Blockbuster movie staple Charlene Amoia (The Conjuring : The Devil Made Me Do It, American Reunion, Birds of Prey) got her big break playing the loveable ‘Wendy’ the waitress on TV sitcom How I Met Your Mother. TV has beckoned again. Amoia tells us about joining the cast of Sons of Thunder: Redemption.
Where abouts in the world do we find you at the moment, Charlene?
Haha. Well I’m actually in Arizona this week but I’ll be in Seattle next and then Buffalo for 3 weeks after that to film a Christmas movie. Seems I’m pretty nomadic these days.
And how has the pandemic treated you there?
To be honest, I’ve been moving around a bunch past 2 years and each area has really treated the pandemic a bit differently. As a whole, there have been some silver linings to the slow down that have been a result of this but obviously some hard times too.
Did it affect your work at all—?
Yes, all of my auditions have become virtual which has allowed me to move around a bit and most of my voice over jobs I have been doing in my converted sound closet.
A semi-regular presence on “How I Met Your Mother” you then transitioned into film – where you largely worked in recent years. What was your motivation for returning to TV?
I largely just take whatever jobs come my way so I’m always happy to do tv when those roles are offered to me.
It’s a very different show to HIMYM, Sons of Thunder: Redemption – – the kind of affirming, positive, values-and-all family drama we might need right now, wouldn’t you say?
Yes, I would agree. It’s nice to work on a redemptive story. I always like watching things that leave me feeling inspired and/or hopeful and a time like this, I think its a nice break from any kind of depressing news people might be digesting.
Tell us about your character.
Sandy is the ex-fiancé of the protagonist (Jacob) in the series. She had a relationship with him when they were both very young and he was heavily involved in a motorcycle gang and constantly struggling with drug addiction. After he left her at the alter brokenhearted, she really doesn’t want anything to do with him. But once he’s release from prison as a changed man and seeks to make amends, she is forced to contend with her past hurts and wounds.
How different is the show to its parent series, Sons of Thunder?
The themes are the same with both shows but the original had the main character encounter a whole new group of people each episode. This show is more traditional in the sense that you follow all of our storylines.
Are you contracted to appear in future seasons too? (hopefully that’s not a spoiler!)
There are talks of a 3rd season but they haven’t decided which format to use yet so it’s possible but I don’t quite know just yet.
What was it like working out in Texas?
We actually filmed north of Los Angeles in Sunland, California.
What!? Wow!
We filmed at a beautiful horse ranch which was such a lovely setting to be in during the shoot.
Film-wise, anything coming up?
I recently completed an indie film that is headed to the festival circuit and about to start shooting a Christmas movie here in a few weeks.