When you watch HIM, you’re really watching her. Arriving a third into Justin Tipping’s sports-themed horror, Julia Fox steals the movie with outrageous one-liners and a taste for violence. As glitzy influencer Elsie White, Fox improvised her opening line on set: “Pop this jade egg into your pussy to maximise your orgasm.” Facing her phone camera, Elsie then adds, “And one dollar per order will be donated to my endometriosis foundation.”

“For my character, I looked to Gwyneth Paltrow because she’s been able to build an empire,” says Fox, a 35-year-old American actor, author, and cultural icon so famous that she’s an adjective in a Charli xcx lyric. “The way I spoke, the things I said, the way I looked – none of that was Gwyneth. It was more the aura of being a boss bitch.”

In HIM, which boasts Jordan Peele as a producer, a promising American football star, Cameron Cade (Tyriq Withers), is desperate to be the GOAT. (The film was originally called GOAT, however, Steph Curry bought the rights to that title first). So much so that at a cult-like retreat in the desert, Cameron allows himself to be trained by a legendary player, Isaiah White (Marlon Wayans), whose Machiavellian wife, Elsie, ups the paranoia that they’re trapped in a living hell.

It’s arguable that Fox’s three most high-profile acting gigs are all horror: Uncut Gems (she beat Jennifer Lawrence and Scarlett Johansson to the role of Julia) is a so nerve-wracking, it can’t be called a drama; Stephen Soderbergh’s haunted-house chiller Presence; and now HIM. However, Fox tells me, “I’m more of a thriller girly. Horror’s like... hmmm. I don’t know. It doesn’t do it for me as much.”

That said, Fox was up for the challenge of picking her six favourite horror movies for Dazed. In doing so, could she come to learn that, deep down, she’s a fan of gnarly genre stuff, too? Scroll down to find out.

SMILE (DIR. PARKER FINN, 2022)

Julia Fox: Smile was terrifying and so freaking good. I’m excited to watch the second one. I actually just watched Smile on the airplane coming here. I hadn’t seen it. I was very pleasantly surprised.

Was it the sanitised version for airplanes?

Julia Fox: Maybe. It didn’t seem sanitised.

But it was still scary? People say they cry when watching films on planes because of the altitude.

Julia Fox: I haven’t heard of that.

I think what’s happening to your body on a plane, physically and mentally, makes you more emotionally vulnerable. But I’m not sure about horror.

Julia Fox: That’s funny, I didn’t know that was a thing. I guess, come to think of it, I do get emotional on airplanes, watching movies. But I didn’t on that one. I had the blanket up to my eyes, and I was peeking through, like, ‘Argh!’ I had one headphone on and one off, so I could rip it off, because it was so scary.

I remember, there was a lot of promo and buzz around the film. Again, I’m not a horror buff. I was like, ‘Whatever.’ But there was nothing else to watch on the plane. And it was amazing.

I don’t really like the Smile films, but Naomi Scott in Smile 2 is one of the best acting performances I’ve seen in years.

Julia Fox: I’m definitely going to watch it.

FUNNY GAMES (DIR. MICHAEL HANEKE, 2007)

Have you seen the German version?

Julia Fox: No, I’ve only seen the one with Naomi Watts. I couldn’t get through it the first time I watched it. I had to turn it off. And then I went back and watched it again. It’s a diabolical film.

You watched that at home?

Julia Fox: I watched it at home, and I literally had to turn it off because it was so scary.

Because you’re watching it at home, and it’s a home-invasion thriller?

Julia Fox: There’s something about people coming into your space, and touching all your stuff, that already is really unsettling. The movie really plays on that fear of having someone come in and taking over, and you’re so powerless, and you’re like, ‘Get out! Leave!’ And they’re not getting out and leaving.

You did Presence with Steven Soderbergh. I imagine if you watch that alone in your bedroom, on a laptop…

Julia Fox: Yeah. It’s going to feel different, for sure.

THE BLAIR WITCH PROJECT (DIR. DANIEL MYRICK AND EDUARDO SÁNCHEZ, 1999)

The 90s one or the remake from a few years ago?

Julia Fox: The 90s one. I don’t know of any remake. But the 90s one was incredible. I watched it as a child. I’d never seen anything like it before. It was the first of its kind: groundbreaking, pioneering. It opened up a whole new genre, that documentary style where it feels like you’re watching found footage.

As a child, I don’t think I could really differentiate, because it looked so real. There was no comp available. In my mind, this really was found footage of these people that went missing.

GET OUT (DIR. JORDAN PEELE, 2017)

Julia Fox: It touched on themes that felt so relevant to what it’s like being Black in America. It felt like a movement. This film meant so much to so many people. I saw it in theatres with my best friend, and then we went back to see it again a couple of weeks later. I’ve probably seen Get Out six times.

Was that part of the appeal of doing HIM, because Jordan is a producer?

Julia Fox: Yes. He was involved but he wasn’t on set every day.

Because of HIM, are people going to send you horror films?

Julia Fox: We’ll see. Hopefully some good ones.

What do you define as a good one?

Julia Fox: If I can read the script in one sitting. If I’m pausing, the script’s not very good.

How many scripts do you read?

Julia Fox: Many. Hundreds.

You’re trying to adapt your memoir, Down the Drain, for screen, and Lipstick Palm was announced. How many scripts have you written?

Julia Fox: Five or six.

Have you written a horror movie?

Julia Fox: No. The films I write are more rooted in personal experience. But I get ideas for them all the time. 

THE RING (DIR. GORE VERBINSKI, 2002)

The Japanese one or the American one?

Julia Fox: I haven’t seen the Japanese one. The American one was terrifying. I watched it when it came out. I was a child, and I didn’t sleep for months. I saw it at my friend’s house, and we were screaming.

You watched it on TV when that girl comes out of the TV?

Julia Fox: Yeah. She crawls out of the TV with the long hair, Samara. Such an amazing movie. 

THE HILLS HAVE EYES (DIR. ALEXANDRE AJA, 2006)

I haven’t seen this one. You need to educate me.

Julia Fox: It’s about this family that goes on a road trip. Their car breaks down and they’re in the desert. There used to be a nuclear testing site, so there’s all these mutant humans that are living in the hills, fucking with this family. It’s really brutal what they do. I won’t give it away, but that’s the premise. I loved that movie. That’s another one I watched a bunch of times.

It’s interesting you claim not to be a horror person, because you’ve named a bunch you really like.

Julia Fox: I appreciate it, but it’s not usually what I’ll go for. I prefer a Sean Baker film; a slice-of-life drama. Also, horror is so hit and miss. It’s more of a gamble. But good horror films, they stay with you.

Are you at the fame level that you can email Sean Baker and ask to have coffee?

Julia Fox: We’re supposed to have a meeting but scheduling is tough.

Do you have a different approach to horror because you survived quite a difficult childhood? You’ve lived real-life horrors.

Julia Fox: That’s definitely a part of why I love comedy and that kind of vibe. I just want to laugh and feel good. I love happy endings. It eases my anxiety. But there’s something really thrilling about being scared in a movie theatre. It’s like a drug, the adrenaline. Weapons was amazing. Sinners was incredible. It’s been a really exciting time for horror.

You sound like a massive horror fan now.

Julia Fox: Maybe I am!

HIM is out in UK cinemas on October 3.