There are a lot of enigmas in Justin Tipping’s oddball football horror movie Him, but most of them seem a lot clearer by the end of the movie — particularly Julia Fox’s character Elsie White, the unpredictable wife of football superstar Isaiah White, played by Marlon Wayans. Elsie appears both friendly and menacing to beleaguered protagonist Cameron Cade (Tyriq Withers), sometimes at the same time. She hovers around the edges of Cameron and Isaiah’s relationship, as Isaiah mentors Cameron and draws him into a surreal nightmare. Elsie is predatory and creepy, and while she doesn’t get much screen time, she makes an impression — especially in the final scene.
Fox, a model, producer, and Charlie XCX song subject and video star, made her film debut in Uncut Gems, and had roles in 2024’s The Trainer and Steven Soderbergh’s ghost story Presence. She tells Polygon that Elsie had a secret history that was cut from the movie, that she ignored all of Tipping’s advice about the character, and that she was looking forward to an extreme makeover for the role, but didn’t get it — for a surprising reason.
This conversation has been edited for clarity and concision.
Polygon: What did Justin Tipping originally tell you he wanted from you as Elsie?
Julia Fox: Our first conversation was hours long. We dissected every little thing about her. I remember him saying [to watch The Real Housewives of Dallas for inspiration]. So I watched the Dallas housewives, and then I watched some WAGS and I watched some Basketball Wives.
And then I got to set and I realized that Elsie’s nothing like these women. She’s very much not about any drama. She doesn’t even really seem that interested in what her husband’s doing. She’s just so focused on her career, and making sure that she is upholding the system that she is a key player in. She feels like so much more the puppeteer than the puppet. I just intuitively figured her out, I guess.
We don’t learn much about her history. Did you have any kind of secret headcanon backstory for her?
So she did have a backstory. Unfortunately, it didn’t make it into the film, but it was written. She came from a broken home and had an abusive-parents bad relationship with her mom, and no money. And she met Isaiah White in high school, and saw that he was going places. She latched on, and then that was the catalyst into her going off and becoming a GOAT in her own right, building her own empire, becoming the Gwyneth Paltrow of WAGS and killing it.
If Justin said he wanted a Real Housewives type and you decided that wasn’t the character at all — did he give you any pushback on your interpretation once you got to set?
Justin very much just let me do what I wanted to do. He really trusted me as an actor and a collaborator. He’s the kind of director that doesn’t yell cut at the end of a scene. He let us linger, and sees where we’re going to go, and allows for improv, and allows us to try new things and make new choices, and have different ideas and different perspectives. It was a very open flow of communication and collaboration. He was super, super trusting of us.
She has such distinctive visual styling, with the white eyeliner and the strong cheekbone contouring. What was the hair and makeup design process like?
That’s actually how I turned up to set. I was ready to go through a full transformation, with tanning cream and hair dye and all that. And Justin was just like, “No, just stay exactly as you are.” I will admit I was a little disappointed. I was excited to really transform. But that was not who Elsie was.
Ultimately, I think Elsie thinks she’s better than other WAGS. She’s going to do anything to separate herself from them. She really wants to be revered. She’s more than just someone’s wife and girlfriend.
How did you arrive at that particular look for her?
Oh, that’s just what I looked like. I just had bleached eyebrows for a couple of years. I don’t anymore now — it’s just everywhere now, and it’s not niche anymore. So now I’m back to my original brows. But that was just how I had had my brows for a couple of years.
Given what we later learn about what she is, what she does, I think I’d be a little taken aback to show up on set and be told, “Yes, your personal look is perfect for this character.”
Yeah, I know. But it worked, and I think that’s why Justin didn’t want me to change anything. It was spooky, and kind of just weird. Alien-like.
Him is in theaters now.
