Marla Sokoloff

You know how the show 24 is about a disaster that takes a whole day to unfold? Marla is the star of a show that’s like that. Sorta. She was Alice, the bride on Big Day, a show about a wedding day. That’s right, one specific wedding… that lasted a whole season! Also, unlike 24, it’s mostly not a disaster.

Marla had a great way to prepare for the role of a bride— being the maid of honor at a friend’s real-life wedding at the same time! It made her think about the kind of wedding she’d like someday, she told American Jewish Life magazine: “Something really mellow, not a big production. I think it should be more about the marriage.” She would have a small Jewish wedding on a beach, she said.

Speaking of romance, her new movie is Play the Game, about an elderly man who wants to start dating again after his wife dies. Raymond's mom from TV, Doris Roberts, is in it, too.

“When I have children I want to raise them Jewish. My boyfriend is Jewish,” Marla said of the drummer she has been dating. She never had a bat mitzvah— “I was working so much as an actress,” she said. But she holds out hope that she will have time some day, pointing out that her mother had hers at 40!

Marla has already been on several sucessful shows. She was babysitter on Desperate Housewives, and a secretary on The Practice for several years (with Jewish actress Camryn Manheim). She also showed up on Friends, Home Improvement, Burn Notice, Drop Dead Diva... 

...everything from 3rd Rock to 7th Heaven! Speaking of number-y titles, She also was in one of our faaaaavoirte shows, Party of Five, with Neve Campbell.

Plus, she was in two shows as a tween, Boy Meets World and Step by Step, when she landed her first major role, Gia in Full House with Bob Saget. She was in 8 episodes of the show that made Mary-Kate and Ashley famous when she was only 12.

So far, Marla’s only been in two other movies that we think you’d like: Dude, Where’s My Car? and The Baby-Sitter’s Club. But hey, she’s plenty young yet! There’ll be more!

Marla moved all the way from San Francisco to LA (farther than you’d guess, but still drive-able) to attend the Los Angeles County High School of the Arts. There, she learned how to act… and sing! She even sang "The Star Spangled Banner" (a famously tough song!) at a major league ball game.

Marla, who collects guitars, played them and sang in a band for several years. Now, she has released her solo debut album, Grateful. We bet she’s grateful to get out of that wedding gown after a year!