Julia Garner on Madonna, Being a New Yorker, and ‘The Altruists’

Suzy Byrne

Jul 2, 2026

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June Diane Raphael opens up to Yahoo about playing Elle Woods's mother.

Playing Elle Woods's mother, Eva, in Elle is a full-circle moment for June Diane Raphael.
Like many young women of her generation, the actor was deeply influenced by Legally Blonde. The character showed a generation that they didn't have to choose between embracing femininity and being taken seriously.

"I feel like I was raised by her," Raphael tells me for Yahoo's Unapologetically series. "To now play the woman who's raising Elle Woods is such a trip."

The role in Prime Video's prequel series is a natural fit for Raphael, whose work — from Grace and Frankie to her podcast The Deep Dive and her decades-long creative partnership with Casey Wilson — has consistently explored women's friendships and collaboration.

"I think lots of moms and daughters are going to be watching Elle together, which is so cool," says Raphael, who has two children with husband, Paul Scheer.

Outfitted in pink for our conversation, Raphael reflects on what Elle Woods has taught her about confidence, why women need more than empty encouragement and what she's learned from mentor and former TV mom Jane Fonda.

What interested you most about playing the woman who raised Elle Woods?
I join so many women who are obsessed with Elle Woods and the original movie. She meant a lot to women of my generation.

I was 21 when Legally Blonde came out, so seeing this woman be so hyperfeminine — loving clothes, makeup, hair and all of the stuff — while demanding to be taken seriously and being really smart too [was powerful]. It's such a simple concept, actually. It's really quite basic and bizarro that there's a story to be told around that, but of course, there is.

Raphael and Lexi Minetree in a scene from Elle.

So she meant so much to me at that formative time. It's really special for me. I was so honored to be chosen to play this role.

Women are often told to be confident, but not too confident. If you're too confident, you get into trouble.
You don't get elected president.

What's your relationship with confidence like today?
I've always had an inner confidence, and I do credit my mom for that. But I've always had a sense of confidence.

I think that a lot of times we tell girls that they can do anything. We tell young women there's no ceiling they can't bust through. We see a lot of women on panels talking about how they're going to do it all and what their hacks are for being a working mom and all this stuff.

Raphael with Elle executive producer Reese Witherspoon and castmates Chandler Kinney, Gabrielle Policano, Zac Looker, Minetree, Tom Everett Scott and Jacob Moskovitz.

We do a lot of conversation around it, but I don't think there's actually a ton of real infrastructure and support for women. It can actually be very detrimental to say to women, "Yes, you can do anything you want!" and then not provide those pipelines — not provide child care and all of the things that deeply impact women's lives.

Some of those words start to lose meaning to me — like when we say "empowering." But at the same time, what's also very true is seeing characters who embody those ideas, are forging their way through the world and demanding to be taken seriously — like Elle Woods. [It] really helps us imagine that we might be able to do the same thing.

So both things are important: We need those stories because they help us on the inside, and we need more support that's real and tactical on the outside.

What role has comedy played in your life, not just professionally, but personally?
I came from a family with a very funny mom and dad, and there was a premium placed on making them laugh.

It's why I'm drawn to playing women that are complicated, demented and a little off — because I saw my mom have so many friends who were so interesting to me. I remember staring out the window and seeing my mom in the car with her girlfriends, if they went out at night, and they would talk for hours. I wondered, What are they talking about? I was fascinated by this intimacy and connection — these tribes of women who were getting through life together with each other's support. They were also really making each other laugh and having so much joy together.

I had that modeled at an early age, so [comedy] has always been part of my life. And if you're not in on the big cosmic joke of all this, it must be a miserable life. I don't know another way.

Raphael with husband, Paul Scheer, and sons Gus and Sam at the Elle premiere.

If someone discovered The Deep Dive 50 years from now, what do you hope it would tell them about what it was like to be a woman in 2026?
Jessica St. Clair and I are both actors and lots of times when we were coming up in our 20s and 30s, we'd be up for the same exact role. We'd be sitting in the waiting room together. Instead of being in competition — we already were competing for roles — and turning against each other, we turned toward each other and made each other laugh. We laughed about the situations we were in, and how messed up Hollywood could be, and we supported each other. [Even though] lots of times I lost the role to her and other times she lost it to me.

If someone looked back on our podcast and our friendship, I'd hope they'd be inspired by that idea — that you can turn to the women around you and build something together. Instead of vying for one very small piece of the pie, you can expand [what's possible]. It's not just Jessica — it's all of our girlfriends, from Casey Wilson to Melissa Rauch to Lennon Parham. We have a whole community of actors, writers and comedians who have really been there for one another professionally and personally for years. That group of girlfriends is one of the things I'm most proud of.

You spent years working with Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin on Grace and Frankie . What did watching them up close teach you about building a long creative life?
So much. From Jane and Lily, I learned just how open they are to feedback. They've won Oscars, Emmys and Tonys — a million different things — yet they don't work with any ego. If someone's got an idea, they're like, "Oh, please give it to me. What do you think I should do? What would make this better?" There's no sense of, "Oh, I'm so good that I don't need your direction or collaboration." I was so blown away by that, and it was really important for me to see.

Raphael says she learned many life lessons from her Grace and Frankie costars Lily Tomlin and Jane Fonda.

Jane is a real mentor for me. She's never done working on herself. I always thought that at that age I'd be like, Whatever I am, I am, and that's all you get. She's constantly spending every bit of privilege she has in this life on all the causes she cares about and a better future for my children and her grandchildren. But also, she's always interrogating how she can show up the best she can. That's been a huge inspiration to me.

Both of them have been formative people in my life. I'm really grateful to have had them.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.