|Photo provided by Natalya Wood| The 22-year-old WVU student will make her feature film debut in the Sci-Fi movie "Room 0."

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

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

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

“Room 0” Director and Producer Richard Kodai explained that while viewing more than 200 audition tapes for the film, he “kept coming back” to Wood’s demo reel.

Wood made the cut for the second round of auditions that narrowed the pool of actors down to “around 10 to 12,” said Kodai. In the final round of auditions between Wood and another actress, Kodia said picking the Wheeling native and Wheeling Park High School graduate was a “no-brainer.”

“The number one thing I look for in an actor is believability, and even in that original little demo she sent me, she was very believable in the role and then later in the audition too,” described Kodai. “She has the believability, screen presence and realisticness in her acting that I want as a director.”

During the final round of the auditions, the actress recalled the two having “several conversations about the projects” to see if they would be a good fit to work together.

“I usually try not to expect anything when I audition until I’m told I got it,” said Wood. “I knew I was close to getting the role when we were having those conversations, but I never thought, ‘Oh, I have this in the bag.'”

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

Though Wood has acted in plays and a couple of short films, her feature film presented a new challenge as she is the only actor 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 each day. Filming was also on a tight schedule, with Wood describing the five-day shoot as a “crazy fast schedule” for a feature-length film.

Though these conditions made filming a daunting task for the young actress, Wood found the experience thrilling.

“I am excited and proud of this being my first big role as an actor,” said Wood. “I grew a lot as a performer and an actor during the shooting.”

Kodai noted Wood’s work ethic on the shoot since day one, explaining she remained focused during filming days that would stretch from sunrise to “late into the night.”

“She was very serious and very passionate,” described Kodai. “She put in the work and memorized the entire script before we started shooting, which was not a small task.”

Kodai added Wood’s age and experience were not reflected in her acting.

“Though she is very young, she is surprisingly mature in her acting and the way she approached the role,” the director noted. “She was much more mature as an actor than many other actors I’ve ever worked with who were a lot older than her.”

While Wood was not nervous about her acting debut, she noted she had to adjust 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 more about acting, I was just in an environment I wasn’t used to,” explained Wood. “I tried to channel that nervous energy into my acting.”

As the actress grew more and more comfortable at the location, her nerves gave way to excitement.

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

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

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

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

With Wood graduating from WVU in the spring, the actress plans to “just keep auditioning.” She will begin shooting for another feature film in the psychological thriller genre in July.

As she moves her acting career, “Room 0” has shown Wood what she is capable of as an actress

“Because it was my first film, I had some worries of whether I could do it,” explained Wood. “This film taught me I can do such things, which made me want to work harder.”

Kodai noted the actress has a bright future ahead of her, adding he was “so happy” to be able to work with her on the movie.

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