Not everybody in Tinseltown can say they’ve stolen scenes next to Leonardo DiCaprio in Quentin Tarantino’s Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood. Or butted heads with the likes of Ryan Gosling and Chris Evans in The Gray Man, directed by the Russo brothers. Even fewer can claim to have acted in Steven Spielberg’s semi-autobiographical film The Fabelmans—in a role inspired by Spielberg’s real-life sister Anne—alongside Michelle Williams, Paul Dano, and Seth Rogen. But then again, not everyone in Hollywood is Julia Butters.

At just 16, and with a filmography that reads like any actor’s dream bucket list, Butters is clearly no ordinary teen star. Now, with a turn in the upcoming Freakier Friday, she adds another iconic role to her already impressive repertoire: playing the daughter of Lindsay Lohan’s Anna Coleman in Walt Disney Pictures’ sequel to the 2003 body-swap cult classic. 

“She [Lindsay] seemed to have so much faith in me… which pretty much sent me into orbit because I could not believe that I had the freedom to share this iconic character with her,” Butters says of working alongside Lohan to bring Anna back to life. Not only does the film mark Lohan’s long-awaited return to the big screen, it’s also her first time playing a mom. An experience made all the more special with Butters playing her on-screen daughter. “She had so much love and light to give, it was so inspiring and over the course of filming I really came to see her as a maternal figure… She’s forever an icon and getting to know her just solidified that for me.” 

Butters, who was just 4 years old when she made her acting debut in 2014, got her start thanks to a family friend—a TV writer on Criminal Minds—who recognized her love of playing pretend and wrote an episode for her to appear in. From her very first day on set, she was hooked. “I fell in love with it pretty much immediately. I remember when I walked off set I said ‘I wanna do it again.’ And my parents looked at each other like ‘well I guess we have an actor now.’” And they were right. The passion stuck, and in the years that followed, Butters landed a handful of minor roles before her big breakthrough in Tarantino’s Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood.

At just 10 years old, Butters stole the spotlight delivering Tarantino-penned dialogue as Trudi Fraser, a child actor on a Western set known for her precocious nature and dedication to her craft. “Quentin was my first real mentorship where I learned so much about cinematography and storytelling,” she recalls of the experience, “he could definitely see how excited I was about the actual process and took me under his wing.” Butters received critical acclaim for her performance and earned a number of nominations, including a Critics Choice Movie Awards nom for Best Young Actor. Her Oscar-winning scene partner Leonardo DiCaprio even compared her to a young Meryl Streep during a press interview. “[This film] was my first true collaborative project that I’ll always remember and take with me going forward, especially if I want to do some work behind the camera in the future.”

In Freakier Friday, the long-awaited sequel to the Lindsay Lohan–Jamie Lee Curtis cult classic, Julia takes center stage as Harper, the daughter of Lohan’s now-grown Anna Coleman. “Harper evolved so much during the process. When I first read the script, she had an entirely different vibe… and as I got farther into it and spent more time playing her, she grew into a far more resilient girl than I had initially imagined.” In the original Freaky Friday, the mother-daughter duo inadvertently switch bodies after receiving a mysterious fortune at a Chinese restaurant—forcing them to live each other’s lives. The experience ultimately heals their strained relationship, offering lessons in empathy, perspective, how to fake guitar solos, and the sweet appeal of riding in the back of a hot boy’s motorcycle.  

The upcoming sequel, directed by Nisha Ganatra, picks up 22 years after. Now, Anna is a mother to 15-year-old Harper (Butters) and is preparing to marry British restaurateur Eric (Manny Jacinto), who has a teenage daughter named Lily (Sophia Hammons). As the two families navigate the complexities of blending their lives, a new supernatural twist causes Tess and Anna to switch bodies—not with each other, but with Harper and Lily. “Nothing brought the character to life more than just letting Harper take control of me and trusting my instincts. I was so encouraged to trust myself on this set and that’s so important to learn.” Butters adds, reflecting on how the role taught her to lean into her instincts.

It’s not every day that you also get to play-pretend to be the granddaughter of Jamie Lee Curtis, another seasoned veteran Butters can add to her already jaw-dropping roster of collaborators. And the scream queen herself was not short of advice for Hollywood’s youngest powerhouse. “Not only did she have so much perspective and knowledge about her job but also just being a human. One time she told me something along the lines of ‘Life is always going to be hinging, and it’s what you do in those two seconds where you can decide how you react that really matters.’” 

As for how she’s choosing to respond to this moment after wrapping up filming last summer, Julia decided to react in the best way that you possibly can: by letting it all sink in. “I’m definitely taking some time to appreciate Freakier Friday before jumping into anything new since this project was so monumental for me, but there is some fun stuff in the works.” However, don’t be surprised if her next act involves her diving into a whole new side we haven’t seen before. Before signing off, she teases: “Unrelated to any of that I’m fully gatekeeping my love for singing so I’m manifesting performing live, maybe even doing theater in the future, so stay tuned. We shall see.” 

This story appears in the pages of V155: now available for purchase!

Photography Mico Corvino

Fashion Roberto Johnson

Hair Ginger Ryan using Highland Beauty and R&Co

Makeup Shaina Ehrlich using 111 Skin & Hourglass

Manicure Nori (See Management) using Dior

Editor/Casting Kev Ponce

Text Christian Rosa

Studio Splashlight

Photo Assistant Meg McConville

Stylist Assistants Maya Jones, Starr Callahan