About four years ago, Sophia Speringo’s interest in acting was ignited. She was familiar with the vocation because her mother was also an actress. Sophia started with a play in 5th grade at East Haven Academy where she is now in 8th grade.

Soon after, she had her first audition for a Nickelodeon commercial and after getting a callback, she was hooked. Sophia has traveled throughout New England for various auditions. She worked with Neil Fuentes from New Haven Academy of Performing Arts in East Haven to prepare for auditions.

“I really liked the idea of being on TV and doing different things,” says Sophia. “I wanted to try acting because I have an outgoing personality and I like how you can portray different roles. You can become someone else and make it your own by adding your own taste and your own flavor.”

Sophia, now 13, has been in a Doritos commercial and two movies, Hear My Song and Annie (2014), as well as numerous plays and musicals. She now has another title to add to her résumé—No Costume, No Candy, a short film written and directed by Middletown native Keith Bearden.

In the fall, Sophia’s mom told her about the audition for the role and the pair went to Middletown to audition for Bearden. She earned the role of Kat and she stars alongside Kassidy Keirstead, 16, of Madison. According to IMDb.com, the film is about two friends who “go on their last night of Halloween trick or treating while in pursuit of a high school crush.”

“Kat is very shy and reserved and I’m used to auditioning for peppy and upbeat roles, so it was really cool to be able to do something different,” says Sophia. “Kat is really sensitive in her own way, she closes out her feelings, so when she started to like this boy, it was different for her. I’ve been through the same thing so I can relate to her in that way. It’s about coming of age and starting to like boys.”

Work on the film began in November and it was filmed in various locations throughout Middletown. It is now in the final stages of post-production. Hello Stranger, a company based in France, is producing the film.

The film will have its first premiere in Connecticut the second week of March and then the film will move on to film festivals across the country. There will also be a premiere in Paris and Sophia is looking forward to attending with her mom, as well as with Keirstead and her mother.

“My costar, Kassidy, and I became really close. We started a streak on Snapchat,” says Sophia. “I can’t wait for the premiere because I’ve never been to Paris and have always wanted to go there. Being able to go there and see how my work on screen and having other people being able to see it is really cool.”

In addition to building a relationship with her co-star, Sophia also enjoyed getting to know the rest of the cast and crew. She and Keirstead introduced themselves to people on set and they would “ask them their stories to get to know them better.” While filming took a lot of time and work, she enjoyed her time working on No Costume, No Candy.

“Filming was pretty tiring, but also really fun because you get to meet a lot of different people. It’s also so cool to see the cameras and lighting. It’s a lot of work, but it’s worth it in the end when you see how it comes together.”

When Sophia isn’t auditioning or acting, she likes to hang out with her friends and is a cheerleader at East Haven Academy. She has also been a member of All-Star Cheerleading. She plans to join the East Haven High School cheerleading squad next year when she is a freshman.

At school, Sophia’s favorite class is science. She likes the hands-on learning in the class and enjoys her teacher’s humor. She also has a goal of becoming a physician and working on the sidelines for the NFL so she can not only help the athletes but travel the country with the team, as well.

While pursuing her goal of becoming a physician, she plans to continue auditioning and acting with a goal of landing a role on a television show or in a full-length movie. For now, though, Sophia is concentrating on finishing her 8th-grade year at East Haven Academy and preparing to see herself on the big screen at the Paris premiere.

“It’s very suspenseful because you know how much work you put into it,” says Sophia, who thanks her parents, sister, grandparents, and two closest friends for their support. “It was a really great experience to be around different people and learn to be better and improve. It’s really, really exciting and I can’t wait to see how it all comes together.”