Who is Julia Butters? Everything to know about her latest character in Freakier Friday

Freakier Friday, starring Julia Butters, is a 2025 Walt Disney Pictures sequel to the 2003 family comedy Freaky Friday. The film is directed by Nisha Ganatra and written by Jordan Weiss, bringing together the original actors Jamie Lee Curtis and Lindsay Lohan and introducing a new, multigenerational twist.

In Freakier Friday, Julia Butters portrays Harper Coleman, Anna’s teenage daughter, who will become a vital component of the plot regarding her connection to her mother and the future stepfamily.

The film was released at the El Capitan Theatre in late July 2025 and released nationwide in U.S. cinemas on August 8, 2025. In Freakier Friday, Butters makes the leap from acclaimed child roles to a leading role in a major studio film.

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Julia Butters’ role as Harper Coleman in Freakier Friday

Freakier Friday NYC Special Screening - Source: Getty

Julia Butters plays Harper Coleman, a teenager who deals with the awkward, emotional landscape of having her mother, Anna (Lindsay Lohan), get remarried and mix two families.

Harper is a rebellious and emotionally reserved character who develops through a clash of personalities with a potential future stepsister (Sophia Hammons). It escalates into the film’s central conflict, a new magical body-swap scenario that forces characters across generations to literally and figuratively walk in each other’s shoes.

A still from the trailer of Freakier Friday (Image via Disney)

From a character standpoint, Harper’s arc moves from resistance and guarded cynicism toward increased understanding. There is also comic relief within scenes when generational characters exchange identities, with Julia Butters performing alongside Lohan and Jamie Lee Curtis.

Julia Butters’ casting in this role follows her earlier mainstream recognition in Quentin Tarantino’s Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood (2019). On television, Julia has appeared in four seasons of the ABC sitcom American Housewife (2016–2020), starred in the Netflix action thriller The Gray Man (2022), and appeared as a guest star in Criminal Minds, Transparent, and Best Friends Whenever.

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About Freakier Friday

Freakier Friday takes the original concept further, making the body swap a multigenerational issue that includes mother and daughter characters at different life stages.

The screenplay (Jordan Weiss) and direction (Nisha Ganatra) re-contextualize the premise to modern audiences, with the blend of families, identity, and empathy woven into the spotlight of the recognizable comic set pieces.

With a cast combining original franchise veterans and new actors like Julia Butters, the film is said to have a balance between nostalgia regarding the original film (2003) and a new emotional investment.

Thematically, the movie is an extension of modern debates regarding stepfamilies and communication across generations. The movie creates emotional resonance through the magic device and forces characters into honest conversations they had avoided.

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Freakier Friday is currently in theaters nationwide.