#I really hope she gets that lead performer Emmy recognition for S4

[curtsies-from-princess-ashlyn]

With the revelation that Renee Rapp auditioned for HSMTMTS and the speculation that it may have been for Gina, I've really been thinking a lot the past few days about how Sofia Wylie defined Gina, and if she was played by anyone else, I truly don't think Gina would've been as impactful a character.

Sofia has so much depth as an actor that even with pretty limited material in S1, her performance made Gina feel fully realized and that there was much more to her than maybe what was written in the script. Sofia's impressive portrayal is what got Gina more of a spotlight and lead role in S2, and beyond Gina's characterization, I'm not sure Rina exists without Sofia Wylie's interpretation of Gina. If the S1 script remained mostly the same, I may have still shipped Rina in S1 since they had a strong connection, but I doubt my draw to them would've been so strong. I also doubt Tim Federle would jump headfirst into the Rina slowburn if anyone but Sofia was in that car.

In short, Sofia's casting was truly inspired, and I think it was instrumental in defining who Gina was and would become over the course of the show. Much like Rainn Wilson as Dwight Schrute or Michael Emerson as Henry Gale becoming Ben Linus, her interpretation of her character really transformed and defined who the character could be in a way no one else could.