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Woman Crush Wednesday
This week’s Woman Crush Wednesday is a young woman who you may not be as familiar with now, but who will surely soon become a household name. She’s a superhero in Marvel’s Runaways and a super star in real life, give it up for our wonderful WCW, Virginia Gardner!
WHO’S THAT GAL: Virginia Gardner
WHY WE’RE CRUSHING: Gardner stars as part human, part alien teen Karolina Dean in Marvel’s Runaways, which will air its third and final season on Friday, December 13th (Friday the 13th! Spooky! If you don’t watch it you’ll be cursed!). Gardner’s character is one of the six central teens who call themselves the Runaways as they overcome a past tragedy that pulled them all apart by reuniting against their common enemy, their parents, who have formed a criminal organization they call the Pride. Karolina Dean breaks away from the influence of her parents to forge her own path discovering herself and her sexuality, while also getting in touch with her special abilities to fly, glow, and shoot light.
In the wake of the recent announcement that this would be the show’s final season, Gardner thanked Runaways fans in a tweet for joining along on this “truly life changing experience” and also expressed her gratitude for getting a chance to “give a voice to the LGBTQ community” through her character. Karolina was the first gay character in the Marvel universe to have her sexuality out and confirmed onscreen, which is thrilling to Gardner, who told Elle in an interview last year that she has “always looked for roles that are standing for something, roles that we need for today, roles that young girls and young boys can look up to and learn something from.” Now THAT’S the kind of hero we need!
WHERE YOU’VE SEEN HER BEFORE: Gardner got her start onscreen in a 2011 episode of Hart of Dixie where she played Young Lemon. Her career took off from there, as she found guest roles in Disney’s Lab Rats, Fox’s Glee, ABC’s How to Get Away With Murder, and a recurring five-episode arc on ABC’s The Goldbergs all on TV between 2012 and 2015. Gardner has also made a splash on the silver screen, starting in 2015 as lead role Christina Raskin in sci-fi thrilled Project Almanac, and exploding from there, with notable roles as Vicky alongside Jamie Lee Curtis in slasher film Halloween and Iris in horror thriller film Monster Party, both in 2018. This year, you may have seen her starring in the sci-fi thriller film Starfish or guesting as Lucy in an episode of HBO’s The Righteous Gemstones. With all of the impressive credits that Gardner’s accrued in such a short span of time, there’s no doubt that her star will continue rapidly rising in the coming years.
WHERE YOU’LL SEE HER AGAIN: Say it’s Friday night and you’ve already binged the final season of Marvel’s Runaways and are looking for more new Gardner content. Well, fear not, fans! In 2020, your hero will return to screens near you in romantic drama film All the Bright Places, which features a star-studded cast including Elle Fanning, Justice Smith, Keegan-Michael Key, and Luke Wilson. Sounds like she’s got a pretty super career in the entertainment industry on the horizon!
