Julian Hilliard

The Boy Who Never Blinked

Julian Hilliard was born in 2011 in California. His entry into the industry was no accident, though it did involve some geographic luck. After a couple of commercials, director Mike Flanagan cast him as young Luke Crain in The Haunting of Hill House during 2018.

And the gamble paid off.

On the set of that Netflix production, he showed an unusual ability to hold a steady gaze. He didn't need big gestures to convey terror or sadness. During the filming of the basement scenes, the crew praised his almost military discipline through the long days of makeup and special effects.

Horror became his natural habitat.

In 2019, he worked alongside Nicolas Cage on the adaptation of Color Out of Space. The film demanded an unusual register, because Lovecraft's cosmic horror is difficult to perform for an eight-year-old. But Hilliard made the degradation of his character believable without falling into the typical habits of Hollywood child actors.

The leap into the Marvel multiverse

His global visibility changed dramatically in 2021. That year he played Billy Maximoff in the series WandaVision for Disney Plus. The role required him to handle a classic sitcom tone that later shifted into supernatural drama. As a result, his face appeared on millions of screens and built a fan base that analyzed every one of his gestures for clues about the future of the franchise.

But genre films came calling again shortly after. Also in 2021, he appeared in The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It, playing David Glatzel. The opening exorcism scene was shot with a physical intensity that exhausted the stunt doubles, yet Hilliard performed it with a technical precision unusual for his age.

He reprised his role as Billy in 2022 in the film Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. This time, shooting in London under Sam Raimi posed a logistical challenge due to the extensive use of bluescreens. Working with Raimi means adapting to a frantic camera pace and constant script changes during the same morning of filming.

Maturity in Front of the Camera

In 2023 and 2024, his profile began to move away from the child prodigy label and toward more complex roles. The shift from child actor to teenager is often where many careers come to a abrupt halt. However, his team has managed public appearances sparingly to avoid the media wear and tear that destroyed other actors of his generation.

And he kept control.

Away from the spotlight of the big franchises, he has shown an interest in design and photography. In 2024, his participation in independent projects that aim to showcase his talent for psychological suspense was confirmed. The industry especially values how his scenes often require fewer takes than usual, which significantly reduces production costs on high-intensity shoots.

His contract for the sequel to Doctor Strange included a three-year confidentiality clause that expired without any major leaks. His salary per episode on Marvel productions was above the average for supporting actors his age. Filming of his latest horror movie in 2023 lasted exactly forty-two days on location in Georgia.