Virginia Gardner

Virginia Gardner
Gardner at GalaxyCon Richmond in 2022
Born (1995-04-18) April 18, 1995 (age 29)
Sacramento, California, U.S.
Occupations
  • Actress
  • model
Years active2011–present
Spouse
Jed Elliott
​
(m. 2023)​

Virginia Gardner (also known as Ginny Gardner;[1][2] born April 18, 1995[3]) is an American actress who played Karolina Dean in the Hulu original series Marvel's Runaways (2017–2019), Vicky in David Gordon Green's horror film Halloween (2018) and Shiloh Hunter in Lionsgate's survival film Fall (2022).

Life and career

Virginia Gardner, second from right, at the 2017 New York Comic Con, with the cast of Runaways.

Gardner was born in Sacramento, California. She attended Sacramento Country Day School from kindergarten to eighth grade. She took part in many of her middle school's productions. In 2011, she took online schooling when she moved to Los Angeles, but then chose to take the California High School Proficiency Exam when she was allowed to, in October 2011.[4] Her desire to act was due to the 2001 Sean Penn film I Am Sam; "In the movie, Dakota Fanning's dad has autism, and I have a brother with autism and I remember watching that as a young girl and relating to her character and being affected by that," Gardner explains. "That’s what made me want to get into this industry and make things that can affect people and that people can relate to."[5] She has a black belt in taekwondo, and also took up boxing and nunchucks.[6]

Gardner initially lived with her mother to pursue acting full-time. Gardner lived with her mother for the first year; however, once she started to be more successful and able to handle herself, she moved into her own apartment and began to live on her own. After appearing on the Disney Channel series Lab Rats, she took a year off from acting to work on modeling. When she became absorbed in modeling, she was going to stop acting, but then heard about the audition for Glee. She has modeled for Kohl's, Love Culture, HP, Hollister, LF, and Famous Footwear.[4] In 2015, Gardner starred in the found footage science fiction thriller film Project Almanac as Christina Raskin, the main character's younger sister.[7] The movie helped Gardner to establish herself in Hollywood. In February 2017, it was announced that Gardner would star as Karolina Dean in Marvel's Runaways (2017), a Hulu original series.[8][9] She has received wide recognition for her portrayal of the LGBTQ hero.[5][6] In January 2018, it was announced that Gardner would star as Vicky in the horror film Halloween (2018), a sequel to the 1978 film of the same name.[10][11]

Personal life

Gardner describes herself as a feminist.[5] In August 2023, she married Jed Elliott, bassist of The Struts.[12]

Filmography

Film

List of Virginia Gardner film credits
Year Title Role Notes
2015 Project Almanac Christina Raskin
2016 Goat Leah
Good Kids Emily
Tell Me How I Die Anna Nichols
2018 Little Bitches Kelly
Halloween Vicky
Monster Party Iris
Liked Catlin
2019 Starfish Aubrey Parker
2020 All the Bright Places Amanda
2022 Fall Shiloh Hunter
2023 Beautiful Disaster Abby Abernathy
See You On Venus Amelia "Mia" [13]
2024 Beautiful Wedding Abby Abernathy
2025 F*** Marry Kill † TBA Post-production

Television

List of Virginia Gardner television credits
Year Title Role Notes
2011 Hart of Dixie Young Lemon Episode: "Hairdos & Holidays"
2012 Lab Rats Danielle Episode: "Leo's Jam"
2013 Glee "Katie Fitzgerald" / Marissa Episodes: "Feud", "Shooting Star"
2013–2014 The Goldbergs Lexy Bloom Recurring, 8 episodes
2015 How to Get Away with Murder Molly Barlett Episode: "Skanks Get Shanked"
2016 Law & Order: Special Victims Unit Sally Landry Episode: "Fashionable Crimes"
Major Crimes Brie Miller Episode: "Family Law"
Secrets and Lies Rachel Episodes: "The Detective", "The Daughter"
2017 Zoo Clem-2 Episodes: "No Place Like Home", "Diaspora"
The Tap Michelle Cuttriss Episode: "Pilot"
2017–2019 Marvel's Runaways Karolina Dean Main
2019 Heartstrings Young Harper Episode: "Sugar Hill"[14]
The Righteous Gemstones Lucy Episode: "Is This the Man Who Made the Earth Tremble"
2021 American Horror Stories Bernadette Episode: "BA'AL"
2022 Gaslit Sharon Episode: "Honeymoon"

Awards and nominations

List of Virginia Gardner accolades
Year Award Category Nominated work Result Ref.
2015 Hollywood Beauty Awards New Beauty Award Herself Won [15]
2017 Golden Issue Awards Best Ensemble Cast (shared with the Cast) Marvel's Runaways Won [16]

References

  1. ^ "Ginny Gardner". Amy Clarke Makeup. 10 April 2012. Archived from the original on 16 June 2023. Retrieved 16 June 2023.
  2. ^ "Ginny Gardner". Bellazon. 19 June 2010. Archived from the original on 16 June 2023. Retrieved 16 June 2023.
  3. ^ @ginnygardner (19 April 2023). "28 💥💥 thanks for all the birthday love 🥰" – via Instagram.
  4. ^ a b "Making it on the small screen: alumna Ginny Gardner joins cast of 'Glee'". 2013-03-19. Archived from the original on 2017-06-09. Retrieved 2015-02-01.
  5. ^ a b c "VIRGINIA GARDNER SEEKS OUT UNHEARD VOICES". The Last Magazine. December 19, 2018. Archived from the original on November 12, 2022. Retrieved February 15, 2019.
  6. ^ a b Lawrence, Vanessa (November 21, 2017). "The Runaways' Virginia Gardner Is Breaking Superhero Taboos as Marvel's First Gay Character". W. Archived from the original on November 12, 2022. Retrieved November 21, 2019.
  7. ^ "'Glee' star offers a few details on locally filmed 'Almanac'". 2013-07-31. Archived from the original on 2016-03-04. Retrieved 2015-02-01.
  8. ^ Strom, Marc (February 2, 2017). "'Marvel's Runaways' Finds Its Cast". Marvel.com. Archived from the original on 2017-02-03. Retrieved February 2, 2017.
  9. ^ Martin, Peter. "Superhero Buzz: 'Runaways' Casting, 'Black Lightning' Update". Movies.com. Archived from the original on 5 February 2017. Retrieved 5 February 2017.
  10. ^ Miska, Brad (2017-01-13). "More 'Halloween' Cast Announced As Filming Begins!". Bloody Disgusting. Archived from the original on 2018-01-13. Retrieved 2017-01-13.
  11. ^ "'Halloween' Behind-the-Scenes Photo Goes to Haddonfield High - Halloween Daily News". Halloweendailynews.com. 28 January 2018. Archived from the original on 20 October 2018. Retrieved 1 October 2018.
  12. ^ "A Napa Valley Wedding Brings Together an English Rock Band and a Slice of Young Hollywood". Elle. 24 August 2023. Retrieved 30 August 2023.
  13. ^ Young, Liz (July 21, 2023). "See You on Venus Review: A Heartwarming Film with a Beautiful Setting". MovieWeb. Retrieved February 17, 2024.
  14. ^ Iannucci, Rebecca (February 11, 2019). "Sarah Shahi, Scandal's Bellamy Young, thirtysomething Alums and More Join Netflix's Dolly Parton Anthology". TVLine. Archived from the original on February 12, 2019. Retrieved February 12, 2019.
  15. ^ "2015 Awards". Hollywood Beauty Awards. Archived from the original on December 31, 2017. Retrieved December 19, 2017.
  16. ^ Joseph Schmidt (December 28, 2017). "The 2017 ComicBook.com Golden Issue Award for Best Ensemble Cast". Cominc Book. Archived from the original on December 31, 2017. Retrieved December 30, 2017.