May Garland

READ THE FULL ARTICLE IN WONDERLAND’S AUTUMN ISSUE

“I feel artistically fulfilled and ready to take on another year,” reflected the just-turned 21-year-old musician and star of Broadway and the silver screen. While I desperately fanned myself in my sweltering, Air Con-less flat, Sophia Anne Caruso appeared on my screen coolly composed, dressed in her own re-designed vintage top, basking in New York’s early morning glow. 

We mused about breaking the limits of creative potential, the artist’s latest single and the wonderful world of New York where celebrities lurk around every street corner. “I love the Upper Westside! I saw Mark Ruffalo the other day and I love him, I think he’s truly one of the best actors, but my immediate thought was, ‘Mark Ruffalo your shoes are untied!’”

Caruso’s melodic and soothing vocals on her latest single, Snow & Ice are the vessel for Nicholas Littlemore and Henry Hey’s emotive lyrics that melt away any icy thoughts and negativity, reminding us that “we will come out bright and new from the darkness”. “The song means coming out of the other side of something and I think we all need to be reminded of that sometimes,” explained Caruso. “The bridge as well has this twinkly bit that’s a sort of a spiritual, trippy moment that takes you back into the light again.” Whilst Sophia has been tinkering with this project since 2018, she is proud of the result feeling a deep connection and joy from making music, “I feel like music is the one thing I have of my own, the thing I have the most artistic control over”.

Music is universally relatable to Sophia, who hopes her songs will reach her listeners in unique ways. “It’s not just one message I’m trying to convey, I hope anyone listening to my music will have their own experience of it and feel anything at all”. 

From her debut single Toys, Caruso believes there has been a clear development in her sound. “There’s definitely an evolution with each song and time going by with my voice changing. It takes time to create music, you can’t rush it and I think there’s development through trial and error.”

Sophia’s sound is not limited to one genre as each song possesses its own meaning and is different from the last. For this reason, Caruso is choosing to release her music in singles rather than albums, treating each track as its own entity and “moment in time”. “No songs are the same because I’m not the same. I also don’t want to limit myself as a music artist, I want everything to be its own creation.”

The artist admitted her musical inspiration comes at the most inconvenient times. We could both relate that when the demanding to-do lists need to be done that’s when procrastination hits hardest, but for the artist, this comes in the form of a surge of creative energy to make music or art, whereas in my case, Netflix and TikTok seem to be the biggest distractions. 

Whilst talking of her love for all creative arts, Sophia ran back into her apartment and pulled out a self-portrait she had been working on depicting herself jumping into an orb of light with the wind running through her hair. “I love it all,” said Caruso of the creative arts. “I want to do everything! I don’t want to limit myself artistically, anything I can do to put my artistic juices into something I’ll do.” Whilst Caruso was speaking, I could see her begin to mirror her own self-portrait, illuminated by the sunlight and radiating positivity. 

As well as her musical success, Caruso is making waves in the acting world, starring opposite Charlize Theron and Kerry Washington in Paul Feig’s new Netflix film, The School for Good and Evil. “I read the script and I was like ‘woah, it’s crazy!’” As a fantasy film, Sophia describes Feig’s latest triumph as “larger than life, magical, dark, happy, funny and dramatic all at once. What I really love about this film and the fantasy genre is that anything can happen”. 

“It’s really a story about female companionship. I personally struggled with female friendships as a child but I think it’s really important that the film explores this! Paul Feig is also my favourite director I’ve worked with and this project is one of my favourite things I’ve ever done. My character can be totally larger than life and I can really get out of myself and create something magical.”

Not only a star on the silver screen, Caruso has also made her Broadway debut in Blackbird and the musical rendition of Beetlejuice, starring as Lydia Deetz. “My roots are in the theatre, it’s the first thing I fell in love with. In fact, I’m hankering to do a play,” reveals Sophia. “Theatre is the basis of everything I know and love about acting. Making movies and making plays are the biggest sources of artistic joy for me.”

Whilst Caruso admits her parents aren’t hugely creative, she credits her parents for giving her the creative freedom she needed to explore her true passions. “One day, when I was nine years old I said to my mum I want to move to New York and give this a try and so we got on a plane and flew to New York and have stayed here ever since.” 

“I didn’t come from much, there wasn’t much money but I think the greatest gift that you can give someone is an opportunity and that’s what my parents gave me. It has been a challenge and I’ve worked my ass off but I wouldn’t be where I am today without my parents.”

With lots of industry-transcending projects to get excited about from Sophia, her last words were not about the exciting line-up of music she has planned or her new movie; instead, she wanted to talk about the importance of putting good karma out into the world. “I like to be that person that puts goodness out into the world. It’s all good karma so it all comes back to you and makes you feel good. We all need a little bit of good karma. If I’m kind to others, I’ll be kinder to myself.”