Who Is Julia Garner’s Estranged Husband? What to Know About Mark Foster

Julia Garner and Mark Foster are going their separate ways after six years of marriage.

Foster is a Grammy-nominated musician and the frontman of the band Foster the People. The couple first crossed paths at the Sundance Film Festival nearly seven years before tying the knot in an intimate courthouse wedding in December 2019.

"We went back and forth from having a big wedding to eloping in Vegas," Garner told Vogue . "We ultimately decided to get married at City Hall in New York City, just like my parents did 40 years ago."

In July 2026, PEOPLE confirmed that Foster and Garner have separated .

Here's everything you need to know about Julia Garner's estranged husband, Mark Foster.

He wrote the song "Pumped Up Kicks"

Foster is behind the catchy tune " Pumped Up Kicks ," which was released in 2010.

"I wrote that song in eight hours, and for me it wasn't necessarily more special than any other song," he revealed to Billboard in 2019. "The thing that made that song special was the public, and the fact that people thought it was special, and it resonated and it created a conversation. And I'm proud of the conversation that it created."

He grew up in Ohio

Foster grew up in Cleveland, per NPR . The singer is a graduate of Ohio's Nordonia High School . While Garner was born in New York, Ohio was a topic of conversation after she and Foster met outside of the Eccles Theater during Sundance in 2013 .

"In our first conversation, we realized that my grandmother lived in the same small town that his dad lives in, just outside of Cleveland," the actress revealed to Vogue . The magazine noted that "after that, they ended up seeing each other in Cleveland at Christmas time, year after year" before they were officially dating. Garner added, "It kind of became a tradition."

He got his start writing commercial jingles

Foster ended up leaving Ohio and moving to Los Angeles in 2002 .

Before his music hit the radio, Foster worked at the music production company Mophonics composing jingles for commercials, including Muscle Milk's " Spring Break It Down ." While working there, Foster also wrote songs for his band.

"Foster the People wouldn't exist without Mophonics," the songwriter previously told Bloomberg . "Mophonics is kind of a creative home for me."

The aspiring artist would stay back to write after others went home.

"For about eight months, I would just show up there every day. Stephan Altman, the head composer there, took me under his wing and kinda mentored me as a composer, but really, I was learning how to produce. When everybody else would go home at 6 p.m., I would stay back. That's really where I started writing Torches ," he said in an interview with American Songwriter .

In fact, Foster wrote and produced the band's hit tune "Pumped Up Kicks" in a "little writer's room at Mophonics."

Reflecting on his commercial days, the composer told Interview Magazine , "When I wasn't composing for commercials, I would write. Four months later, I started the band, and eight months later, we were signed. I went from one of the lowest places that I have been in my life and within a year was in the best place I've ever been."

He's been nominated for Grammys

Along with his band, Foster has scored multiple Grammy nominations . The group was nominated for Best Pop Duo/Group Performance and Best Alternative Music Album at the 54th annual Grammy Awards in February 2012.

"We're up against some pretty stiff competition," Foster told The Plain Dealer ahead of the ceremony. "Just being there will be an honor. I'm not really worried about it."

Although they didn't win that year, Foster the People was nominated again at the 55th Grammys for Best Short Form Music Video for "Houdini."

He collaborated with Taylor Swift

Taylor Swift released a collaboration of hers and Foster's—"Forever Winter (Taylor's Version) (From The Vault)"— on her rerecorded album Red (Taylor's Version) in 2021 .

Back in 2012, Foster spoke about writing a song with Swift , whom he called "super talented."

"It's a really cool song, you know?" he told Fuse . "We kind of just went into it casually, like 'Yeah, let's just jam and just like have fun,' and something really cool came out of it."

He slid into Garner's DMs

While they met at Sundance in 2013, the couple did not start dating off the bat, according to The Hollywood Reporter . The pair, who had not exchanged contact information, reconnected via Instagram before Garner started working on Ozark .

She told THR , "I was like, 'Who's this guy liking all my photos? Is this a stalker?' I clicked on him and I was like, 'Oh, Mark. Oh, he's cute. I'm going to follow him back.' Then he DM'd me."

He proposed to Garner with a poem

When it came to popping the question during a 2019 trip to Montana, Foster read the Netflix star a poem. Garner later revealed to Vogue , "He read me a poem he had written to me, and when he finished, he dropped to a knee and asked me to marry him."

The musician also wrote his bride a song, titled " Lovers in a Stream ," for their first dance at their wedding celebration.

He supported Garner at several awards shows

Foster was by Garner's side in 2019 as she took home her first Emmy for her role as Ruth Langmore on Netflix's Ozark . In her acceptance speech , the Inventing Anna star gave her then-future husband a special shout-out, calling Foster "the love of my life."

Foster was sitting next to Garner when she accepted her second Emmy in 2020 . At the end of her speech, Garner grabbed Foster's shoulder as she thanked her husband and her family.

Then in 2022, Garner won her third Emmy for her role in Ozark and Foster was present to once again celebrate her victory. The proud husband walked the red carpet with Garner in a black suit while the actress was seen in a dramatic black down with a cut-out in the middle. Garner even gave Foster a shoutout in her acceptance speech , thanking her family and husband for their support.

In January 2023, Foster witnessed Garner win a Golden Globe for Best Performance by an Actress in a Supporting Role in a Musical-Comedy or Drama Television Series for her role in Ozark . The actress was also nominated for Best Performance by an Actress in a Limited Series, Anthology Series, or a Motion Picture Made for Television for her role in Inventing Anna .

During her acceptance speech , Garner thanked her husband for his support.

He and Garner separated in 2026

PEOPLE confirmed that Garner and Foster have separated in July 2026.

Representatives for the estranged couple did not immediately respond to PEOPLE's request for comment.

Read the original article on People