Sofia Wylie’s new movie Back of the Net premieres in the U.S. on June 15 at 8 p.m. on Disney Channel and DisneyNOW. The Andi Mack star plays Cory Bailey, an ace science student who eagerly sets out for Sydney to embark on a semester at sea aboard an advanced research vessel. But when she lands in Australia, she accidentally boards the wrong bus, misses the boat, and winds up at Harold Soccer Academy. She soon realizes that she’s stuck there for the summer and despite her disinterest in soccer, she applies her unique strengths in science to end her team’s losing streak. HollywoodLife talked EXCLUSIVELY with Sofia about why the role of Cory in Back of the Net stood out to her.
“I wanted to be a part of Back of the Net because of how inspiring and uplifting the movie was,” she told HollywoodLife. “Just the messages of really going outside of your box and being anything you want to be and not just having to be one thing just because society tells you that’s all you are. Also, I think it will be a great movie for families to watch together because if I had children I would want them to learn that message and teach them that they can be anything they want to be. The fact that I was able to go to Australia to film it was a really big cherry on top. It was such a fun and happy experience and I hope that will really translate onscreen.”
Throughout the movie, Cory finds her voice and pushes herself to try new things. Sofia opened up about how she’s gone through that experience as well. “I think Cory and I are very similar in the way that when I was younger I kind of placed myself in one category of being just a dancer,” Sofia said. “I guess growing up I’ve realized I can be so much more and that’s why I’m pushing myself to create a production company and try to produce and direct and write and also going into acting and singing. Those are just parts of me pushing myself to be more than I originally thought I was or could be. Of course, I love dancing and all of the original things I started with. I’m always going to continue to push myself to go out of my box and try to do something new. I think that’s really what Cory learns, that she is great at so many things and if you give yourself a chance to try them you can give so much to your team. It might not be specifically because you’re so strong or coordinated, but with her brain and bringing her love of science to her team, she was able to help them in many more ways than she ever thought she could. I think that’s how we’re similar, but we’re also quite different. I’m definitely not the biggest fan of science. Math is probably my more favorite subject, but she’s a big book girl and I love to just chill under my covers. I definitely learned a lot about science just from filming this movie.”
Since her breakout role as Buffy on the critically-acclaimed Disney Channel series Andi Mack, Sofia has launched her own production company, AIFOS Productions. The actress will also be starring in the highly-anticipated High School Musical: The Musical: The Series, which will debut on Disney’s streaming service. She’s become an inspiration for young girls and she is well aware that she has a voice that people pay attention to. “I find it a big responsibility but also a big honor,” Sofia said. I know that any of this can change in one second and it can go away in the snap of a finger. I want to make the most of it and connect and touch as many people in this short or long amount of time that I have. I really hope that through my social media or through the projects that I work on that the people can feel great about themselves afterward. I guess social media has kind of become this thing that’s centered around us, us, us, and yes, of course, for business it’s great to promote whatever you’re doing. I love promoting new projects that I’m on because I’m very passionate about all of them. My end goal is to make everybody else out there feel loved and accepted and special because a lot of them feel like they’re getting lost in this huge sea of people and there’s nothing great about them. If you don’t have anybody around you and supporting you, it’s hard to really ever know that you’re great in your own way. If I just touch one person and make their day, that is really the best thing I could really want and do.”
As for whether or not Cory and Buffy would be friends if they existed in the same universe, Sofia shared her thoughts on that: “I feel like they would be. They both are very determined. Cory definitely learns to use her voice later on in the movie, but I think Buffy came out of the womb speaking her mind and competitive. I think personality wise they would make pretty good friends.”