, my friend sent me all these TikToks, but I couldn’t even open them because I don’t have TikTok.”

Reflecting on her initial confusion about the role, Garner admitted, “When I met director Matt Shakman, I was like, ‘Wait, isn’t the silver surfer a man?’ But I was a big fan of Matt’s work, so I thought, ‘I should probably meet him.’ He explained it was actually Sharabal, which cleared things up for me.”

Garner also shared how she prepared for her first superhero role. “I knew who the Silver Surfer was, so I started to dig deeper into the character once I signed on,” she noted. “I really jumped in. Before starting the project, I read a lot of the Fantastic Four and Silver Surfer comics. I knew this ‘Fantastic Four’ would be told in a very different way than previous films.”