By Julia Novis
With two EPs and her first feature-length film under her belt, Sophie Telegadis is just getting started. Bursting with creative energy, she’s excited to continuously roll out new music and to push herself onscreen.
Sophie hops on a call with me, immediately apologising for her swollen cheeks, she just got her wisdom teeth out the previous week. I tell her she looks better than I ever did post-op, and I’m immediately captured by her earnest sweetness. We start chatting, talking about surgery and having flashbacks to schooling in lockdown and before we get too off track, I have to remind myself that I’m here to interview her, not to make a new friend.
As we talk, it becomes clear that Sophie is most at home whilst playing around with different creative endeavours. She’s working on her first album which is due to release this forthcoming spring, and looking for acting projects that allow her to become someone else entirely. She’s also just happy to be here, constantly expressing her luck and gratitude for working in the entertainment industry.
Julia Novis: Your most recent EP, Salvation Mountain just came out. I’ve been listening to “Slab City” the entire weekend, so if you see a serious uptick on UK based streams, that was me. What was the process of writing that like?
Sophie Telegadis: It was a unique process, I will say, considering my process of making music thus far. I think it was exciting because the pressure was so off. When you’re writing music about yourself and your own life, you can get really caught up in the reaction of the people involved in your stories, or how it might make you be perceived by the public. You never really know how people will take it. But in this case, I remember specifically that it was right when the fires were happening in California and we were really struggling to find a purpose of what to write about in that session. I remember we were really stuck, and I didn’t want to talk about myself in that moment. I’m also an actress, and I had auditioned for something that was surrounding the location of Salvation Mountain, and it kind of sparked this interest for me. In the studio one day, I started scrolling, and I was like, I’m going to research this place a little bit. And then I ran back to the studio, and I was like, I know what we need to write about, I have this idea. It grew from “Slab City” being the core of it all, and so creating a world around it was just so fun. It was pure storytelling and a mixture of fiction and research and just a little fairy tale land of things.
JN: How do you think the process of this EP compared to your previous experience making music?
ST: I think with my first EP [Honesty Project] it was my first experience really in the professional space of music, and especially my first project being released under my label, RCA. They are amazing, they give me so much creative freedom. I will say though, there’s the pressure of your first project, you want to be authentic to yourself, but also at the same time you want to feel like you’re catering to people and still making yourself happy. I feel like I was taking pieces of certain things I wanted to do but trying to make it more easily digestible. And then with Salvation Mountain, my label has no idea what was happening in the studio.
JN: They said “we trust you: go play”.
ST: And that was precisely what we did. I think because of that, and because there was no feedback [throughout the process] we just got so lost it in, and it worked in our favour. It just became this cohesive world, and I’m so proud of it. I think my biggest takeaway from these two projects was that for Salvation Mountain I was way more experimental, and with Honesty Project it was a lot of the things I knew.
JN: You only get to have your debut once, and so I think once you rip that band-aid, all bets are off.
ST: Exactly! I’m like, all right, we’ve done it. We jumped in the pool, it’s time now.
JN: So you’ve done a lot of different things, you’re a real multi hyphenate. Were you always this creative as a kid, and what do you think led you to pursue all these different endeavours?
ST: I’ve always been super creative, and I’m a strong believer that true creatives want to have their hands in so many different creativity jars. And so, for me, it’s been a mixture of so many things. Obviously, career-wise, it’s been consolidated into music and acting, but in my day-to-day life I love anything within the arts. I’ve always loved painting and drawing, and I’m big on knitting and crocheting. Since, I was around five, it was me and my grandmother knitting.
JN: That’s impressive! Like hats off to you, I’ve made one really sad granny square and that was about it. I’ve hung up the needles.
ST: That’s my safe space; I love doing that. I would be taking the train into New York as a kid, going for like modelling things, as city kids do, and I’d be crocheting or knitting with the other grandmas on the train. That was always my thing. And any form of art, I think it’s such a beautiful way to express yourself, and I’ve always been drawn to it.
JN: All right, pivoting a little bit to acting. You’ve recently been in Driver’s Ed, congratulations!
ST: Thank you!
JN: So were you already a fan of Bobby Farelly’s work beforehand? What was it like dipping into that world?
ST: I was a huge fan. I grew up, as many other people did, with There’s Something About Mary and Dumb and Dumber. Those are just staples in the comedy world, so even just getting that in my inbox from my agent, when I got that audition, it was so exciting. And of course, I rewatched so many [of his films] and it just made me more excited. Even when I auditioned for the movie, I felt this connection, and I ended up booking the role in a really rare way. I only presented one audition and ended up booking through that. Sam [Nivola] and I didn’t do a chemistry read, but it all worked out. Bobby is an iconic comedy director and working with him and his son as co-director was just a lovely experience. I lived across from them in the hotel, and we could have like a prank war throughout filming. I got super close with Bobby and his whole family; they’re like an extended family to me now.
JN: You were working with pretty seasoned actors and a very notable director. What did you pick up and learn from your co-stars on set?
ST: It was such a dream to work alongside people like Kamal [Nanjiani] and Molly [Shannon] and all these hilarious people that I grew up watching. Molly on SNL, her characters were implemented into my childhood, so getting to know her within work and on our free time, was so lovely. But then also, they’re such real human beings, that have so much knowledge with the entire path they’ve gone down in their career, but it was such a welcoming space. There was this feeling of welcoming to all these ideas and comedic relief, you never felt like you should be scared to try something out. Every once in a while, Bobby would be like, I’m not sure if this is feeling natural, just do whatever feels right. In some ways that can be scary, but then in other ways it’s really rewarding when you get a laugh out of everybody, especially these people that you find are the funniest people ever, and you could never match up to it, and yet, they will give you your flowers. I was sitting with Molly at the premiere, and she was so complimentary, and it was really nice to see her reaction, it was very rewarding.
JN: And looking forward, what would be your dream project?
ST: I will say that genre wise, I really want to do something that challenges the psyche, and you have to really dive into the character, whether that be a biopic situation where it’s very dire that you get everything correct, or that be just a very psychologically deep, rooted role that is just a complicated character where you have to convince the audience to hate you and love you at the same time. Things like that are very challenging, but again, very rewarding when done correctly.
JN: And do you have any characters growing up that stood out to you as a moment that made you think, “okay I want to do this” or people that you listened to as a kid? Are there any iconic roles that you’ve seen have had a lasting impact on your career, or maybe were inflection points when deciding what you wanted to do?
ST: That’s such a tough one. I think there’s so many routes I can take with that question, but I think as a kid, being really young, and not really understanding the art of it, and just understanding the feeling, when I was really little Disney princesses were such a huge thing. Specifically Rapunzel I was so infatuated with.
JN: Oh I can totally see that!
ST: Right now I’ve got the short hair right?
JN: Listen we can get some extensions. Someone can make some calls, you can sing…
ST: Oh that would be my dream!
JN: We can manifest, get some Etsy witches on it.
ST: I think just the magic of it all was so intriguing to me. But as I grew up, I developed a more seasoned palette with both music and films, I think. A situational aspect of the conversation between two characters, and it feeling so intimate and real, and it pulls you out of yourself when you’re watching it. It was also so intriguing to me to be able to step out of myself and become a character. I think it was this never-ending possibility world, and I always loved the idea of it, and I love that I’m allowed to partake in it as a career. It’s never lost on me how lucky and grateful I am to be part of this entertainment business.
JN: I saw that you were wearing a vintage dress for the Toronto International Film Festival premiere, you looked incredible. What was your relationship with fashion like growing up? Is it another creative avenue that you are exploring, or something that you use to get into character, or if you’re working on different projects, does fashion play into getting in and out of these roles?
ST: Fashion has always been a huge part of my life since I was a little girl. I think that was actually the first outlet that I really dove into in the creative world. I wanted to be a fashion designer when I was a kid, I would make my own little creative lines. Within characters, it’s huge for getting into characters with hair and makeup, especially if it’s something very different. For Driver’s Ed, it was pretty similar to who I was in high school, but I think there was a positive in that because I felt like myself in some ways. With my music I really dive into a 70s kind of world with what I wear. I think it helps me get into character of my artistry, of Tele. I’m not Sophie when I’m on stage. I really try and create this world of being pulled back in time, and it really helps confidence wise. I think fashion really coincides with confidence.
JN: Alright, and finally, what can we expect to see from you in the future?
ST: I’m currently working on an album, so hopefully that is being shot to come out this upcoming spring. It’s very big for me to continuously roll out music, because I’m continuously coming up with new ideas, and I don’t want it to feel dated, so I like to have a really quick rollout with my music. I’m really excited for the album, because a big portion of that creative idea was having a live feel, I re-recorded the demos in a live studio, I thought that it would really help amplify the grit and emotion of these songs. It’s such a dichotomy to who I am as a person, because I’m just very happy and like “sounds good, that’s great” but when I’m singing these songs, I feel like I’m on top of the world, and it feels very powerful. I’m very excited for that, and then just continuously going on auditions, and fingers crossed for upcoming projects. A lot of new visuals and sounds and things in the future for both Tele and for Sophie.
STILLS
Talent @sophietelegadis
Photographer @sabrinasvictoria
Stylist @frannieanne
Hair Stylist @ianjameshair
Makeup Artist @thegabriellealvarez
Camera 1st Assistant @saulryers
VIDEO
Director @directedbymom
Cinematographer @andrewgsalama
Poem @sophietelegadis
Song Snowbird by Sophie Telegadis
Editorial & Creative Director @huwgwyther
Editor-in-Chief @olivwalton
Photo Editor & Production Director @em.christopherrr
Art Director @h_azelgraham
Publisher Stuart Jackson
Global Comms Director @charlottejmorton
Producer @lilybbbfaid
Producer @alessandraiellamo_
Digital Features Editor @phxza