Sonya Macari has said getting into bed with Jennifer Lopez as her stand-in double paved the way for her exciting Hollywood career.
The Dublin actress is hopeful of making it big Stateside after landing a role as a real estate agent on iconic US sitcom It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia.
Sonya, 41, is of Italian descent and left the Emerald Isle to move to LA 12 years ago with her musician husband Colin Devlin.
She caught the acting bug after bit parts in The Tudors and The Clinic, and after performing in musicals as a mezzo soprano in New York, Hollywood was the next step.
It’s been a rollercoaster ride for the actress who said being a stand-in was a great learning curve.
Sonya told the Irish Sunday Mirror: “Before the kids I’d stand in, I stood in for Julia-Louis Dreyfus on Veep.
“I stood in for JLo and set up the shots for her while she was in hair and make-up. It was interesting but also a way of learning the ropes and sometimes you’d be with the rest of the cast doing a read-through if you’re waiting for the actor to come along.
“JLo was there and she’d arrive and I’d tell her exactly where her camera one was and two.
“You may have a chat or you may not, you’re there to do a job.
“Jennifer was adorable, not one bit of a diva, she has 50 million jobs and is so genuine. The movie was The Boy Next Door.
“On the very last day they were setting up the shot and I’m in bed and JLo comes along and you’re waiting for her to come and you get out and move away.
“But there was a moment where she got into the bed with me and I was waiting for my cue to go.
“Just then she leant in and whispered in my ear and said ‘thank you for everything you’ve done’, as it was the last day.
“I had to get out of bed, did anyone get that on tape? You couldn’t make it up, the experiences.
“I went home to Colin and said, ‘I was in bed with JLo’.”
Sonya, who is mum to Evie, seven, and five-year-old Leo, said landing a role in the Danny DeVito hit comedy It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia was a dream come true.
She said: “I played an estate agent, I was directed by Charlie Day, who is one of the actors, he plays Charlie Kelly on the show.
“It was a phenomenal experience, I’ve always been a huge fan so you can imagine how delighted I was when I heard I got the part.
“I put myself on tape on a Monday and then by Friday my agent was on to me looking for all my papers, vaccination stuff, I had been pinned. This has happened quite often in my career, it’s been such a rollercoaster.”
Opening up on the cut throat industry she said: “The amount of actors who step off the plane every single day is astronomical.
“The amount who leave as they can’t hack it anymore is also an incredible amount.
“It’s an endless cycle, but I believe if you put the work in, the industry will find you.
“We’ve been there now for 12 years and I’ve always been a part of the industry to some degree.
“I took time off to have my babies, but I was narrating books for Penguin Random House back then.
“I remember pumping milk in the bathrooms, but you get on with it.”
The pressure to be picture perfect in LA is immense – to have the fab figure, botox, and look forever young.
But brunette natural beauty Sonya does not buy into it and refuses to tamper with what God gave her.
She revealed: “I don’t put myself under this kind of pressure, I keep myself healthy and as fit as I can.
“Of course I have to get rid of those few Covid pounds, but in terms of all that kind of stuff, it’s just your choice.
“I like to keep things simple and plain, I wouldn’t be off doing the whole botox thing, but ask me in ten years time.
“If you get botox you’d want to be cautious that you won’t be able to move your face, it’s all about that really in acting.
“I would regret it if something happened and you messed up your face.”
Skylark, a movie Sonya shot opposite Damien Lumsden in the West of Ireland, is out later this year.
She also started a new business applying for an entrepreneurial programme through her union, the Screen Actors Guild.
Handpicked and mentored by the best in Hollywood, her passion project, Creative Acting Studios was born.
She said: “It’s an online entertainment studio, it’s allowing actors from all over the globe to work with casting directors and for those who can’t be there to learn.
“I was lucky enough to get Spielberg’s casting director to give a talk recently.”
The busy artist said the Irish stick together in Hollywood and she’s part of a WhatsApp group which includes Colin Farrell, Caroline Morahan and Glenn Keogh.
She adds: “Ireland Week happens in May, Buzz O’Neill puts that together, you’ll see the Fionnula O’Flanagans and Colin Farrells and all the Irish.
“We then have the Oscar Wilde Festival, we stay in touch on Whatsapp, we know who’s there and it’s lovely to have that.
“Gatherings are so great, they’re just the craic.”
