Greg Staffa: 0:00

You're listening to the Staffa Corner Podcast, a Staffatarian look at entertainment and life with your host, Greg Staffa. My guest this episode is talented actress Sophia Woodward. She is best known as playing Luna on the Loudhouse Christmas special and the other Loud House episodes. Sophia, thank you for joining us today.

Sophia Woodward: 0:41

Thank you for having me.

Greg Staffa: 0:42

I want to get it started a little bit about your childhood. I grew up in the same house. I lived there until I was probably about 18 and then I moved out. But growing up, you were born in Oklahoma City and you ended up moving around a lot from to Virginia, Montana, California, New Mexico. What was that like growing up?

Sophia Woodward: 1:02

Um yeah, I'm always super fascinated by people that are born and grow up in one house their whole childhood. I think that's super cool. But I, yeah, I did have the unique experience of moving around a lot. I think it made me like a very adaptable child. And I I like to think that I was very good at making friends as a kid. I was very good at conversating with adults from a very young age when that came with just like growing up in the industry as well. But yeah, I definitely, it definitely just made me super social. I was just kind of a crazy kid. I mean, I would like stand by like the mailboxes in my new neighborhoods when I would like move somewhere new and just ask all the adults that passed by if they had kids my age that I could hang out with. And it made me an adaptable and social adult too. So going into the a more professional work environment as an adult and like moving six days after graduating high school, I felt very capable of being in new environments. Whereas, you know, I feel like kids who kind of grow up in the same place with the same people their whole life, that can be a little scarier. So honestly, I'm really grateful for it, but it was definitely a unique experience.

Greg Staffa: 2:24

Now you said that you, you know, you adapted, you made friends, but there had to be parts of you that it it took a while, at least at some points. Did that help influence your acting? Because I could see all that moving around where there were times where you were alone or just starting to get to know the area. Was acting kind of a way to to kind of escape from what you were going through and be other people? Because each city you moved to was a different chance to be a first impression, to be able to introduce yourself as you know, Sophia Woodward. Is that something that influenced your acting? That ability to moving around, uh being by yourself and kind of creating some some fun interaction for yourself and kind of escape from things that are going on.

Sophia Woodward: 3:15

Such a good question. I've never been asked that before. I yeah, I think so. I think I was actually, it was my sister's, my little sister's birthday yesterday. So I was looking at a bunch of like old home videos and stuff. And it's so funny. I watch all these videos and I am just like the most obnoxious child. I'm like singing and I'm loud and I'm dancing around all the time. So I think I always wanted like, and my mom always said that as a kid, I was just like the happiest kid ever. And I always wanted to play and I always wanted attention. So I think like I definitely just naturally lived in a world of make-believe as a kid. And yeah, I think it was it was a nice constant, even though I kind of started, I started at like eight when we moved to Montana. Um, there was I we were living in a town of like 5,000 people. And surprisingly, there was a really great theater program there. It was run by this couple that were like Broadway veterans, met on Broadway. They would bring in New York talent every summer to like teach the kids and stuff. So it was a really great kids' theater program for such a small town in the middle of kind of nowhere. Um, but uh yeah, I started there and immediately fell in love with it. And yeah, and then I started moving off and on from LA. And yeah, I think it was a fun way for me to express myself and a way to like feel emotions without feeling shameful of feeling the emotions, I guess.

Greg Staffa: 4:51

Was there a risk that doing the acting, you're settling you're you're establishing roots, or is that not a concern?

Sophia Woodward: 4:59

Doing acting, I'm establishing roots like in Montana.

Greg Staffa: 5:02

Yeah.

Sophia Woodward: 5:03

Yeah. I think um I we we were never really concerned with that. I think when you become concerned with like establishing roots places, or am I like getting too connected to something, then you never end up making any connection at all. So knowing that I was gonna kind of having that lingering feeling that eventually I might leave never really stopped me from making like close connections with people or you know, connections with the arts there, the community, whatever. I, if anything, it's only helped me. I still go back to Montana here and there. I have friends all over the country now from all of the places I've lived, and especially working in the industry, you meet so many people that live all over the world. So um, so yeah, I've that's never really stopped me.

Greg Staffa: 5:50

I have to ask, you had kind of said that you were, I forget the word that you use, but a little bit of a crazy child. Yeah, yeah. When you moved to a new city, was there any temptation as a woman that or as a child that it was interested in acting? Was there ever an opportunity where you created kind of a new persona for yourself when you moved into a new town?

Sophia Woodward: 6:16

Um, I think like it was never conscious if that was the case. But I think I'm very good at like switching hats. I I've been told one of my favorite compliments from people is that I do feel like I'm very good at making people feel comfortable around me pretty quickly. Um, and I think that comes from being adaptable and learning how to socialize flexibly at a very young age. But I don't think I ever consciously would put on a different persona. I just think I liked talking to people. I liked meeting people, and I think it's definitely rubbed off on me as an adult. I love meeting new people now. I'm constantly making new friends everywhere I go. So yeah, I don't think I I've never felt like I shouldn't be myself. I've always felt very like authentic to who I am. So I've never consciously put on a different persona.

Greg Staffa: 7:12

Now you started musical theater when you were around eight. At what point did you realize that this was something that would be a profession and not just a fun little thing that you do on, you know, weekends or nights and stuff like that?

Sophia Woodward: 7:27

Yeah. Well, I immediately wanted it to be a profession. I immediately thought, yeah, this is what I'm gonna do for the rest of my life. I want to go to New York. I wanna, and again, I had these great theater directors who really, really saw something in me from the that young of an age in Montana, who almost, you know, they kind of encouraged my parents. Like she really could make money if she you took her to New York. And my parents kind of talked about it, but then they were like, no, we're not taking our eight-year-old to New York. That's just a world we know nothing about. And then when I was 12, I signed with a local mother agency in Poulson, Montana. And they ended up getting me my first representation in LA. And again, my parents just really believed in me, but we really had no idea what we were doing. We didn't know how the industry worked or anything. But they were like, this is something she loves. It's something she's good at, it's something that we are getting feedback from professionals in the industry that she could be successful in. So why not just give it a try? So when I signed with, you know, some LA representation, we kind of came out. My mom, my little sister, and I came out for episodic season just to kind of see what happened. And I ended up booking uh my first job, which was a recurring guest star on uh the Fox show Lethal Weapon. And, you know, I mean, once you start booking, once you start auditioning, it's just kind of a snowball that keeps rolling. And to kill that momentum would be just such a shame. So it was kind of something that again, we were like, sure, we'll try it. And here I am, and I'm, you know, a working actress. So I'm very grateful. And to have parents that really believed in me and and wanted to see me succeed and wanted to fuel my dreams and my ambition. So I knew from the moment I stepped on the stage that that's what I wanted to do. I wanted it to immediately become a profession. And it took a couple years, but we really did get there.

Greg Staffa: 9:29

How well does the industry do? I mean, here you are, you know, a family from Montana, and people are telling you, yeah, she's good enough, yes, she can do it. Um, but it from I mean, I'm from Minnesota. Everything I hear about, you know, LA is it's cutthroat. It's I mean, it's people don't realize that it's basically you're going to a temp agency often trying to find work as an actor. I mean, how well do the people that are telling you all these positive things also preparing you for, you know, Lethal Weapon lasted for a couple of seasons, but then it got, you know, canceled. And so being told you're this good and this good, and then getting on a show like Lethal Weapon, which was very popular, but then losing it to go through that at such a young age, what kind of preparedness did the industry do to help you and your parents kind of get ready for that kind of stuff?

Sophia Woodward: 10:28

Yeah, I think I I think I was very prepared going into it. Again, we went into it not expecting anything. We weren't expecting to even like really get auditions or for me to book anything ever. And we people told us that. People were like, listen, you're talented, but it's like less than 10% talent in the industry. Everything else is timing and looks and and the right role, the right role at the right time, really. Um, and and networking and connections and who you who you know. And so I was very prepared and I faced a lot of rejection, but I didn't even really see it as rejection as a kid. I don't know. I think I was very good at bouncing back. Um, it was totally hard when I would get really, really close to a role. I remember when I was 12 or 13, I got really close to a role for um an ABC pilot. And it was just the first thing that I got super close to that uh didn't end up happening. And I think I remember I cried for like five minutes and then I was like, nah, it'll be okay. You know, it was it's initially super heartbreaking. Um, but I think in order to survive in this industry, you just have to have the thought process and the mindset of what is meant to be will be, and what's meant for me will find me, and you just have to trust that because otherwise you'll just drive yourself crazy. But yeah, I was I was pretty prepared, I think.

Greg Staffa: 12:00

Did all the moving around that you did help prepare you for that? I mean, one day you're on the Lethal Weapons set, the next day you might be on the the Loud House Christmas set. So it's like going from Oklahoma to to Montana or stuff like that. Did all that moving around, getting introduced to new people, did that translate into being on different film sets, having different directors, having did the two kind of correlate in how you were brought up, how you adapted and learned to adapt to each situation?

Sophia Woodward: 12:31

Yeah, absolutely. I I just think that that kind of bleeds into every aspect of my life because it was so a part of who I was growing up. But yeah, I think my parents very much raised me to be super adaptable and like be okay in the chaos. And I I I feel that I'm a very restless person now. I feel like I get super, um, I don't want to say bored, but kind of bored easily. I feel like I constantly need some sort of stimulation. Um, so even now where I'm in between projects, I'm just like, I'm I'm going crazy. I need something to focus on, something to work towards. So yeah.

Greg Staffa: 13:15

You went from Letho up then, and then tell us how you got the role as Luna.

Sophia Woodward: 13:19

Yeah, so I got the role as Luna. COVID had happened, which had kind of stalled the whole industry, as we all know. So then in about February or March of 2021, I got the casting call for Luna and I auditioned. And the casting director, Cheryl Levine, really, I really owe it all to her because she really, really saw me in the role. They were having a really hard time casting Luna. I was the last, Luna was the last role they cast for the movie. She said they were having a hard time finding someone of my generation and, you know, like a 16-ish year old trying uh acting like this kind of punk alternative rocker character. Very like, we kept kind of referring to Joan Jett and like Ingus Young. We made a reference to Ingus Young in um The Really Loud House. So it was hard to find a 16-year-old that could truly like embody that, that also had the musical ability and the singing and all of that stuff. And honestly, I did not have it at first, but she really saw it in me and she was like, I know you can do this. And I think my ability to play guitar, you know, when I first got the audition, there was a song bit in it, but it wasn't really like there wasn't music to go with it. It was like italicized words. So it's just lyrics. Um and when I got the script, I was just like, Well, let me just write a song. I played guitar, so I was like, let me just write a song with these lyrics. And I think that really helped me in the process. I think it really made me stand out because Luna's a musician and it's such a huge part of her character. So yeah, I went through honestly, I'm not gonna lie, it was the most grueling casting process I've ever experienced. And I think it was the most intense out of anybody that auditioned because there were so many rounds, so many director sessions. And then even like, you know, when I would do the director session, I, you know, I would do my scenes, whatever, and then they'd give me notes and then they'd say, we're gonna give you 20 minutes and then come back. And so then I'd go and work on it for 20 minutes. I'd get back on the Zoom call. It was a lot of retaping and retaping and retaping. I want to say it was about like two weeks of just doing a billion tapes for Luna. And Cheryl really pushed for me. She really pulled through for me. I will always be eternally grateful towards her for that because you know, that project totally changed my life. So I found out exactly a week before I was supposed to be in Atlanta that I got the job. So I really had assumed that I didn't get it because I hadn't heard anything. And then they were like, Yeah, can you come out to Atlanta in seven days? And I was like, Yes, I will so be there. So yeah, that was how I got Luna.

Greg Staffa: 16:14

And what was that like being? I mean, Lethal Weapon was obviously a a big show, but it really was the Luna role that kind of put you out there. Um what was that like to have that kind of change in how you were viewed? I'm sure your social media really took off at that point more than the Lethal Weapon did. What was that like to see that transition? And was that at what point did you realize that this is something that I've made it or that this is something that this was the right decision?

Sophia Woodward: 16:47

Yeah, I think I always knew it was the right decision because any opportunity that I can have to, you know, really perform feels amazing to me. But I think as soon as we got when the movie came out, I had just never been that big of a role in that big of a project ever. So it was always so exciting. It wasn't even like there was a specific moment. It was more just like, wow, this is all so insane. And then the the movie ended up breaking records, and it became the top kids telecast of that year of 2021, which was insane. It was like the most watched worldwide telecast of like children's programming. So that was a huge moment, and that was something where I was like, whoa, I nobody was expecting that to happen. And so then, you know, it did so well that they were like, let's make an entire show, which is also just completely unheard of. It's it's absolutely fascinating that, you know, it we did a movie for television that turned into another movie for television with the Halloween movie and also a two-season episodic show. That's just unheard of. And it's it really is a testament to the story and the characters and I mean the audience that it already had with the cartoon. Um, it was it's such an incredible blessing.

Greg Staffa: 18:19

Now you're at an age now where you've done like the lethal weapon where you had the child role, you have the youth role where you were a younger role, but now you're a young adult. And so you're seeing, are you seeing the casting kind of being like a teeter-totter where it's like one role they want you to play the younger, you know, child type thing, and another role gets offered that they want you to play a young adult? How is that kind of teeter-tottering going? And how is that influencing your roles? Are you trying to find more dramatic adult roles? Do you appreciate the the still being younger, you know, cute younger roles? How does that kind of influence the roles that you're looking for and the roles that you're taking?

Sophia Woodward: 19:01

I mean, again, I am not picky. I really do just love to perform and I love to act and I love anything that feels like a challenge or anything that comes naturally. I am not gonna really discriminate against a role. I'm super excited to try it all in my career. So yeah, totally I'm going out for more high school, younger, 15, 16, 17. I mean, 15, I feel like is a stretch, but I do totally go out for 15. And also, you know, the 23, 22, 21. I actually just went out for a role that was like 28, and I was like, well, that's a bit of a stretch, but I did audition for it. So yeah, totally different, different age ranges, which is also super fun to exercise different facets of your personality in that way. I think the high school stuff is fun just because I love a little coming of age, a little, you know, confused teenage angst uh brain. But um, but I'm also loving the more adult stuff too. I'm super excited for what's next in my career.

Greg Staffa: 20:08

Is there an unfair, I don't even want to say unfair, but is there an added burden added to women? Because I would assume, having had these child roles or childhood actor roles, that there is um an added pressure as a young woman to represent yourself for other children, for other young women to be a role model. Um but Tom Hanks, you know, never says, you know, I'm a role model for young men. Is there an added burden that we put on women that says that you also need to be a role model? Do you feel that, or is that just part of the job, or is that just that's not what an actress doesn't have to be a role model, you live your life, and if others want to appreciate that or follow that, that's great, but you're gonna be you. Do you feel that burden, or is it a burden, or not?

Sophia Woodward: 21:02

Yeah, that's that's an interesting question. I feel like I actually have never even thought about it like that, because you're right. I I do think that women, I mean, I heard a statistic the other day that was like women uh take up 80% of like consumerism, or not consumerism, but just consumption when it comes. I mean, you think about women consuming like beauty products and like clothes and that kind of stuff. So women are oftentimes consuming media at uh greater levels than men are, I believe. And what was so fun about the Really Loudhouse was that it was a show about 10 girls and one boy. And what I really took away from it was that I really believed that we were like kind of redefining what it meant to be a girl, because here you have these 10 sisters, and each of us had such different niche, independent personalities. And so it was just like 10 different representations of femininity. And I think that was really important for young girls to see. And I think even the men on the show, the young boys on the show, also had their, you know, unique personalities. So it was, I just I really loved how it encouraged, I hope it encouraged the children that watched it to be whoever they are individually, because it encouraged such specific individuality in each of the kids on it. So I I don't know if it's more pressure, but I do think, you know, and I don't even know that I feel it from the industry. I feel it in myself to be a role model to young kids because, you know, being on a show like that, you want to be someone that they can look up to and you're you're being a good influence for them. So I hope so. But I also want to be myself and I I try not to think too much about like social media or anything like that, because I feel like it really shouldn't matter that much. But yeah, I did love that aspect of the show for sure.

Greg Staffa: 23:10

You see, you don't worry too much about social media, uh, and yet you have a strong social media presence. What has that been like? Because I'm of an age, much older, uh, where social media is still kind of new, where you grew up in a world where social media was there. I mean, I I remember when Twitter started. Twitter has always been around for you. How much is it for you just posting stuff? And how much are do you actually engage with with fans?

Sophia Woodward: 23:41

Well, I have never been on Twitter, I'll tell you that much. I um I I really don't put maybe any thought into social media. I have always lived by, you know, people say a billion things in this industry about, you know, they're casting so much off of social media now, and it's so important to have a presence and yada, yada, yada. And yes, yes, absolutely. I think I do think that having a following automatically kind of helps uh because it's kind of free advertising for whatever project you're in. I think that casting likes that, but I just don't care enough about it. I really just don't, I don't put any thought into it. If I want to post, I will post. If I don't want to post, I won't post. Sometimes I go through week spans where I'm posting like every day. And then sometimes I don't post for a month because I just think if I put too much pressure on it, it's my account, you know? So I I'm gonna do whatever I want with it. People that want to follow me can follow me. The people that don't don't have to. It's really just I like using it just as my own little personal diary and of fun stuff that I do in my life, and I just try not to think too much about it. I I don't really, honestly, I don't really engage with people online. I feel bad, honestly. Like if I do it to one, I feel like I have to do it to all of them. So I'll engage here and there, especially when the show was on. You know, I I really loved seeing what people were saying about the show, and so I really did engage then, not so much anymore. But yeah, and that's kind of my mindset. I'm really pretty passive towards it.

Greg Staffa: 25:25

It has become interesting because you know, I've been doing this since 2012, and before it used to be, you know, Sophia Woodward, uh, who played Luna, Sophia Woodward, who is who is, you know, in Lethal Weapon, and now the first thing they say is Sophia Woodward, she has X many mo followers on Instagram, or she has this many followers on TikTok. And oh, by the way, she was also Luna and also Lethal Weapon, and it seems like social media has become the new barometer to prove that she is a star or she is worth having on, you know, the podcast or this show or or being considered. So it is an interesting kind of change in the dynamic that has happened over the last just the c last couple of years. So you did the the loudhouse stuff. Uh you have a new film coming out, is that correct?

Sophia Woodward: 26:19

Yeah, I mean, I just did a short film called Oceanless Beach that uh I actually was texting with the director yesterday. So he's submitting it to festivals now. Um we just got the final cut, so that that'll be super exciting.

Greg Staffa: 26:32

And that is more of a a young adult role. As an actress, do you feel like you're you're moving up as far as the roles, or is it just another role? I approach it the same as I did Luna, I approach it the same as I did Lisa Weapon when I was 12. How do you how is the way you're approaching now as a young woman changed or evolved through the years?

Sophia Woodward: 26:55

I think I try to approach every role as uh equals. You know, no role is more important than the other. But I think I've become a lot more comfortable in my abilities as I've aged. I think I had a lot, I put a lot of pressure on myself as a kid. I had a lot of anxiety. I think I was always really, really concerned about being perfect and everything being like incredible and like nothing I've ever done before. And that's just a bit unrealistic. So now I think my only concern is being authentic, and my only concern is being real and true to the character, true to the script, true to the given circumstances and and enjoying it and having fun and making sure that I'm staying true to myself and my character through it all. Um, my character as the written character and my character as myself. So those are I I think I've uh grown into that, and that's definitely how I've changed and shifted my perspective as I've gotten older.

Greg Staffa: 28:09

And are you excited for the possible film festival circuit to be coming up in the next year for you?

Sophia Woodward: 28:15

Yeah, absolutely. I mean, we'll see who who knows, but I'm proud of this character and I love the team that I worked with on it. So it'll be interesting to see what happens.

Greg Staffa: 28:27

I go to South by Southwest in Austin often. So maybe we'll see you there.

Sophia Woodward: 28:32

Yeah, maybe I'll be there. We'll see.

Greg Staffa: 28:34

One of the questions that inherently gets asked is what advice would you give to young women that are thinking about coming into acting? And I do want to ask that, but first I want to ask, what advice would you give for parents? Because it sounds like your parents were very instrumental in not only being supportive, but being, you know, we're not sure of what's going on, but we're gonna take our daughter through this process. Um, it sounds like without your parents and the way that your parents raised you, your success probably wouldn't have been as successful or even happened at all. So, what advice would you give to parents as far as how to get their kid involved because they're seriously thinking about acting, but also kind of protect them at the same time?

Sophia Woodward: 29:23

Yeah, um oh my goodness, to parents. I I was very lucky to have again, very lucky to have parents that believed in me and supported me and wanted me to succeed. I also was very lucky to have parents that said, you know, we do believe you, we want you to succeed and we will help you. But this is your thing. And you need to work hard. You need to show us that this is something that you're willing to do. So, you know, like if you want to take an acting class, you need to look up the acting classes you want to take and we'll, you know, we'll pay for it, whatever, but you have to. Do it. And from a young age, from 13, 14, my mom was like, listen, your agent, your manager, they're CCing me on everything. So I see it. But they have your email. They're emailing you. They have your phone number. They're calling you. So you get an email from your agent. You have to respond. You get a call from your agent, you pick up. You're having these communications, which was super helpful to me because not only did it teach me how to have business relationships from a young age, it also allowed me to have had such this, such a strong foundation with my representation from these young ages that now at 21, you know, I've known these people for almost 10 years. And they had they've known me for almost 10 years. And uh as opposed to my mom kind of being the main uh middleman or whatever. And now me at 21 being like, wait, how do I do any of this? I don't have this relationship with my manager where I'm able to just text her or quick question and that kind of stuff. And, you know, on set, my mom just like kind of sat in a corner and like didn't, she wasn't going around the producers, she wasn't going around to the directors, she wasn't like there to momage me. You know, she was, she wasn't a mommager. She was just there to make sure I was being safe, making sure I wasn't being taken advantage of in any ways, making sure I felt comfortable, walking me around, you know, and I think that really helped me. It made me very independent. It made me have the ability to have uh in-person business professional relationships with adults. And I think it also made me a more impressive kid to these, you know, producers and casting directors uh in their eyes when I was younger. So that was a long thing. But I guess advice to parents would be make sure it's your kid that's wanting to do it and and and you know, kind of driving the bus in a certain sense. Make sure you're not making them do anything they don't want to do because this industry really can be super soul sucking if you're doing things that you don't want to be doing. And make sure and also like the biggest thing is just make sure they're safe because there are people that absolutely want to take advantage of kids and just people in this industry. So obviously always be with your kid, never have your eyes off of them. Yeah, those would be my advices, my my advice to parents. But to children, I'd say it's all play. I'd say it's all play. Don't put too much pressure on it, don't put too much pressure on yourself, don't be afraid of looking like an idiot. The best work happens when you feel like an idiot. The best work happens when you feel like you look like an idiot. And also the thing that everybody says that if you can see yourself doing anything else, do that thing. Because again, this industry is so unpredictable. It's it's pretty hard at times. There's long droughts in between projects, and yeah, it can be a little uh debilitating and disheartening sometimes. So if you can see yourself doing anything else, do that thing. But if you can only do this, just see it all as play.

Greg Staffa: 33:20

Nice. Wrapping wrapping things up. I want to give you a chance. I I know you do more than acting. Is there any charity that you want to plug? Uh, talk about music that you enjoy because I know you do some music too. I just want to give you an opportunity to to plug anything you want to talk about, uh, plug any upcoming things that you're able to talk about.

Sophia Woodward: 33:40

Ooh, I love that. Um, I'd actually love to shoot shout out a nonprofit organization. I've been working with um this nonprofit called Allies for Every Child. I uh it's a nonprofit organization that helps with children in the foster care system and children and families below the poverty line. And I've been working with them a lot. And so if you're interested, you can go to their website and see how you can help.

Greg Staffa: 34:09

I'll put a link to them on the on the podcast. And then finally, again, thanks for coming on. Finally, when we talk about Sophia Woodward, it's often Sophia Woodward who played Luna. It's Sophia Woodward who was an lethal weapon. But when you get up in the morning and you go into the bathroom and splash a little wire on your face and look in the mirror, who is it that you see?

Sophia Woodward: 34:33

Huh, that's a good question. I just see I don't know. I just I see somebody doing her best. Somebody who loves her friends, somebody who loves her family, somebody who's just excited to be here. That's really all I see.

Greg Staffa: 34:55

Well, Sophia, thank you for taking your time and coming on. Really appreciate it. Uh, look forward to seeing how what you do on the the film festival circuit coming up, and uh look forward to seeing where your career takes you.

Sophia Woodward: 35:08

Thank you so much, Greg. This was so much fun.