JULIA GARNER

Sundance Film: We Are What We Are

Age? “18.”

Where are you from? “Riverdale, New York, so I wear a lot of black. What’s more New York than that?”

Big Break? “My film Electrick Children was my first lead—it was in competition at South by Southwest. And also Martha Marcy May Marlene because that did well at Sundance [in 2011].”

So what are the highs and lows of Park City? “The best thing is that it’s like a reunion: Bumping into people you’ve worked with before and don’t get to see anywhere else really—Amy Seimetz, for instance! All over Main Street it’s like: ‘Hey, where have you been? How are you?’ I’d have to say the worst part is the overcrowded restaurants.”

Describe your character in one sentence. “Her name is Rose Parker and she is ashamed of this toxic secret in her family that affects her and everyone around her.”

What’s the buzz? “That it’s edgy. You know it’s about cannibals, right? They actually have a lot of films about boy meets girl at Sundance…this is more like boy eats girl.”

What about before you became a Sundance sensation? “I started acting professionally in the 10th grade—three years ago. But before that I was still in middle school and didn’t know what I was going to do with my life. I didn’t realize that acting was, like, a real job.”

What’s next? “I’m in a film that takes place in New Orleans and comes out in March. It’s called The Last Exorcism: Part 2.”