Julia Fowler is an actor, producer, screenwriter, author and creator of the Southern Women Channel, a YouTube channel with over 30 million views and a robust social media following. Julia writes, directs and acts in all of the videos for her channel. Her videos have gone viral, been written about in newspapers throughout the South, and were featured on The Today Show. Julia’s books, Talk Southern to Me (2018) and Embrace Your Southern, Sugar (2020) both released by Gibbs Smith Publishing, are collections of comedic essays and southernisms that have been endorsed by celebrated southerners such as Dolly Parton, Delta Burke, and Andie MacDowell. Julia wrote on the Netflix comedy, Country Comfort, adapted the acclaimed novel, Whistling Past the Graveyard, into a screenplay and was most recently hired to write the faith based screenplay, Tenacious, based on the true story of a Georgia football coach.
Julia was born and raised in Gaffney, South Carolina. She graduated Magna Cum Laude and Phi Beta Kappa from the University of South Carolina with a BA in Theatre and Dance and is a proud sister of Chi Omega sorority. While in college, Julia, with the help of her Mama and Daddy, opened a dance studio in Gaffney, SC offering classes in Tap, Jazz, Ballet and Clogging. After seventeen years of serving as artistic director and building award winning dance teams, Julia sold her dance studio and is thrilled that her hometown community still has a terrific studio, The Southern Dance Academy, in which to study her first love…dance.
In pursuit of her musical theater dreams, Julia left the sweet embrace of the South and landed smack dab in the middle of New York City. Her Southern heritage and clogging skills helped her land a dream job in the original cast of Broadway’s Tony Award winning revival of Annie Get Your Gun, appearing opposite Bernadette Peters and Tom Wopat. In the National Tour of Annie Get Your Gun, Julia played the conniving “Dolly Tate” and understudied the role of “Annie Oakley.” She played “Mrs. Potiphar” in the National Tour of Joseph and The Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, opposite Donny Osmond. She was also cast in the national tour of Victor/Victoria, in the Broadway workshop of Tommy Tune’s, Easter Parade, and was in the cast of the Hollywood Bowl’s 2012 production of The Producers directed by Tony award winning, director/choreographer, Susan Stroman. Her favorite regional theater credits include playing “Panacea” in Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Forum at both the Pittsburgh Public Theater and the Redondo Beach Performing Arts Center and Whoopee at Theater Under The Stars in Texas.
Julia made the move to Los Angeles to concentrate her acting efforts on TV and Film and to try her hand at screenwriting. Her very first screenplay was optioned by a major movie studio. After developing the project, the studio ultimately didn’t make the film citing concerns that the marketing department felt the film was “too southern” to be a success. This experience motivated Julia to create her Youtube channel. Julia’s Mama always taught her, “When life gives you lemons, put ‘em in your sweet tea and thank God you’re Southern.”
As an actor, Julia’s TV credits include: Modern Family, Vegas,The Closer, Up All Night, Ugly Betty, Hollis & Rae (pilot), Retreat (pilot), Shalom Y’all (pilot), Jake in Progress, Titus, The Man Show, PBS Rogers and Hart Special, The Tony Awards and she was the “Oscar Girl” at the 81st Annual Academy Awards. Julia also created and executive produced a reality pilot for E! titled, Growing Up Broadway. As a writer, Julia has developed projects with Warner Brothers, Reese Witherspoon, and Will Packer.
In addition to show business, Julia is a certified apparatus Pilates Instructor and a certified post rehabilitative breast cancer exercise specialist with over a decade of teaching experience. Julia is also an avid supporter of Meals on Wheels and Feeding America.
Julia is incredibly grateful for the talented Southern Women who appear in her videos and sincerely appreciates the tremendous support and enthusiasm shown by the dedicated fans of the Southern Women Channel. Julia currently resides in Greenville, SC with her husband, TV & Film producer, Sam Sokolow.
Instagram: @jredfowler Facebook: @Julia Fowler
