Thriving as a child actress, Marla Sokoloff has developed her personal brand and reputation in front of the screen since 1993. Best known for playing the longstanding role of Lucy Hatcher in David E. Kelly's hit legal drama series The Practice and Gia Mahan on the popular sitcom Full House, as well as Netflix's Fuller House, she has now transitioned her talents behind the camera as a producer and director. In 2018, her directorial debut of Preschool in L.A. led her to be selected by Lifetime to direct Christmas Hotel (airing today, December 21st), starring Tatyana Ali.
Marla Sokoloff, Hollywood director on the set of Lifetime's Christmas Hotel.
After wrapping production on Lifetime’s The Road Home for Christmas, Peter Sullivan, the director, nominated Sokoloff to direct Christmas Hotel. “I shadowed him [Sullivan] quite a bit on our movie [The Road Home for Christmas],” Sokoloff states. “He knew that this is something that I was really trying to break into. He had suggested to the producer that I should possibly be one of the people to consider to direct the movie. They brought me in for a meeting. I threw out my ideas. At the end of the meeting, they kind of just told me that they were going to let me direct this movie. I left there thinking, ‘oh my gosh, I'm so excited, but I'm also so terrified.’ The thing that drew me in the most for this movie was Tatyana Ali was already cast.”
At a very early age, Sokoloff became heavily involved in theater. After an agent had suggested moving to Los Angeles, she found herself immersed in the world of television production. Her mom gave her one month to audition during pilot season to become a professional actress. Within two weeks, she landed her breakout role on Full House.
“It's so funny, as an adult now the pressure is so much more intense,” She laughs. “I think when you're a child, or at least for me, maybe because my parents didn't pressure me and it was more of a fun thing, I never felt pressured. I never felt pressured to succeed. I never felt pressured to get jobs. It was always fun. The monetary thing never came into play. Of course, there was disappointment, and that kind of pressure always set in because I've always been very type-A, and I'm a perfectionist. I will have my own pressures and disappointments, but I never really felt that thing that I feel now as a child actor.”
As her career as a professional actress evolved, Sokoloff began to feel pigeon-holed into certain roles. “I kept getting the same roles or I wasn't being seen as an actress for roles that I knew I was capable of doing,” she exclaims. “I kept hearing it time and time again that they know you and they love you, but they won't see you for this because they just don't think you're right. That was really frustrating to me. So, I started creating content that I knew I could do. As an actor you go through a lot of periods where you're not working and if you're just kind of sitting around waiting for the phone to ring that is the time you should be creating.”
Marla Sokoloff, Hollywood director on the set of Lifetime's Christmas Hotel.
During her downtime, Sokoloff began writing and creating her projects. She created the characters that she wanted to play. While vetting directors for her first production, she found that the directors didn’t share her vision. Up until that point, she had never seriously thought about directing. Due to the challenge of finding a director that shared her vision, she decided it was time for her to begin displaying her talents behind the camera. To be taken seriously as a director, she shadowed various directors on-and-off for three years to understand the logistics of being a director and how to rally the crew around the vision.
“When I'm on the acting side now, I know so much more about what went into just the day-to-day, which is really cool,” Sokoloff smiles. “I feel so much more informed...The biggest challenge has been getting people to trust me, especially on the Christmas Hotel. A lot of our crew had worked with me as an actress just a few months before. I felt like I really had to gain everybody's trust as a director because I'm sure for them seeing my name on the call sheet as the director and not as an actress was probably a big eye-roll at the beginning. But, once they all trusted me and knew that I knew what I was doing, it felt a little bit more comfortable for everybody…I let everybody know that it's a collaborative effort.”
Marla Sokoloff, Hollywood actress, director & producer
As Sokoloff continues to navigate the production and director landscape, she offers advice for anyone looking to transition:
- Learn as much as you can about the position you want to pivot into. If you don’t do your research, it can hinder your success.
- Shadow the people who inspire you. This is the best way to learn the ins-and-outs of the industry and position.
- Create a strong portfolio. This will help you highlight your strengths and accolades. Also, you’ll be ready for when an opportunity presents itself.
“Every day I think we all struggle within ourselves to be confident,” Sokoloff concludes. “I just try my hardest not to show any sort of things that our parents were showing to us. I feel like our culture now is so different than it was when we were growing up…I never let my daughters know about any sort of insecurities I would have within myself. I just really tried to tell them every single day how beautiful and great they are.”
