Anna Garcia: Breakout Star Learned “Poise and Grace” From Scarlett Johansson

Fly Me to the Moon marks a series of firsts for many of its participants. For leading stars Scarlett Johansson and Channing Tatum, it’s their debut partnership in heading a film. Johansson not only stars but also assumes the role of executive producer for the first time outside the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Furthermore, the film is a significant milestone for newcomer Anna Garcia, making her feature film debut after guest-starring in television shows like Superstore, Bunk’d, and It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia.

In Fly Me to the Moon, Anna Garcia plays Ruby Martin, the assistant to Scarlett Johansson’s character, Kelly Jones. This role had Garcia closely shadowing Johansson during the entire shooting process.

Speaking with ComicBook, Garcia shared her experiences and the lessons she learned from working closely with Johansson on the film.

“The first thing I learned is how to carry yourself with poise and grace,” Garcia revealed. “Being on set is an insane experience. Anything can go wrong at any moment. There’s so many people, and she just knows how to stay kind and level-headed and roll with the punches. I just feel like I learned so much grace from her.”

Life began to mimic art in unexpected ways for Garcia. “It was so funny. We shot a scene on the plane, and she had her scenes in front of her. She marked a little word, and I was like, ‘What was that? What did you do?'” Garcia continued. “I was becoming so much like an assistant in real life too. I feel like it’s an acting master class being around her.”

Fly Me to the Moon is set to hit theaters this Friday, July 12th.

The film explores the real-life space race of the 1960s but adds a conspiratorial twist. Woody Harrelson’s character, shadowy government figure Moe Berkus, approaches Kelly Jones (played by Scarlett Johansson) with a top-secret mission named “Project Artemis.” This mission aims to film a fake moon landing as backup footage, in case the actual Apollo 11 mission fails. Kelly Jones collaborates with NASA launch director Cole Davis (Channing Tatum) to captivate an American public that has grown indifferent to space exploration, all while keeping her secret mission concealed.