F  L  A  U  N  T

 [**CALVIN KLEIN**](https://www.calvinklein.us) bra and [**JENNIFER FISHER**](https://jenniferfisherjewelry.com) earrings. In 2019, it’s really easy to say anything is “talked about.” But the new Safdie Brothers’ film, _Uncut Gems_, has been brought up at more dinner parties than I care to mention. And that’s for good reason. The highly anticipated project starring Adam Sandler is a fast paced fictional vignette into the life of a high value jewelry dealer set in 2012 New York. The film itself is a delicate balance of thrilling action, heart-pounding tension, and visually stimulating scenes. Sandler plays Howard, or “Howie,” the dingy jeweler with a penchant for making the wrong move at just the right time. For Sandler, Howie’s leather jackets, frameless glasses, and goatee might be his best look yet. Idina Menzel plays Howard’s constantly disappointed wife, Dinah, who, along with Howard, has emotionally checked out of their marriage. Throughout the film, Howard proves that he has little-to-no impulse control when it comes to gambling, especially with other people’s money and high- priced gems. This little vice of his gets him in hot water with the mob, basketball players like Kevin Garnett, and even the Weeknd, who does an excellent job of channeling his _House of Balloons_ era. Yet, almost every time, all it takes to cheer Howard up again is the affection of a pretty young girl. Enter Julia, Howard’s shopgirl and mistress. She’s in her mid-twenties living in Howie’s New York pied à terre, and I think Julia really loves him.  [**AFRM**](https://shopafrm.com) top, [**MIAOU**](https://www.miaou.com) bustier, [**HOUSE OF CB**](https://www.houseofcb.com) pants, [**GIUSEPPE ZANOTTI**](https://www.giuseppezanotti.com/us/) shoes, [**JENNY BIRD**](https://jenny-bird.com/) necklace and ring, [**DANNIJO**](https://dannijo.com) necklace, [**JENNIFER FISHER**](https://jenniferfisherjewelry.com/) ring, [**ILLESTEVA**](https://illesteva.com) sunglasses, and stylist’s own earrings. Julia is played by Julia Fox, who steals the show in her debut acting gig. Throughout the film, Fox takes the viewer on an emotional rollercoaster: you hate Julia, you love Julia, you want her to fail, you want her to win. But more importantly, she compels you to want to know so much more about Julia, the actor. The day after the screening I got to do just that. I meet Julia Fox at The Laurel Canyon Country Store. Fox was born in Italy and raised in New York, so she has never been to this iconic Los Angeles establishment. But as she walks in, I immediately see Fox fall in love and imagine her life dwelling here in the Canyon. She is staying at a friend’s house up the street, as she’s been flirting with the idea of becoming a West Coast girl. “I want the LA vibe, just chill,” Fox remarks. “I want to live my life.”  [**ICEBERG**](http://iceberg.com) jacket, [**OH POLLY**](https://www.ohpolly.com/) top, [**FASHION NOVA**](https://www.fashionnova.com) jeans, [**ALEXANDER WANG**](https://www.alexanderwang.com/us-en/) shoes, [**RITCH ERANI**](https://www.ritcherani.com) socks, [**HOUSE OF EMMANUELE**](https://houseofemmanuele.com/home) necklace and ring, and [**DANNIJO**](https://dannijo.com/) necklace and earrings. Fox is wearing a black halter top and black dress pants with black loafers in 85-degree weather. Apparently, you can take Fox out of New York, but you can’t take the New York out of Fox. “I remember being 10 years old taking myself to the doctor in New York,” she recalls, growing up in Manhattan with her less-than-involved father. “I lived with my dad and he just had a lot on his plate at the time, and my mom wasn’t around. My dad kinda just said ‘this is your street address, this is where you live.’” But for a kid learning to take care of herself, she had it made: Fox lived above a dollar store as well as a video store. “I loved going downstairs because I could rent whatever movie I wanted and just escape.” The first movie Fox rented was _The Fifth Element,_ then _Romy and Michelle_, then _Drop Dead Gorgeous_.  [**3.1 PHILLIP LIM**](https://www.31philliplim.com) coat, [**OH POLLY**](https://www.ohpolly.com/) dress, [**JENNIFER FISHER**](https://jenniferfisherjewelry.com/) earrings and ring, and [**JENNY BIRD**](JENNY BIRD) ring. Then she went through a long phase of renting out _10 Things I Hate About You_ every single day. Fox loved “getting lost in another world,” because from a young age, she learned that in this world, “failure is not an option.” At heart, Fox is a classic New York hustler that can shift into whatever she needs to be in order to survive. “It’s like hustle or die,” she declares. She’s truly done it all. Starting out as a New York club girl, then transitioning into a high-end knitwear designer, at the age of 23, Fox played the role of auteur by releasing her first book, _Symptomatic of a Relationship Gone Sour: Heartburn/Nausea_, at the New York Art Book Fair. It is a graphic and honest retelling of Fox’s three most brutal relationships; 2 romantic and 1 platonic, expressed through photos, drawings, and screenshots. Just before she released _Symptomatic_, Fox wondered if anyone was even going to care about it. But, in Fox’s words, “the book blew up.” She tells me to google it. I did, and honestly think you should, too. Not long after the book release, Fox unexpectedly found herself in Louisiana with her best friend for a trip that was supposed to last 2 weeks. That trip extended six months. During this spontaneous sojourn in the south, Fox found the inspiration for her next book, _PTSD_. Again, she left nothing to the imagination, and no secret was too intimate to divulge.  [**3.1 PHILLIP LIM**](https://www.31philliplim.com) coat, [**OH POLLY**](https://www.ohpolly.com) dress, [**JENNIFER FISHER**](https://jenniferfisherjewelry.com/) earrings and ring, and [**JENNY BIRD**](https://jenny-bird.com) ring. After the release of another book, and a couple art shows here and there, Fox was over the _me, me, me_ narrative. “I was tired of being this self indulgent girl,” explains Fox. So, she wrapped up her art career with her last art show, _RIP Julia Fox_. It was the death of Fox the artist, and the birth of Fox the star. Thanks to her Catholic school upbringing, Fox is a big believer in fate. “When something bad happens to you, that’s the soil for something beautiful to happen,” she confesses. “Something life changing.” And if you ask her, it was fate that brought her and _Uncut Gems_ producer Sebastian Bear-McClard together at Club Butter in New York years ago. If it weren’t for that chance meeting, she may have never had the opportunity to be introduced to the Safdie’s. Now, Fox is at the phase of her life where she’s realized that the people you meet after 1 AM are not your friends. “They aren’t going to serve you any good in your life. It just doesn’t work that way. The daylight always shines the truth,” Fox states. After she chose to look beyond the _me, me, me_ and “dedicate her life to helping other people,” Fox began producing a film about child sex trafficking in Reno, Nevada, where she witnessed firsthand the dangerous world these young girls navigate everyday. “I almost got into a physical altercation with a pimp who told me that ‘I needed to control my hoes,’” Fox confides. The “hoes” the pimp was referring to were the street-casted 12 and 14 year-old girls that Fox hired for her film, _Fantasy Girls_, which she recently submitted to a few film festivals. Once again, fate and Fox meet again. Needless to say, the rising actor’s life is a melting pot of serendipitous encounters and circumstances, across all walks of life. Fox pauses. “I’m blessed,” she says. * * * Photographer: [Camraface](https://www.instagram.com/camraface/?hl=en) at [Early Morning Riot](https://www.earlymorningriot.com). Stylist: [Sophie Lopez](https://www.instagram.com/sophielopez/?hl=en) at [The Wall Group](https://www.thewallgroup.com). Hair: [Matthew Collins](https://www.instagram.com/matthewstylist/?hl=en) using [Dyson](http://dyson.com) at [The Wall Group](https://www.thewallgroup.com). Makeup: [Dana Delaney](https://www.instagram.com/danadelaney/?hl=en) at [Forward Artists](https://forwardartists.com).