Today we’d like to introduce you to Sofia Smith.
Hi Sofia, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
Nederland Colorado is where I was born. The mountainous realm where snow fell more than it didn’t. My name “Sofia” was thought up by my dad because he learned it meant wisdom. I had the privilege of spending half of my childhood roaming the woods and playing endlessly as if I was a character in “Lord of The Rings”, jumping on trampolines with my dogs and endlessly laughing with my little sister Zoe as we pretended to be fairies and princesses up on our high hill kingdom my dad had built with 113 logs. As a family, we moved to Virginia to begin a new chapter, and I started homeschooling with my sister and friends we made along the way as we got plugged into the community down in Schuyler Virginia.
The second half of my childhood consisted of helping my mom build a farm and learning to fit in with a new way of life whilst growing into my character. I learned that I not only enjoyed to learn in my imagination for play but to create stories. I would direct our friends in music videos we made with my IPad and do skits with whomever was willing/ I could grab to be in one of my newly imagined stories. When I got to high school, the world began to feel as if it was spinning faster, and I couldn’t keep up. I was still homeschooled but even more influenced by the world and friends around me, whom told me that I had to be a certain way.
The imagination within became hindered with expectations and family confusion, as I just turtle-shelled into myself. I decided, with push from my mom, that if I hated this phase of school so much, I should join a community college. I enrolled in 10th grade and was there for the next three years, where I grew, lost, pushed, and was given the ability to pave my own way without the influence of flawed expectations from my peers.
In the fall of 2018, my sister Zoe made her way to Heaven after enduring one of the most painful and unexplainable forms of cancer, Rhabdoid Sarcoma. Only 19 children in the world had had it at that time, and Zoe beat every odd that the doctors doubted until she accepted that it was time for her to receive God’s wing, lay down her sword and say goodbye.
Her journey changed the course of my life and not only mine but my entire family (including extended). Faith – Faith is what was added to my life through Zoe’s journey and I began to Believe everything she fought for on November 11th, 2018, the day she passed.
The only reason I did not fall into depression or give up on myself and my dreams was because of that Faith I gained through Christ.
I didn’t know how it was supposed to work, but if Zoe could hold onto it and trust as she laid there, 67lbs and dying, I could.
After Zoe made her way to Heaven, I was blessed with a new best friend, my boyfriend Gareth Wittig. It was like Zoe left and fully took care of me by replacing that empty space with a boy who would become exactly what I needed during that time. He has and still pushes me in my Faith and character every day as we grow into our young adult selves, coming to each challenge with patients and eagerness to learn about one another.
After Zoe passed, I stepped back into my storytelling self and wrote a short film, which I directed and played a part in. I gathered, again, whomever I could grab onto and made the short film about a young girl who has a fear of skateboarding but desperately wants to do it and be talented like her best friend. On top of that, she had just announced that she was gay, gets bullied and so she has to overcome fear and disrespect because no one is going to do it for her.
As I look back, that film expressed what I was going through at that time, but in a different lens. I was now a Christian, without a community to support that character change, and wanted/was going to pursue my dream of storytelling and acting.
Fast forward to 2022, I felt that God was calling me to Atlanta GA to one, obey the call, and two, step further into this dream I have.
With a few shorts and a feature film under my belt, I pray that I am able to bring newness and clean expression of inspiring stories to whomever is meant to experience it.
I thank God, Zoe and my whole family for supporting me!
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
It has not been a smooth road! In fact, I don’t think that any of us have a smooth road. But as for me, the loss of my sister, creating a relationship with God and certain family dynamics and trauma has been hard to overcome. But I can say that it has been a lot easier because I have allowed Faith to take the wheel and gently work with me in my faults and trauma.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I am an actress who has taken the past three years to intensively sharpen my craft. Specifically, I have done short films and feature films, but I don’t think that “on set” experience is the only way to gain knowledge of character and storytelling. For one of those three years, I took time to dive into imagination and the reality of people and step away from the fictional path that most coaches/celebrities tell you to go down. I traveled to Hawaii, England, Italy and Greece, where I got to experience all kinds of people and observe unimagined but organic human behavior. Furthermore, I was a nannying throughout this time to keep up the income, and instead of standing idle while the kids play or go crazy, I used my stories and imagination to challenge the children and myself. It was a year of play. Not to mention, “play” is one of the most important verbs in acting. You solidify yourself in YOU/your character and play.
I am very grateful and humbled by the feature film I got to play the lead in called “Tableau”, during the months of September and October of 2021. The film was recently aired in the Charlotte and Carrboro film festivals this past fall.
I am very thrilled and trying my best to wait patiently for another growing and expressive experience where I can use what I’ve learned on set and in the world!
We’d love to hear about any fond memories you have from when you were growing up?
I have many, but one of my favorite memories as a child is when I was about 4 or 5 years old. It was the middle of winter and, whilst still living in Colorado, it had snowed over 6 feet. I went over to my sister and said, “Zoe, do you want to go dig tunnels in the snow and build a snow village?”
Zoe being 2 or 3, nodded.
“Mama!” I said, “Can we have two spoons and go outside and dig tunnels?”
“Sure!” my mom replied.
So we got on our three layers of snow gear and went out into the wonderland.
Zoe lasted maybe 10 minutes, and I realized she wasn’t helping anymore so I gave up soon after as I sweated profusely under my three layers. My mom called us in for hot chocolate, and we ran inside. by ran inside, I mean struggled intensely to get our little legs through the snow that was taller than us all the way to the front door.
With the rosiest of cheeks, we sat in our last snow gear layer by the warm fire stove amidst the tall wooden walls of our log home and drank hot chocolate.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sofiavsmith/
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC1OODsCofjvP-rhxHnK0irQ
- Other: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T9oZp3djT9I&t=4s
Image Credits
Maria Webb Esther Otis
