If you grew up around the ’90s, you grew up during the golden age of the great American family situation comedy: family affairs, fresh prince of bel air,certainly, Full house. If there’s one thing we all know about these wholesome classics, it’s that there’s a lovable loner or edgy outsider in each of them—and there’s nothing more iconic than that. Full houseThe bad girl’s best friend with the resting bitch face, Gia.
It’s been decades since Stephanie’s frenemy first stirred up drama in the Tanner family, but the actress who played her, Marla Sokoloff, has given us more memorable characters over the years: Jody Party of fiveWeimar is in Dude, where’s my car?Lisa is at sugar and spicesLucy practice. She even played Joey’s sister in one episode friends. So what about her latest role? Well, it may well usher in the return of another era of nostalgic television: the rise of the romantic comedy.
Sokolov will join Britt Robertson and Chad Michael Murray on November 20 romantic gentleman on Netflix. But Sokolov not only plays Robinson’s sister Mary in the film; She also wrote the film. Points? Robinson plays Ashley, a former big-city dancer who sets out to save her parents’ small-town performing arts venue. Taking advantage of herself, she decides to put on an all-male Christmas-themed revue.
Scary Mom caught up with Sokolov, who lives in Los Angeles with her husband and their three daughters, Elliot, Oliver and Harper, to chat about movies (including Maury’s Abs ), Christmas of all things and the advice she constantly gives her girls.
Horror Mom: Thank you, friend, for writing this movie and doing the Lord’s work. How did this happen?
Marla Sokolov: This is so interesting, God’s work. I’m dying. Well, the producer of this movie, Jeff Shank, is someone I’ve worked with before and I really enjoyed working with him. He called me one day and said, “I have an idea for a movie and I was wondering if you’d be interested in writing it,” because I’d written other things for him before. So, I can’t believe this actual idea, but it’s a very interesting concept. I think he gave me a line and I just ran with it. It’s interesting from a female perspective because like you said, we all know what we want to see.
SM: The news was immediately shared in our work chat and the excitement was palpable.
MS: To be honest, with Chad Michael Murray, I just think it’s very exciting for my generation, even my 12-year-old generation. I don’t think she would know who he is because one tree hill no longer popular and gilmore girls She’s older, but she’s losing her mind over Chad Michael Murray.
SM: There’s a very memorable moment in the trailer where you’re taking some measurements for his character Luke…
MS: Oh yeah, his abs are all there.
SM: What was it like working with Murray and the rest of the cast? I heard they were really serious about dancing.
MS: They did it, which is great. When it was greenlit, I said to Peter Sullivan, the film’s director, “I know who you need to hire as the choreographer—my friend Christine Lakin.” You may know her. step by step;She has been around since the 1990s. She is amazing. These guys all did such a great job and really dedicated themselves to these dances. They rehearsed for hours on end. I don’t think any of them had eaten any carbs in months.
SM: Gentlemen, we thank you for your service. You also star in it. Mary, what is your personality like?
MS: So, Mary is Britt Robertson’s sister, a girl who never really left her hometown. She had a husband, and through meeting Mary, she became one of the dancers in the all-male revue. She is the voice of reason. She really just wants the best for her sister, and that definitely means finding love.
SM: Speaking of family, I know you’re as much of a Christmas girl as I am. What are your family’s favorite movies to watch during the holidays?
MS: I don’t think we’ve seen Christmas Elf and home alone. I know some people will say, “Oh, home alone It doesn’t have to be a Christmas movie; it just takes place at Christmas. But to me it brings the Christmas spirit and it’s always something we watch alongside the classics Elf and christmas story. My kids haven’t really taken to that one yet, but it’s just one that I have to watch every December.
SM: It’s interesting what things are popular with kids and what things aren’t influenced by our childhoods.
MS: I showed it to my second daughter, who is nine years old. Nowhere to camp. Do you remember that movie?
SM: Oh yeah…a millennium classic.
MS: She just doesn’t understand. I was so excited to show it to her and she said, “Yeah, I love it,” and I was pissed. I said, “Why don’t you like this movie?” I’m Andrew Keegan. hurry up.
SM: Kids!
MS: I know. So disappointing.
SM: If there was one thing you wanted your daughters to take away from what you taught them, what would it be?
MS: My first thought is “go where the love is.” Especially with a teenager, the friendship thing gets really tricky – I’m 43 and still have issues with friends sometimes – So I try really hard to instill in them, love where the love is. If your friendship, relationship, job, or relationship isn’t making you feel good, anythingyou just need to guide with love.
I think that’s really what I say to my kids eight million times a day…I don’t try to teach them like, ‘Why are you hanging out with her? She sounds terrible. I don’t, I just want them to always respect themselves and stand up for themselves.
SM: Now that your two oldest children are approaching Gia’s age, I’m curious what advice you have for their lives. But “go where the love is.” I love that.
MS: Like I said, I’m in my 40s and I still have to remind myself of that. If you go to lunch with someone and you get in the car, you say, “I don’t really feel good.” For some reason, that person didn’t cheer me up in any way,” I just feel like life is too short and none of us have enough time to continue investing in this friendship.
SM: I’ve recently entered what my friends and I call the “F*ck It 40s.” As you get older, you gain more clarity and realize that you only want to be with people who bring you joy.
MS: Yeah, everything—getting out, taking time away from the family to go to dinner or an event or whatever—it has to be something I want to do and feel great; otherwise, I just want to be with my family At home.
But also to your point about F*ck It 40s, I love it by the way, I feel like I used to think I would never leave my house wearing sweats or what that looked like….. . Now I’m like, “I don’t care.” I’ll go to the market and look like I need to be institutionalized, but I don’t care.
SM: Same! Well, there’s a pretty big age difference between your oldest and your youngest. What do you find most challenging about it?
MS: The challenging part was realizing that my youngest was going to be an only child at some point because my oldest was leaving home. Then, my middle child will be in high school at some point, and that age gap can be tricky at times. I would say, for the most part, the age gap is absolutely staggering because she is obsessed with her sisters and idolizes them, and the sisters are able to help.
When I had my second daughter, my first was three years old, and… I was always overwhelmed, like, “How am I going to do this?” I was always stressed out. Now that I’m older and my kids are older, I can admit that I definitely didn’t enjoy it the way I should have. Every milestone was like, ‘Oh, thank God you’ve learned to potty. Oh, great, you’re going to school. It feels like climbing a mountain. Now, with my youngest, I say, “No, I don’t want her to go to school,” or “I want her to stay very small.”
SM: In addition to Mom Life, you’ve also appeared in many iconic shows and movies. Is there anyone you’d like to work with but haven’t yet? Or a story you want to tell?
MS: That’s a great question. I would love to work with Jen Garner again. We play twin sisters in the play Dude, where’s my car?I always think about how much fun it would be for us to do something together. I think the world loves her and we all want more of her.
I want to tell more romantic comedy stories. I think no one wants this is getting back into the movies and TV shows we all want to watch, and I think that’s why it’s doing so well. We all just wanted some light fare and comedy and actors with chemistry.
SM: sugar and spices is one of your early classic films. Can you foresee the sequel?
MS: Man, that would be a really fun sequel. In fact I never considered this. But God, where is Lisa today? She might be divorced, have four kids, and be a mess. I wonder if she has many friends. Her kids probably hate her too.
We had so much fun shooting that movie. Mena Suvari and I had been friends for several years before this, so it was great to work with her. And Marley Shelton, our kids go to school together now, so I see her at school a lot. I think if you had told me when we were shooting that movie that one day we would have kids going to school together, I don’t know if that would have been a reality for me.
SM: Haha, well, next time you see her, put a bug in her ear…
MS: Yes, I will! I think nanny club, also. I know they’ve rebooted it many times, but not with the OG cast. I think it will be fun as well because we are still very close.
SM: Of course! People still remember it fondly.
MS: I think that’s another reason no one wants this Well done because Adam Brody is back and we all love Kristen Bell. Hopefully the same applies to happy gentlemen. Like Chad Michael Murray without a shirt. hurry up. What more do you want?
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
