Wheeling resident makes film debut | News, Sports, Jobs

|Photo courtesy of Natalya Wood| The 22-year-old WVU student will make her film debut in the sci-fi film “Room 0.”

West Virginia University student Natalya Wood stars in the sci-fi film “Room 0,” currently streaming on iTunes, AppleTV and Amazon Prime.

The 22-year-old will play “L” who, after learning that her younger sister has a rare disease, decides to get money for a procedure that will save her life by any means necessary.

L becomes a money mule and helps steal a mysterious device. After accidentally activating the device, Wood's character finds herself stuck in a time loop that keeps her trapped in a motel room.

“Room 0” director and producer Richard Kodai said that while watching more than 200 audition tapes for the film, he “kept coming back” to Wood’s demo.

Wood was considered for the second round of auditions which narrowed the number of actors down to “about 10 to 12”, Kodai said. During the final round of auditions between Wood and another actress, Kodia said choosing the Wheeling native and Wheeling Park High School graduate was a “no-brainer.”

“The first thing I look for in an actor is credibility, and even in the original little demo she sent me, she was very credible in the role and later in the audition too,” Kodai described. “She has the credibility, screen presence and realism in her acting that I look for as a director.”

During the final round of auditions, the actress recalled that the two had “several conversations about projects” to see if they would be willing to work together.

“I generally try not to expect anything when I audition until I'm told I passed,” Wood said. “I knew I was about to get the role when we were having these conversations, but I never thought, 'Oh, I've got this in the bag.'”

These final conversations for Kodai confirmed that Wood was right for the role, as he learned of her “passion for the craft” and how seriously she took acting. After being cast in January 2022, Wood traveled to Jacksonville, Florida four months later to shoot the film.

Although Wood has acted in plays and a few short films, her feature film presented a new challenge since she is the only actress in the film.

Since the plot of “Room 0” centers on Wood's character, the young actress had to perform more than 20 pages of dialogue every day. Filming was also on a tight schedule, with Wood describing the five-day shoot as an “incredibly fast schedule” for a feature film.

Although these conditions made filming an arduous task for the young actress, Wood found the experience exciting.

“I’m excited and proud that this is my first major role as an actor,” Wood said. “I grew a lot as a performer and actor during filming.”

Kodai highlighted Wood's work ethic on set since day one, explaining that she remained focused during filming days that stretched from sunrise until “late night.”

“She was very serious and very passionate,” Kodai described. “She worked hard and memorized the entire script before she started filming, which was no easy feat.”

Kodai added that Wood's age and experience were not reflected in his acting.

“Although she is very young, she is surprisingly mature in her acting and in the way she approaches the role,” noted the director. “She was much more mature as an actress than a lot of other actors I worked with who were much older than her.”

Although Wood wasn't nervous about her acting debut, she noted that she had to adapt to a new environment while filming in Florida. Wood had to take a day to get used to the new location.

“I was nervous, but it wasn’t just about playing, I was just in an environment that I wasn’t used to,” Wood said. “I tried to channel that nervous energy into my acting.”

As the actress became more and more comfortable on location, her nerves gave way to excitement.

“Once I adapt to the environment, I just put my head down and get to work,” Wood said. “I was so excited about filming that when I got home I was sad it was all over.”

Once filming was completed, Kodai began the 14-month post-production process for the film. Once the film was completed, Kodai spent “a few months” looking for distributors.

With the film premiering on streaming platforms today, Wood is excited to have this new entry on her acting resume.

“I don't know who could potentially watch it and would want to contact me for something else, so this movie is definitely a really good accolade to have on my resume,” Wood said. “It was my first big film as an actress, and I’m very proud of it because it’s my first role.”

While Wood will graduate from WVU in the spring, the actress plans to “keep auditioning.” She will begin filming another feature film in the psychological thriller genre in July.

As she advances in her acting career, “Room 0” showed Wood what she is capable of as an actress.

“As it was my first film, I had some concerns about whether I was going to make it,” Wood explained. “This movie taught me that I could do such things, which made me want to work harder.”

Kodai noted that the actress had a bright future ahead of her, adding that he was “very happy” to be able to work with her on the film.

“She deserves all the recognition,” Kodai said. “She’s a beast, and she’ll have an Oscar one day.”

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