GEORGIA ACTOR
Muretta Moss Thrives Within the Creativity of Synchronized Chaos By Ca ro l Bada r acco Padge t t
T hinking back, Muretta Moss, an Atlanta-based actress, writer, improviser, and podcast host says she found something in college that she didn’t expect: a film set. “Before Atlanta was booming with film and TV, there was a film shot on the campus of UGA [in 1999], and I was an extra. Then I got to be a featured extra and got to work with the director,” Moss describes when asked at what point in her life she knew she wanted to act. The film was Roadtrip , one of the bigger budget films to come through Georgia at the time, and one of the last Hollywood movies that the University of Georgia in Athens granted permission to film there. For Moss, then a UGA student, the filming of Roadtrip was a monumental experience. “It was synchronized chaos on that set. It was beautiful,” Moss notes. “I didn’t even know something like this was an option. But I figured it out in college.” So she transferred to Georgia Tech to be closer to the film and video production action, and she began doing regional commercials. The move was pivotal for Moss in several ways. She found both a calling and she found herself. “I grew up loving Kids Incorporated on Disney, but what I didn’t realize is that I’d always had it in me,” she says of acting. Over the years, Moss developed deep roots in the local indie film community, and she has repeatedly honed and showcased her skills at The Village Theatre in Old Fourth Ward. “Normally, without Omicron, there are shows on Fridays and Saturdays,” Moss says of the venue. “Fridays are cultivated, and they’re different every quarter. Saturdays are Improv Asshole, and it’s an Atlanta Institution”—that showcases some of the best improv and sketch comedy in the city. Incidentally, comedy is something Moss is drawn to and at home with. “Being an improviser, you’re up on stage and creating dialog. And it comes easily,” she says. “I take these rules into writing, as well—it’s listening and reacting, situational humor, juxtapositions where you think this would happen but the opposite does.” And she adds, “I’ve always gravitated towards comedy.” This love and appreciation for the genre is showcased in Moss’s recent role as the family matriarch Rita Loud in Nickelodeon’s film, A Loud House Christmas , based on its Emmy Award-winning flagship animated series,
Loud House . The series is about a boy, Lincoln Loud, in a wild, busy household with 10 sisters and his parents. The original live-action holiday movie came out at Christmas 2021 on Nickelodeon and Paramount+. And the film’s Nov. 26 premiere was so strong that it garnered the ViacomCBS TV network the honor of “TV’s Top Kids Entertainment Telecast 2021.” Moss has also just wrapped production on a dark comedy TV show called Intersection that she co-created, wrote, and stars in as a real estate agent. “ Intersection is a collaboration with other Atlanta actors and filmmakers, and it’s about gentrification on a local level.” As a licensed realtor herself, it’s a topic that the actress understands all too well. “Gentrification has different shades of gray,” she notes. “Whether it’s good or bad depends on who you ask. Our hope is to create a dialog and awareness. Right now, we’re on a community level.” In future seasons, Moss wants to see the show grow to include the topic from a political and government level, showing the power players whose decisions affect the community. Other recent work for Moss includes roles in short films The Transition and Peggy that premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival in New York City in 2019. She also wrote and starred in a quirky webseries,
“ Get quiet and listen to yourself. This has taken me decades to learn. ”
Muretta Moss
Photo by Stacey Bode Photography
Dyed, Highlighted, and Hopeful , that was featured on HelloGiggles, an entertainment and lifestyle website founded by Zooey Deschanel and collaborators. And she appeared in The Inspectors , a CBS Morning Show, as character Leah Appleton. A recent weekly podcast she created and hosts, Counter Parenting , deals with co-parenting from a step- parent’s perspective. “It deals with so many things you wouldn’t believe have happened in co-parenting,” Moss reveals, saying you have to laugh about it or you’ll cry.
When asked what her tips are for helping others keep smiling and thriving in the synchronized chaos of the entertainment industry, Moss pauses. Then she says, “First thing, there’s too much advice out there. Get quiet and listen to yourself. This has taken me decades to learn. If you have an inkling to be in the arts, pursue it. Cultivate, shine, and let it bring you joy.”
@MurettaMoss
16 | T H E G E O R G I A H O L L Y WO O D R E V I E W | M A R C H / A P R I L 2 0 2 2
Made with FlippingBook - Online catalogs