The Sunday Times - UK (2022-02-13

took up acting lessons as a child in a bid to conquer her

crippling shyness. “The acting, in a weird way, gave me confi-

dence because I had a really hard time talking with my own

words,” she recalls. “My emotions were always very much

there, but I liked reciting other people’s words.” As well as

having epilepsy in childhood (which she later grew out of ),

she had severe learning disabilities and only learnt to read

aged ten. School was “terrible”, but she scrambled by,

analysing her peers’ facial expressions and adapting with

similar tricks. “When I look back at my childhood, I’ve been

acting my whole life,” she says. “I had no idea what was going

on, so I had to act.” Such experiences paved the way for a

stellar career, but she clearly still carries pain too. “It’s always

the fear of not being enough, not being smart enough. I’m not

saying I’m a genius, but I know that I’m not dumb,” she says,

which makes me want to reach through the screen for a hug.

“I’m so used to it in a way, it’s just like a way of life.”

Her first professional audition was for the American

version of the British TV series Skins, but she lost out having

got down to the final two. “I was like [teenage whine], ‘When

am I going to get an opportunity and a chance?’ ” Soon after-

wards, auditioning in Hollywood was bruising, with casting

agents always seemingly wanting someone minus the curls

or plus some veneers. “It was clear to me when I started

acting that I wasn’t going to get the girl-next-door [parts]. If

I auditioned for a role in a high school, I wouldn’t get the

cheerleader, I was always going to get the mute girl in

the corner that’s like the freak, that was my bread and butter,”

she says, grinning. “I’m not talking about the new girl that

moves in but happens to be very hot. That was not me either.”

After winning a small role in the 2011 thriller Martha Marcy

May Marlene came meatier TV parts in Dirty John, a true

crime series about a conman, and The Americans, a critically

acclaimed spy drama. Then came Ozark, which is currently in

its final blood-soaked series. How was it to say goodbye to the

character that opened a thousand doors? “Bittersweet. The

show is in such a good place, and you want to end where it’s at

a good place. But Ruth is such an important part of my life,

everybody knows how this changed my life professionally,

but personally too. I met my best friends on this show,” she

says, praising her co-stars Laura Linney and Jason Bateman.

What next? More indie films will surely follow — Garner’s

performance in 2019’s The Assistant, where she played a

secretary to a Harvey Weinstein-type of movie mogul, was

also rapturously received — and she also dreams of the stage.

“It terrifies me to do theatre, but that’s also the reason why

I want to do it. I tend to do things that really scare me,” she

says. “Whenever I’m in the middle of a job I’m always like,

‘I need to do something easier after this.’ And it just never

happens because easy kind of bores me.”

Garner’s ethereal appearance belies an inner steeliness,

reminding me of the resilience of the cherub-cheeked

Sorokin. We agree that Anna was motivated by a fatal combi-

nation of fame, money and power. “I also think it was the fear

of rejection,” Garner adds. “I feel like the fear of failure in this

day and age is so big because of social media. Everyone’s

afraid to be rejected. They’re getting their self-esteem from

how many likes they’re getting [online].”

Sorokin’s scam spawned podcasts, merch and myriad hot

takes on how this saga — comparable to the doomed 2017

Fyre Festival, held by Sorokin’s one-time acquaintance Billy

McFarland — exposed the vapid shallowness of the Insta-

gram age. At the trial Sorokin’s lawyer memorably argued

that his client was a “fake it till you make it” hustler. “The

thing women my age can relate to [with] Anna is that every-

body understands what it’s like being in your twenties and

trying to make something of yourself,” Garner says sympa-

thetically. “Anna just wanted to be validated. Maybe she

wasn’t validated as a child.”

The actress was conscious not to create a character the

audience would hate: “That’s not the reality because she

wouldn’t [have been able to] scam all those people if she

wasn’t likeable.” As she fights a deportation battle, Sorokin

will probably be watching Inventing Anna from prison while

the rest of us await the so-called Soho Grifter’s next

chapter. Does Garner think the fake heiress deserves a

second chance? “I always believe that people can get second

chances,” she says, wondering how society might react to

Anna Reinvented. “People are obsessed with celebrities and

fame. I mean it’s like they pick you up and then they put you

down and then they pick you up. But it’s up to her.” ■

Inventing Anna and Ozark are both streaming on Netflix now

Netflix, Getty Images

Garner with Jason Bateman in Ozark

14 • The Sunday Times Style