Sofia Gomez knows how to wield a sword. One Red Bull-fueled experiment uncovered her hidden talent of flawlessly being able to spin a three-foot-long pole between her fingers. She’s all smiles as she shows me the trick over FaceTime, standing in her backyard fully dressed as Sasha Braus from the anime series Attack on Titan.
Her five million TikTok followers eagerly await new cosplay content from their favorite aspiring voice actress later this afternoon. If they’re lucky, she might do her impeccable Perry the Platypus impression too. Gomez’s career thrives on pretending to be someone else, but the most fascinating side of her is who she is beneath the costume.
Her Campus (HC): First off, how are you doing?
Sofia Gomez (SG): I’m good, stressed and tired (laughs). I never sleep. I chug an energy drink the second I wake up or else I won’t stay awake. On a typical day, I answer emails and go to any meetings I have, then I’ll go straight into hair and makeup to film. Sometimes I film nine to 12 videos all at once, just so that I get a few days to relax. I have a running checklist of things I need to order for the next conventions I’m going to, so I’ll shop for those, too. I sometimes stream before bed if I have the energy.
HC: Let’s talk about TikTok. How do you come up with ideas for your content?
SG: I post three times a day, so I come up with ideas all the time. When I get an idea for a video, it will not leave my head until I execute it. Sometimes I’ll get an idea at one a.m. and get out of bed to record the video in my studio. When I have creator’s block, I scroll through my For You Page until I find a sound I like.
HC: Is there a sense of pressure associated with having such a large audience?
SG: I actually don’t feel that pressured by TikTok. Most of my pressure comes from the acting and advertising worlds. I spend most of my time in meetings coordinating social events, doing brand deals and also voiceover work.
HC: What makes you want to pursue a career in voice acting?
SG: I’m not a fan of the standards Hollywood imposes on actors. You’re either put into the box of “unique” or “perfect.” My features are pretty neutral, so I’d have to strive for the “perfect” category, but I don’t want to spend my life attempting to look a certain way. If I were to go into screen acting, I’d be relevant for five years and then thrown away until I looked old enough to play a mother. In voice acting, you’re only as old as your voice; it’s the purest form of the craft. It’s fun to be a completely different person when you’re not limited by your appearance. I would like to be a guest at a convention as a voice actor instead of as a cosplayer one day.
HC: What’s been your biggest “I made it” moment so far?
SG: I had someone recognize me by my phone case at a convention. I was in my Marceline [from Adventure Time] costume and wearing a mask, so I was basically covered from head to toe. It’s crazy that somebody realized who I was solely because of my phone. Also, when my voice actor friends sign autographs at conventions, I stand in line to talk to them. Sometimes a second line will form of people who want to meet me, which is so surreal.
HC: Your job has allowed you to meet a ton of interesting people. Who has made you the most starstruck?
SG: I’ve gotten close with Bryce Papenbrook [who voices Adrien Agreste in Miraculous: Tales of Ladybug and Cat Noir and Eren Jaeger in Attack on Titan] recently. He played the main character in the first anime I ever watched. He’s one of the biggest American voice actors of all time. The same goes for Dan Povenmire, who created Phineas and Ferb. It’s strange to hang out with all these people because I see them as my friends. When I remember who they are, it’s like, “Woah.”
HC: Although your comment section is overwhelmingly positive, you unfortunately receive a lot of inappropriate comments as well. What goes through your head when you see these? How do you deal with them?
SG: My first video that got attention was a funny one of me dancing in a car. The reason it blew up is because my seatbelt was in between my boobs. I was sixteen. I’ve been getting those kinds of comments forever; I kind of expect them at this point. They don’t bother me most of the time. It’s not like I can cut my chest off. What bothers me is when people question my intelligence based on my appearance. It’s hard not to respond to those comments, so I try not to read them.
HC: It’s easy to forget that you’re a normal 19-year-old girl. What do you wish your fans understood about you?
SG: I think people don’t see me as a person with thoughts and feelings. They just see me as a pretty little girl on their screen. A lot of my fans think that they know everything about me, but I purposely don’t show any part of my personal life online. I couldn’t handle people speculating about me. I absolutely love my fans, but I don’t owe them any private details.
HC: Your content brings a smile to millions of people’s faces. How do you find joy in your daily life?
SG: I’m super passionate about my job; I get to play dress-up for a living! My philosophy is that people will always make fun of you, so you might as well do what makes you happy. Constantly being online can be a lot, though. I think about deleting my face off the Internet, dyeing my hair and disappearing to another country all the time. I enjoy spending a lot of my free time reading by the ocean. It’s always been my happy place; I’m practically a mermaid. And watching anime. Lots of anime.
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