Drama Queens - Work in Progress Q&A

Episode Date: June 6, 2024

It's Q&A time! Sophia is back, answering listener questions, including how she deals with stress, the women in her life who inspire her, the show she had the most fun on (you might be surprised), life lessons she learned from some of her jobs, and why she's happier than she's ever been! Plus, we learn Sophia's biggest pet peeve of all time, preferred self-care treatment, her favorite song on Cowboy Carter, who her one call from jail would be, and whether she's yay or nay on a One Tree Hill reunion!See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is an I-Heart podcast. Hi, everyone. It's Sophia. Welcome to Work in Progress. Hello, friends and listeners. Welcome back to Work in Progress this week. You all have been submitting some really great listener questions, and I just wanted to say thank you for for all your feedback on our Q&A episodes. I'm so glad you like them. I really enjoy doing this with you guys and so many good questions have come in.

And so we felt like this week was as good as any to jump back in and try to work through some of these. So let's get started. First question from Maria. Wow, this is really, oh, this is so topical, my dear, for me, you, and I think everyone else. Maria's question is, how do you deal with stress, specifically now when the world is kind of a mess? Oh, boy. Yeah, things feel really heavy, don't they?

It's hard when every second you, you know, turn on the news or open a paper. it seems like tragedy is everywhere. I think what I really try to remind myself to do is to hold the both and because it's not lost on me that for myself, for so many people I love, even things I hear from you guys, you know, out on social and in some of your feedback is that things seem more stressful than ever. The world feels messier than ever. And yet, people are in love. They're happy at work. They're so grateful for their families. And so I think what I try to do is remind myself to make room for both. And when things feel really, really stressful, I try to make a list of the things that I'm grateful for. I try to remind myself how lucky I am to have people I love. I love. I'm grateful for. I try to make a list of the things that I'm

grateful for. I try to remind myself how lucky I am to have people I love to call or lean on, to have joy in my life, to even to be hurt by what's hard out there. You know, I think a capacity to care for others is a beautiful thing. And so when the world feels heavy, I remind myself that that's a sign that I'm human. And that feels really important. You know, I think there's all sorts of things out in the world that encourage us to lose our humanity or to look at other people and say, well, what did they expect? Or are they signed up for that? Or they deserve to feel this way. And I really want to reject those, I don't mean to be judgmental, but like I would call them lesser human instincts, you know, maybe the ways that we can be a little base or cruel. And I really want to

go in the opposite direction of that stuff. So that's what I think is the best antidote to stress, gratitude, care, kindness. And then, you know, for our little individual bodies, probably boring, but sleep, water, taking vitamins, you know, doing little things to help. make your physical self more resilient. I think all those incremental little acts of self-care really add up to create big shifts. And so I try to make sure I'm thinking about all the good things and then doing small good things for my little body. And I hope you are too. Riley asks, what is your favorite show you've acted in? Oh my goodness. This is so for me because I cherish experiences on different things for different reasons. You know, I loved,

I loved playing Brooke Davis for nine years. What a rare thing that an actor gets to do that, nine seasons on a series, you know, doesn't happen that often. And I loved her journey, and I loved fighting for her, and I loved helping make her a person that I care about and that so many fans care about. And then, you know, on the flip side, working on Easy on Netflix with Joe Swamberg and Jacqueline Toboni, you know, a writer, director that I absolutely love, an actor that I absolutely love. You know, I just did one episode of that show. The series is an anthology.

That's how it works. And yet it was one of the most fun experiences I've ever had as an actor because, you know, the shows based on outline and then the actual scenes are mostly improv. And I loved the challenge of that. And I don't know if I could handle doing a whole series like that because the pressure is so crazy, but maybe, maybe it would be the most fun thing I've ever done and I've just never done it and I just haven't done it yet. So whether it's like such a long job or something that happens really briefly, I have attachments to different projects for different reasons. I've never been good at picking a favorite. So I hope that that's not a terrible answer, Riley, but I am sort of incapable of

doing that. Kayla asks, what project have you worked on that has taught you the most about yourself? Kind of a similar answer to the previous question. I think about learning through life, like climbing a ladder. And I think every time you level up, every time you climb a rung, you learn something new. Sometimes in, you know, in different phases of our lives, we learn versions of similar lessons. I think sometimes we get tested, you know, through the decades to see how well we can apply. our learning, our senses of humor, all sorts of things. So I think it's hard to narrow down on just one thing. I think working on One Tree Hill really taught me to advocate for a character, taught me to advocate for the women around me, definitely taught me in hindsight, I think, taught me that some battles are absolutely worth fighting and sometimes you just have to realize that you know not everything will be won or work out and that's okay too it's a it's a long life we lead um I would say the next long series I did in Chicago really taught me to advocate um at first I was

advocating for women you know for for a group of us for a community and then it really taught me that, you know, if you don't put your own oxygen mask on first, you're doing a disservice to yourself and everyone else. And that job ultimately taught me to choose myself and to protect myself. And that was a really valuable lesson, too. I think, I know I just talked about this show too, but working on Easy taught me that I love improv, you know, not necessarily a big lesson for me as a human and, you know, how I grow and show up in the world. But it was certainly an amazing lesson for me as an actor and a storyteller, and I loved it. Like, I can't talk about it without grinning.

It was just such a fun experience. And, yeah, I think every job, you know, can really illuminate something for you, whether it's in your creativity and your work or in who you, are as a person and the ways you're learning to, you know, move as a human in the world. And that's something I really appreciate, you know, in all the ways that my day job as an actor is so bizarre and, you know, requires you to kind of move around at a moment's notice and, you know, basically be like a circus performer. I really like that you have the opportunity to constantly, you know, meet new people, watch the way people work, learn new things. You know, when I made good Sam, I learned

that I actually really am fascinated by medicine in ways I always thought I was, but I didn't get to have the experience until I was, you know, shadowing surgeons and standing in operating theaters and, you know, getting to peek around inside the literal body cavities of patients and ask questions. know, what a profound privilege to get to do that, to get to stand, and shadow surgeons in the way that on set I've shadowed directors. You know, I always knew it was something that I wanted to learn more about, but I got to have the experience up close and personal and realize that, you know, it's definitely one of the coolest things I've ever been fortunate enough to see. And so, yeah, I think every project has taught me something, and I guess the overarching theme really is that I'm

curious. And I like that about myself. I guess I'd wonder for you guys what big lessons you take away from work and what things you really like that you've discovered about yourselves. Maybe send us some answers to those questions on social, because we'd love to know. Tia wants to know what woman in your life has inspired you the most. Oh my goodness. I have such an incredible community of women and friends and coworkers and mentors. And I'm just endlessly inspired truly by so many of the friends I've collected, you know, along the way in these past two decades of adult. And say the first person who comes to mind is Nia, my best friend, who is just so tenacious and curious and wise. And, God, she's just good at everything and manages to be this incredible professional and also the most fun person to go on an adventure with, go to a party with, hit a dance floor with. She's just, she's like the best person that I know. And I feel that way about, you know, my group of girlfriends back home in L.A. I feel that way about so many of the women that I've worked with on camera who have inspired me by the way they show up and the women they are behind the scenes. I feel that way about, you know, the folks that I've made friends with in the last, you know, half decade from across the women's sports industry who've managed to advocate for people.

pay equity globally and who have, you know, really helped inspire, you know, not only like my love of sport, but the way I show up as, you know, a part owner of a team. God, I mean, think about our whole executive team at Angel City, you know, so crazy. Like, I grew up playing AYSO soccer and now I get to collaborate with this group of women on one of the best teams in the league and watch, you know, the women that we support and the women who play for us and the women who work in our back offices. I mean, it's just like, I'm so endlessly inspired by the tenacity and the courage of the women in my lives in every vertical. And, yeah, I feel very lucky, you know, when I think about that first question from Maria, like how I deal

with stress. Sometimes I just think about the people in my life who I get to call on a day-to-day basis and think like, you know, yeah, I'm not going to deny that today's a hard day or that this crazy thing is happening, but I feel really, really lucky to be part of the community that I am a part of. And that extends to a lot of you, you know, I started this podcast because I wanted to have interesting conversations with people that inspire me. I mean, Gloria Steinem. Think about an inspiring woman. My God, my first guest, you know, back in 2019.

And to pick her brain about her advocacy and the way that she has stood up for the equality of women in this country and around the world, like, that's a dream come true for me. And the fact that so many of you show up to join me in these conversations and listen, like, you guys inspire me too. So add yourselves to the list. And now a word from our sponsors who make this show possible. This is a good shift. This is your favorite song on Cowboy Carter.

I mean, that feels so tough to pick one. the whole album is so beautiful. And I think one of the things that inspires me most about it is what an education it is for so many of us about the folks who helped create country music as a genre. It's really inspiring to me to see someone like Beyonce show up and give us all a history lesson on the incredible contributions of black artists to country. So I absolutely love that. And when I think about the way that she's partnered with so many incredible people to make this record, you know, traditional voices from country, historic voices from country, and then even like people who we just love. Like I, I love watching her journey as a

woman. I have loved over the last few years in particular watching Miley Cyrus's journey. You know, as a woman and an artist, Flowers was, like, definitely my theme song for a year. So I think this week, it's probably Most Wanted. It's the Beyonce and Miley duet. I just love it. It makes me want to scream, sing, and cry all at the same time. It's so beautiful. But I don't know.

Check in next week because I might be on a different one. Or who knows? Most Wanted might just be on repeat forever. We'll see. Ooh, this is a nice question from Elizabeth. What's been the best part of your 2024 so far? Um, wow. I think, I think the best part of this year, I really like to do a check-in on New Year's,

and my friend Kenny, one of my best friends years ago gave me and a bunch of our pals this like packet um of questions to fill out for new years and i just find it super inspiring and this year as i sat to like do this workbook and really think about what 2024 was going to have in store i realized that in some ways you know things feel harder than ever and yet i'm happier than i have ever been i feel less pressure to be what other people need me to be or to be concerned with other people's assumption versus the reality that I live in. And as a person who like literally came into my adulthood on camera with the pressure of the world, you know, looking in as I think anybody

who grows up quick on TV does, like that's a pretty profound way to feel. It's a know what is true and what is good and what matters to me and to the people that I love in a way that isn't, you know, swayed or pressurized from the outside. That feels like a pretty big deal. And to sit in that and really reflect on that at the start of the year. Yeah, just felt like a really major milestone. It took me a long time to get here. And I'm really grateful to be here and now being here, I really want that, you know, for everyone I know and everyone I don't, for all of you for sure. And then I think if I get like a little less sort of overarching theme, a little less meta, I'm really excited about some projects I've signed on to do

and a project that I'm pitching with some of my favorite people. And I just feel really inspired as an artist again, and that feels very exciting. So, yeah, 2024 feels like it's shaping up to be a good year. Tenley wants to know, oh, would you like to see a One Tree Hill reunion, or should this series stay as is? You know, I think my opinion on this has really changed, and I also think that's pretty natural. like you wrap a show after nine years and no matter how much you loved it. I mean, clearly I loved it. I sobbed every day for the last two weeks of filming. But when you rap, you're like, I did it. I'm done. I want to go do other things. You really want to have a new experience as an artist and a storyteller. And then when the girls and I decided to do our rewatch show when we started drama queens and really got to reclaim

Our first job, which was kind of our first love and, you know, get to really examine the show from such a distance that we could really watch it and experience it and not be like, I don't know, I don't want to say triggered, but kind of, not be triggered by it, not be like sort of yanked backward into it. It's been so cool. And I've really loved watching it. And I've loved getting to experience it the way the fans of the show. got to experience it. And in a way, I love it now more than I think I ever have. And so I think the right kind of reunion would be amazing. I also think when you did something really special, the wrong kind of reunion could be terrible. So, you know, I think if it felt like our podcast feels, if it felt like a reclamation, if it felt like a return to what you

is so good and a continuation of that and didn't require us to, like, keep the trash in the house, if you will, if you can follow the metaphor I'm saying here, I'm trying to keep it classy. You know, if we could reclaim it and take the trash out at the same time, I would say never say never. Oh, I like this question too. Allie asks, what do you admire most about your parents? Gosh, my parents are really cool and complicated and great. And, you know, we've got family stuff like I think every family does.

I think the thing that I really admire about them is, as I have gotten older, and really wanted to do the work on examining patterns and processing trauma and, you know, growing as a human, becoming a healthier human. My parents have not shied away from that. And I think for parents, especially, that can be really hard to, you know, unearth things about your family or to examine old wounds that exist, you know, with. within a family or to clue their kids in on things when their kids are suddenly their peers because everyone in the room is an adult now, you know? And my parents have been more and more as the years have gone by, more and more willing to do that. And that is something that to me speaks

to things I admire in folks that are older than me in general. I think intergenerational friendships are incredibly important. I really try to make sure I have a community that, you know, spans from 75 to 22. And what I respect about my parents, what I respect even about some of my mentors in the political space is people who become more and more progressive as they age, people who are more and more willing to make room for others, for their equality, for their needs, for their joy, for their ability to thrive, for their ability to ask hard questions and get real answers. Like, it's really something I'm passionate about. And so I appreciate that in my own family with my parents that every year they seem more willing to, you know,

show up as their whole selves and make room for others. And that's something I'm really grateful for. And if I zoom out, again, and I have to draw this parallel because A, it's true and B, we're gearing up for this election. And so I think it's an important thing to examine. You know, it's something I appreciate, like I said, about my mentors in the world of policy and policy. politics. It's something that I, you know, appreciate about people I advocate alongside, like folks who've been doing this for a long time who say, yeah, we tried something, it didn't work, we've learned better, we're going to be more progressive, we're going to make more room, we're going to give more resources to people, we're going to take care of more children,

we're going to get more kids out of poverty, we're going to feed more kids in school, you know, like the list goes on. We're not going to lean on these carceral options like we used to because now we know they don't work like all of that you know that is something that not only takes a willingness to evolve but to do it on a public stage takes a lot of courage um and yeah it's the reason that you see me advocate for the folks that i do in election years because that's something that's really meaningful to me So I think in the personal, you know, just me and my folks in my house to the, you know, nationwide all of us and the policies that affect us, I actually really see like a parallel there.

And hopefully you guys do too. And now a word from our sponsors. Catherine asks, what is your favorite self-care treatment that you like to treat yourself to? Oh, wow. My favorite, the thing that feels the most like a luxury to me is to get a massage. You know, my body is pretty shattered from years of doing stunts and getting injured and having to keep working and, you know, flying as often as I have to do my job, but also have any. sort of relationship with my family and friends back home because I never work where I live. And yeah, I think in recent years, like, I don't do it a lot. I wish I did it more. I've got friends who are like in their 60s who get a massage once a week. And I'm like,

wow, that's like real adulting, probably. You know, but I think about my 20s where I probably did it like once a year. And now I probably do it, I don't know, once every six weeks. So maybe I'm evolving in the right direction. But yeah, that feels like such a luxury, but also like medicine. And I think that's something I'm trying to wrap my head around is that there are kinds of self-care that actually help keep us healthy instead of the kinds of self-care we have to do to cope when we're sick. So, you know, I'm working on adjusting my, my perspectives on that. I think the biggest self-care, like daily change I've made in my life, though, is sleep. I'm actually sleeping like seven to eight hours a night now. And I never used to do that. Probably the whole time I filmed

One Tree Hill, I slept like five hours a night, which just was not good. It wasn't healthy. but when you're working 17 hours a day and you're trying to like have any semblance of a life around that you can you can start to sacrifice your sleep and I've just realized I don't want to do that and so probably sounds really lame but sleep is really the greatest form of self-care that I treat myself to the most regularly and yeah if you're an undersleeper please start sleeping take care of your brain and your body um take it from me took me a long time but i'm i'm really trying to be good about it oh samantha asks what is your favorite kind of pasta girl who could pick a favorite kind that feels hard um this is funny because i just

ate lunch and i had corketti with sausage and broccoli that i made so you read my mind um my favorite kind of pasta is every kind of pasta. I really would like to learn to perfect a carbonara that is on my list. So if any of you listening out there, have a good carbunara recipe. Hit your girl because I really need to know. Austin asks, what is your biggest pet peeve? Ooh, easy answer. I can tell you this because I travel a lot. People who watch things on the their phones on airplanes with no headphones. I think it is like straight up the most unbelievably inconsiderate thing you can do. Like we're all trapped in a metal tube together. The way sound travels on a plane and the engine noise and just like there's already so much noise in a plane

as it is, and to be like rapid fire scrolling through videos on TikTok or like playing Angry Birds with the sound on and no headphones, I'm just like, how can you subject other people to this? And, you know, I do know that I'm very noise sensitive with my particular, you know, version of being a little neurospicy, but like, I just think it's awful to force people to listen to terrible sounds in public. It's like you got to bring headphones, boys and girls. You just have to. That's mine. Chris, what is your favorite 80s movie? Oh, my goodness. I mean, the first thing that comes to mind is Princess Bride. I actually don't know if I think that's an 80s movie. Maybe it's an early 90s movie. I don't know. I just watched it. That in Flight of the Navigator, I watched. obsessively as a kid. Those movies really shaped me. So probably those two. What are your favorite 80s movies, guys? I'm realizing I probably didn't watch all that many because, you know, I was a little

baby. But yeah, tell me what you guys love to go back and watch from the 80s. I feel like I should add some things to the list. Christian, what is something that brought you joy in the last week? Oh, oh my goodness. Something that brought me joy in the last week, I went over to a friend for a big Sunday barbecue and we're at that stage now where parents are there and some of our friends have kids so there's kids running around and it was this moment where I like I looked around the backyard at my friend's parents laughing and all these kids running around in circles giggling and

I don't know it was just this really really cool moment where I sort of felt like I was suspended between these two worlds you know I remember what it would like to be a little kid running around the backyard on a Sunday with my friends and And I was looking at, you know, all these folks, like, in their 60s, just viving, having a time. And I was like, wow, I'll be there eventually. And this is so cool, like, to see all these sort of stages of life. It felt, felt like a moment that I wished my mind could take a picture of. I don't know if you ever have that, but I definitely have that where I look around and I think, God, I just want to snapshot this.

I don't want to forget what this feels like. The sun was out. There was a little breeze. Like, everything was just a vibe. And, yeah, I felt really grateful. And it was a nice moment to just check in with what that feels like, how nice it feels to have that sort of swelling in your chest and realize you're smiling, looking around,

and to just go, wow, this is really good. and there's a lot out there that's hard and there's a lot going on in the world that I know makes us all feel really uncertain. So for those moments that I just think, like, I want to remember this, I want to cherish this. I have so much gratitude because those are the ones, I think, that make all the other stuff worth navigating and doing you know, makes me really happy. And obviously, you know, the 46 times I've listened to Cowboy Carter brought me joy this week as well. For the world. Okay, Ava asks, who is your dream dinner party guest, living or dead? Oh, um, gosh, that is such a good, question. I wish I could build out like a dream dinner party table. Um, but honestly, it's funny.

There's so many people I'm so inspired by who I'd love to have a meal with, but for whatever reason, and maybe it's the last question making me really think about, you know, generations and phases in life. But you said living are dead. And I, like, what? I would give to be able to have dinner with my grandfather one more time. That would just be so cool. He passed away right at the end of season four of One Tree Hill, actually. And I would just love, you know, I was in my mid-20s then, and I would really love from this vantage point, like with all this experience under my belt, you know, the things I've done and the lessons I've learned and the successes and the failures and all of the things, I would love to sit down with

him and just talk about life now. There's so many questions I would have to ask him about his story and, you know, his relationships and the things that he survived and the ways that he served and yeah just so much i didn't know to ask when i was 24 but i would know to ask him now and that that's something i would really i would really really if i could snap my fingers and be in a parallel universe and have him i would love to do that so thank you for that question Ava, it's nice to think about him. Oh, my goodness. And then Emma wants to know who would be your one call from jail?

Nia, my best friend that I was talking about earlier, would absolutely be my call from jail. I would just trust her to sort things quickly and not panic. So I think she would really, she would really be the one. But now I'm like, well, what would I be getting arrested for? I wonder, that's a fun one to think about. Have any of you ever been arrested? I have questions. Who would your one phone call be from jail, friends?

That would actually be a really fun thing to hear about. So send us those answers in addition to any of the other questions you have. and we will do another one of these very soon. This is always really fun. Thank you for asking great questions. You give me a lot of very cool things to think about. And yeah, I look forward to the next one. Have a great week, y'all. This is an IHeart podcast.