Pop Culture of My Life: Julianna Margulies on Judy Blume, Sarah Silverman, and 'Black Mirror'

Fresh off The Good Wife series finale, the Emmy-winning actress dishes on her favorite movies, TV, music, and books, to celebrate the publication of her children’s book, Three Magic Balloons, spun from a tale her late father used to tell her and her sisters. Three Magic Balloons is out now.

The book I read in secret as a kid

Forever by Judy Blume. One weekend I carelessly left it on the coffee table. I will never forget seeing my dad pick it up to see what I was reading. I must have been 10 or 11. I dove across the room and grabbed it, then turned red and ran to my room.

The book I’ve read over and over

Anna Karenina. I read it in ninth grade and just kept on reading it. There was something that struck me to the core about Anna.

The last TV show I binged

Game of Thrones. I was late on this one. My husband has always been a huge fan, but I never watched with him. I was always learning lines and felt like I didn’t have time. Then on my hiatus one year, he asked me to watch. It happened to be the “Red Wedding” episode. I was mesmerized. I had to go back and watch from the first episode.

The last book that made me laugh out loud

The Bedwetter by Sarah Silverman. There are chapters that make you howl. Her and Louis C.K. [riding an elevator naked]! God, I wish I had been there!

The last album I listened to

Blackstar by David Bowie. I bought it when I heard he had passed away. Listened to it everywhere: at the gym, walking around the city, in my dressing room at work. Kept trying to imagine what it must have been like to know you were dying while writing these songs. Hauntingly beautiful.

My all-time favorite movie

Being There. Chauncey Gardiner! Love that character. A man of little words. I love that he just says, “I like to watch.” When I was in acting school, I used to go and sit in Central Park and study people, look at their body language, their behavior. Chauncey would always be there in my head saying, “I like to watch.”

The TV show that doesn’t get its due

Black Mirror.I think they made only six of them. Each episode uses different actors and different stories, but they are all tied together through technology. Brilliant on all fronts. Very scary, and I hate being scared, but I couldn’t stop watching.

The first album I bought with my own money

Breakfast in America by Supertramp. I was 11 years old, living in England, and that’s all we would do: go to each other’s houses after school and listen to this album. I know every lyric of every song. And when I hear it now, I’m immediately back in sixth grade.

The last book I read

M Train by Patti Smith. I didn’t want it to end. I could smell the coffee she talked about. I loved learning about obscure authors I had never heard about before. I started to take notes, to educate myself. I have my work cut out for me—my reading list now is so long, I don’t know what to read first. I love reading books that inspire me to read more books. What a gift she gave me.