You might have stumbled across a little series called Loki over the past couple of months. If so, you’ll have spotted Sophia Di Martino kicking ass and taking variant - we mean various - names. We chat to the Nottingham-born actor about her role in the show, her time in the city and her undying love for shiny cobs…
You’d be hard pressed to find anyone who’s having as crazy a time as Sophia Di Martino right now. In the space of just a few months the Nottingham-born actor has become a global phenomenon, gaining a massive following on social media and topping Google searches in countless countries. Why is this, you ask? Oh, it’s only because she went and bagged a major role in Loki, the latest mind-bending, debate-triggering Marvel TV show to hit Disney+. No big deal.
As you might imagine, the 37-year-old is still coming to terms with it all. “It has been a bit of a whirlwind,” she muses. “Obviously, I couldn't talk about the show for a while, not even with my family. So it's been so great to experience the series with everyone else and see how people have reacted to it and to the character.”
The character Sophia is referring to is Sylvie, a ‘variant’ of the titular Loki who can travel across time and cause chaos in the process. Starting out as a new arrival to the Marvel scene, Sylvie quickly becomes a key player in the series, pushing the plot of not only the show, but the entire Cinematic Universe, to bold and brave new places. Sophia knew from the beginning that she was part of something big - but just how big was a bit of a shock.
“Kate Herron, the director, pitched the whole story to me, and she did explain that Sylvie was an important character. But I don't think I quite grasped just how important she was,” she says. “I'm the sort of person who downplays things a lot and only believes things when I see them. So it's all been quite a lovely surprise in that sense.”
I get so excited when I hear a Nottingham voice on TV, so to have this Midlands accent in something as huge as the Marvel Universe is so great
If Sophia was struggling to believe the scale of her situation before the show started shooting, her first time on the Marvel lot will have felt even more dream-like. With massive sets and massive stars - including Tom Hiddleston, Owen Wilson and Gugu Mbatha-Raw to name but a few - all involved, Sophia admits she had several ‘pinch yourself moments’ as the enormity of things really started to hit home.
One particular moment later on in the series, which involves almost all of the show’s heavyweights (besides Alligator Loki, of course), was particularly striking. “I remember being in the Time-Keepers' Theatre with Gugu and Tom”, she explains, “and just thinking to myself, ‘Oh, my goodness, this is like an actual Marvel show. Oh my god, what am I doing?’ I had to take a couple of deep breaths and centre myself again. It definitely crept up on me a couple of times, just exactly where I was and what I was doing.”
Despite bumping shoulders with some of the biggest stars in the game, Sophia steals the show time and time again, a captivatingly confident and enjoyably no-nonsense approach to her character winning over audiences from the off. This shouldn’t come as a surprise - she was magnificent as Amy in the utterly unique Channel 4 comedy-drama Flowers, a show that Sophia says is “still very close to my heart”, and she has featured in popular releases like Yesterday and Into the Badlands.
Should Sophia return to the MCU in the future, we imagine many other performers will be starstruck by her. And what’s even better? She’s doing it all with our accent.
“That was so important to me. I get so excited when I hear a Nottingham voice on TV. When I was a kid there wasn’t really anyone that sounded like me on television, so to have this Midlands accent in something as huge as the Marvel Universe is so great,” Sophia explains, before admitting she still can’t quite believe she got away with it.
The choice to keep her accent wasn’t solely about representing different communities, though - it was a conscious choice for developing a character that offered something new and unique to Loki’s story so far.
Getting a bag of shiny cobs and stuffing them with ham and cheese is like my favourite comfort food
“I didn't want to make Sylvie too posh,” Sophia says. “She hasn't had an easy life. She hasn't grown up as a princess, like Loki had grown up as a prince - she's had a very different experience. I wanted to keep her really grounded.”
Growing up in Attenborough herself, Sophia studied an A-Level in Performing Arts before heading off to Salford for university. Despite leaving when she was eighteen, her time in Nottingham played a crucial role in her decision to pursue a career in acting - and she still feels a strong connection to her hometown.
“I'm very proud of being from Nottingham. It was a big part of my childhood and when I was growing up - whether it was going sledding at Wollaton Park, going on the boats at Highfields or going to see shows at the Theatre Royal, I really loved my time there,” Sophia says. “I left to go to university, but before that I got involved in drama at school and sixth form as well. So it's definitely the city where I first realised that I wanted to act and perform.”
Sophia’s love for Nottingham is as strong as ever. She speaks of her excitement at being able to chat to LeftLion, the first Notts-based publication to interview her (soz Nottingham Post), and when the conversation moves on to home comforts, her eyes light up as she describes her passion for the sorts of foods you can only find in the East Midlands.
“I love going to Birds Bakery and getting an Elephant's Foot pastry full of cream,” she smiles. “That always reminds me of going home. Getting a bag of shiny cobs and stuffing them with ham and cheese is like my favourite comfort food too. You can't find a shiny cob for love nor money anywhere else.”
There you have it. The Hollywood machine might have big names and big dollar, but does it have shiny cobs? Didn’t think so. One-nil to the East Mids, we think.
Loki is now available to watch on Disney+
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