Julia Fox calls her role in Him 'most wicked yet' as a crafty WAG beyond a trophy wife

Dubai: Hollywood actress Julia Fox has never been one to shy away from messy, complex characters — and her latest turn as Elsie White in Him (out in UAE cinemas this Friday) might just be her most deliciously wicked yet.

The film, produced by Oscar-winner Jordan Peele’s Monkeypaw Productions, is billed as a horror film, but Fox insists it’s also a sharp commentary on ambition, morality, and the high price of chasing greatness.

“When people say ‘selling your soul,’ it’s not a man in a suit with a contract,” she told me. “It’s those little compromises — taking money from companies that don’t align with your values, chipping away at your core beliefs — until suddenly, you’ve compromised everything.”

In HIM, Fox plays Elsie White — wife of legendary eight-time championship quarterback Isaiah White (Marlon Wayans). At first glance, Elsie might look like a stereotypical WAG, but Fox relished the role because it flipped the trope on its head.

“She has such agency,” Fox explained.

“She knows the game is rigged, but she’s playing to win anyway. She’s setting herself up for life. If this man wakes up one day and leaves her, she’s still got her empire. That’s what I loved — she’s not a trophy, she’s a strategist.”

Fox admits Elsie isn’t exactly a role model — and that’s what drew her in. “She’s not the greatest person ever,” she laughed.

“But honestly, in real life, I’d probably be friends with her. I love characters who are deeply flawed, because that feels real. Too often in movies, we see this idealised world that doesn’t exist. HIM shows the ugly truths — and that’s what makes it powerful.”

The film itself is a chilling tale of ambition gone wrong.

Rising quarterback Cameron Cade (Tyriq Withers) suffers a career-threatening injury, only to be taken under the wing of Isaiah White, his idol turned mentor. But the mentorship spirals into something darker, blurring the lines between inspiration and exploitation.

Although it’s rooted in genre, Fox believes Him resonates beyond sports and scares.

“I grew up in America with its sports culture, and you always see these big public relationships — the wives, the girlfriends, the spectacle,” she said. “This film touches on that, but it’s really universal. It’s about striving to be the greatest, making choices that chip away at your soul, and then realising maybe it wasn’t all it cracked up to be.”

That realism, she argues, is what makes the film scarier than any jump scare. “It’s extreme, but it’s not far-fetched. You can see this happening,” she said.

With Him, Fox joins Peele’s canon of unsettling, socially conscious horror. But for her, it was also a chance to embody a woman who knows exactly what she wants — even if her methods are morally questionable.

“She didn’t make the rules of the game,” Fox said, “but she’s playing it — and she’s going to win.”

Flawed, strategic, and fascinating — Elsie White may not be the hero we want, but as Fox makes clear, she’s the anti-heroine we can’t look away from.

Him releases in UAE cinemas this Friday.