Sophia Alawi (she/her/hers) is an award-winning Moroccan-Italian American actor, writer, and singer-songwriter originally from Hudson County, New Jersey. A proud Jersey girl at heart, Sophia is a graduate of Rider University, where she earned her BFA in Musical Theatre magna cum laude. She continued her training at Stella Adler, The Barrow Group, and T. Schreiber in New York City.

Sophia’s screen credits include Law & Order: SVU and Meet Amal: A Hayawan Trilogy, a web series she wrote, stars in, and produces. Meet Amal was selected for the 2026 Virtual Diversity in Cannes Short Film Showcase, and Sophia won Best Lead Actress in a Comedy at the Bridgeport Film Festival for her work on the series. She also received Best Actor at the 2015 Take Two Film Festival for I Am Selma.

She received a San Francisco Bay Area Theatre Critics Circle Award for Best Featured Actress in a Musical for Groundhog Day: The Musical and was recognized by the Houston Chronicle as one of its “Five Standout Performances” for her portrayal of Wendla in Spring Awakening. She was also a 2022 Theatre Bay Area RHE Artistic Fellowship nominee.

In 2019, Sophia began developing her voice as a writer, driven by a desire to create stories for the MENA community, which remains underrepresented in the entertainment industry. In 2020, she conceived the pilot for Hayawan, which eventually evolved into Meet Amal: A Hayawan Trilogy, a web series she wrote, stars in, and produces. Her work is inspired by her experiences as a first-generation Moroccan-Italian American and explores identity, culture, and the complexities of navigating different worlds. She is currently producing Lioness, a short film set in 1977 Morocco about a young woman who coaches the town’s first girls’ soccer team, challenging tradition and inspiring her players to dream beyond their limits.

Beyond the stage and screen, Sophia is a singer-songwriter who released her debut single, “Attachment Theory,”. Blending grunge influences with emotionally driven storytelling, she continues to develop her music while working toward her first album. She also wrote the original Christmas song “I Don’t Want Christmas If It’s Not with You,” adding another dimension to her songwriting. In addition to her creative work, Sophia works part-time as a Teaching Artist and Vocal Coach, sharing her love of performance with the next generation of artists.

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