When it comes to intimate scenes and nudity on screen, Julia’s take is hardline. “It’s really important to put in boundaries and what you are comfortable with, what you’re not comfortable with, and sticking to it,” she says. “As actors, people have had bad experiences, so I’m just not one of those people who’s going to have a bad experience. I will make it an issue if I have to, I’ve had to before, and I probably will again. You just have to say ‘No, I’m not going to do that’.”
She adds that the addition of intimacy co-ordinators to set has made things “a little better” but she remains sceptical as to where their ultimate allegiances might lie in some cases. “A lot of the time, I feel like the intimacy coordinator, they’re being paid by the production, so are they really on your side? But there are some that are really about you and as an actress… It’s really circumstantial; it changes with every production.”
When it comes to her own dreams within the entertainment industry, Julia divulges that she would love to “direct and write movies or TV shows”. “That’s definitely something that’s really top of the pyramid for me in terms of my goals. So hopefully I’ll get to do that this year,” she says, adding that her own personal empowerment comes from “doing whatever I want to do”, as well as “saying no to things, choosing myself and just being really unapologetic about it.”
The life lessons Julia has learned from over a decade on screen and living within celebrity culture are poignant and seem to echo a similar ethos – the importance of knowing your worth and redefining what you view as a failure so that you are prioritising yourself always.
“Everything is what you make it,” she says. “Truly, just know when it’s enough, know when to stop, know when to pivot, know when to say ‘no’, know when to walk away from something. And sometimes it’s hard because you don’t want to be seen as a failure. But I think it’s more of a failure to stay in something that is unhealthy or not working.
“Learn the lesson and go, and take it with you onto something else.”
This interview was edited and condensed for clarity.
Him is available to watch in cinemas from 3 October.