Fiona Glascott on Bringing Literary Legend Judith Jones to Life in HBO Max’s ‘Julia’

If you’ve ever read The Diary of Anne Frank, then you have book editor Judith Jones to thank for it.

As the story goes, Jones pulled Frank off of the rejection pile at Doubleday and fought for its publication. At Knopf, Jones similarly fought for the publication of Julia Child’s landmark cookbook Mastering the Art of French Cooking. Jones followed her successful relationship with Child and Mastering by working to find and publish more seminal American cookbooks. Eventually, she became a published author herself and, in 2006, was awarded the James Beard Foundation Lifetime Achievement Award.

HBO Max’s Julia includes Judith Jones’s narrative in their acclaimed series about Child and her early days on her landmark television cooking show The French Chef. In Julia, Jones is played by Irish actress Fiona Glascott. The series explores Jones’s relationship with not only Julia Child (Sarah Lancashire) but also Blanche Knopf (Judith Light).

When talking to Glascott and other members of the Julia team, you’re aware of the sheer joy and love each person expresses for this series. Glascott’s affection for Julia and for her character of Judith Jones is readily apparent in the way she answers all questions about everything ranging from her research about Jones’s life to her delicate moments with co-star Light’s Blanche Knopf.

It’s as refreshing and fun to speak with Glascott as it was to get to know her Judith Jones in Julia.

Awards Daily: First of all, I loved your performance in Julia. What kind of research did you do to understand who Judith Jones was in real life?

Fiona Glascott: I read her memoir, and I read some of Julia’s memoirs and about what people had said about her. I found a lot of interviews on YouTube with her. Those were so fabulous and telling because to actually see the person that you’re going to play is a real gift. I was able to look at so much, even down to her voice and her accent and where she placed the sound in her mouth. How wide she opened her mouth when she spoke. How much she listened to people. How interested she was in people. She was such an extraordinary woman. When you look at all the different things that she did in her life, one of those things would have been enough of anyone’s life. Also, watching her on screen, I could really see her warmth and her wit and how easily she smiled, little things like that. It’s quite difficult to get those things from the books, so both of those together helped me bring her to the screen. It’s just been absolutely joyful to be able to learn about this woman, first of all, because I didn’t know anything about her, which was terrible. But to learn all these extraordinary things about Anne Frank, being this extraordinary editor, believing in Julia Child, and being being the woman that she was. It’s just extraordinary then to be able to look at those little details in her and just try and bring that all together on screen. Also, it was her passion behind all those things that’s just so thrilling. I think she shares that with Julia really — this passion that they have and the things that they truly believe in that they just cannot let go. They just knew in their souls that this was what they needed to do.

AD: They had so much in common. When you look at the episode where Judith and Paul [Child, played by David Hyde Pierce] are trying to bake bread. She never gives up. She constantly pushes him forward. Both women are so doggedly persistent in what they do. Do you think that is one of the key reasons why their friendship persisted?

FG: I think it’s one of the things definitely. I think they really admire the work ethic and the other person. I think that they see and get excited by someone else’s talent. Julia’s talent is incredibly clear, and her love of it. Judith’s talent is clear but in a different way. I think it excited them when they were looking forward to being around each other. Julia is the person that we see larger than life: wonderful, fabulous, great chef who loves loads of people around. But she’s also someone who did not stop working, who had a huge work ethic, and Judith was the same. In fact, Judith was also incredibly sociable and very witty. She loved people, loved food, loved having dinners with people, but just on the quieter side. It’s really interesting that they kind of have that in common except Julia is more exuberant and out there whereas Judith is just a little bit quieter. I just find that really fascinating. They’re like part of the same sort of sphere, just one’s a bit louder than the other.

AD: Absolutely, and it seems that, when Judith is not in Julia’s orbit, there is an undercurrent of sadness. She does feel left out of the celebrations and with the TV show in which Judith couldn’t necessarily be involved. What’s the undercurrent of that sadness that does appear at difference points during the show?

FG: I think that Judith really believes in her authors, and she’s used to being able to see it through. From what I’ve read about her, she spent a lot of time with her authors. She will do pretty much anything to make sure that they’re comfortable enough to get the work done. There must have been a real loss in not being able to be around Julia as much to do that same thing that she does with her other authors. I mean, she gets on the train, but it’s a battle. It’s upsetting, I think, for her that it has to be a battle with with Blanche {Knopf] because Judith knows what she’s talking about. This isn’t some frivolous cookbook. It’s something more than that. It’s really important. This will change how people look at cookbooks. These books may not be John Updike or Anne Tyler, but they’re still books that have value. That frustration, and maybe the sadness absolutely is a word you can use, comes from just not being able to be as much part of it as she would like to be.

AD: Talk to me about working with Judith Light so closely as Blanche Knopf.

FG: Oh my god, that was incredible. When we started this series, after the pilot, we were all told you have your person in the show. Paul had Julia. Ross had his wife, and Alice had her mother and then a boyfriend. Then, I had Blanche, and that meant I got Judith Light. I mean, how lucky! She’s just a great energy to have around. When you have that energy around you, you really feel free. It isn’t about making mistakes. It’s about just seeing where we all end up in different moments. She’s got that openness and warmth. It just means that you are instantly relaxed, and she’s so prepared. She’s such a hard worker, and she’s so supportive. There is nothing better than that when you walk into a room to work with somebody, except for the fact that she’s so much fun as well. So that’s an extra bonus on top. She’s an absolute joy, and I’m just so thrilled that we have another season. She’s fabulous.

AD: One of the most touching scenes in this first season of Julia is the scene that that closes your journey in episode eight, which is when Judith agrees to be Blanche’s eyes due to her approaching blindness. Tell me about the filming of that scene and what it meant to you as an actress.

FG: It was such a raw, vulnerable time for Blanche. When you’re working with someone like Judith, she’s so raw. She’s capable of being so raw that it just it becomes this natural world of its own. You’re in this together, and it’s really pretty enjoyable. I know that sounds really weird, but it’s so enjoyable when it works. When you’re with somebody that you trust, and they’re doing such a performance, and you can just be honest. That’s what’s so great and so enjoyable about it that Judith is at her most honest. When you have that truth coming out of a character and when it actually happened in real life, it makes it deeper. So in the moment, it’s a really beautiful truth. At the end of the day none of us ever forget on this show, that these are real people that we’re playing, and we all love and respect our people because they are real people. We want to do them justice, and that’s something that’s been hugely important to me. Thankfully, all of us and the creators and the writers and the producers respect the people that we’re playing and make sure that we’re giving across an honest portrayal and a real one.

AD: As you look back over season one and start to think about season two, what do you think the legacy of of Judith Jones is in this series and what would you like to continue exploring with the character?

FG: Well, I really liked the way that the writers spent time looking at her work life and her work life with Julia. I know that they’re friends as well, but I thought that was a really interesting way to look at a woman the first time we see her in an in a TV show. I was very proud of that, and I would like to see more of Judith with other authors. I’d like to see more of how she would work with specific authors in a way that would compliment that person.

It would be interesting as well to see a little bit of her home life just to have that other side of her. The great thing about having an opportunity to do eight episodes, and now thankfully eight more, is that we have more of a chance to explore a person’s life in all areas. That’s another thing that’s very exciting about doing a TV show — that you get to go on a journey with them.

Julia streams exclusively on HBO Max.