All About Felicity Huffman and William H. Macy's 2 Daughters, Sophia and Georgia

Felicity Huffman was involved in the 2019 college admissions scandal and served 11 days in prison after admitting to altering her older daughter Sophia's SAT scores

Felicity Huffman and William H. Macy's family might have been thrust into the spotlight due to the actress's involvement in the 2019 college admissions scandal, but prior to that, they preferred to keep their two daughters, Sophia and Georgia, out of the public eye.

"They didn't even watch television until Sophia broke her collarbone trying to do a handstand," Macy told PEOPLE in 2017. "So we put her in front of the TV and she started watching movies for the first time."

Huffman and Macy, who stars in Prime Video's Ricky Stanicky, first met in the early 1980s and dated on and off for 15 years before tying the knot in 1997. They welcomed their older daughter, Sophia, in 2000 and their younger daughter, Georgia, two years later.

When Sophia was 18 years old, Huffman was arrested and charged for paying a proctor to change her older daughter's SAT exam scores. The Desperate Housewives actress later pled guilty to conspiracy to commit mail fraud and honest services mail fraud and served 11 days in prison.

While Macy was not charged in relation to the event, he stood by his wife's side during the headline-making scandal, writing, "every good thing in my life is because of Felicity Huffman" in a letter of support to a judge ahead of Huffman's September 2019 sentencing.

Related: William H. Macy Says Felicity Huffman's Relationship with Daughters 'Exploded' After Scandal

Huffman spoke about her role in the college admissions scandal for the first time in November 2023. During an interview with ABC-7 Eyewitness News, the Oscar-nominated actress explained she thought the "criminal scheme" was the "only option to give my daughter a future."

"People assume that I went into this looking for a way to cheat the system and making proverbial criminal deals in back alleys, but that was not the case," she said, adding later, "It felt like I had to give my daughter a chance at a future. And so it was sort of like my daughter's future, which meant I had to break the law."

Sophia retook the SATs and was accepted into Carnegie Mellon University's theatre program, where she currently attends. Georgia enrolled at Vassar College in 2020 and is expected to graduate in 2024.

"They're really cool young women and really fun to be around and smart as whips," Macy told PEOPLE of his kids in 2017. "They're above average."

Here's everything to know about Felicity Huffman and Wiliam H. Macy's two daughters.

Sophia Grace Macy, 23

Huffman and Macy welcomed their first child, a daughter named Sophia Grace Macy, on Aug. 1, 2000. Becoming a first-time mother at 37 was an experience that Huffman "struggled with so mightily," she later revealed to the Los Angeles Times. "I did not enter into motherhood with any sense of equanimity or grace."

Huffman elaborated that she felt her heart "break open" when Sophia was born. "I felt unequal to the task," the actress said about parenting. "I felt like I was moving from mistake to mistake, sleep-deprived forever."

Though Macy understood that motherhood "frightened" Huffman, he praised her parenting abilities from the start. "From the day we learned that Sophia Grace Macy was on her way, Felicity threw herself into parenting," Macy wrote in a letter of support to a judge ahead of Huffman's sentencing in 2019. "She read mountains of books and sought out the best and the brightest on the subject. She sought out parents whose children impressed her and picked their brains on child-rearing."

Macy and Huffman's parenting philosophy involved making a concerted effort to raise their daughters out of the public eye. "We decided to keep them as far away from our business as possible," Macy explained in the letter. That included avoiding Hollywood events and paparazzi — but it didn't prevent Sophia from getting bit by the acting bug herself.

Sophia attended Los Angeles County High School of the Arts, which emphasizes the performing arts. She honed her acting talents there, earning awards and lead roles in the school's drama productions, according to The New York Times.

"She's thriving there," Macy told Parade magazine in January 2019. "I know she's going to make a go of it in the business, which I support. I've seen her; she's good, she's really good."

But before Sophia could launch her acting career, her mother was implicated in the college admissions cheating scandal. Huffman was arrested in March 2019 during Sophia's senior year of high school for paying $15,000 for a proctor to correct her SAT answers — allegedly without Sophia's knowledge. She pled guilty and served 11 days in prison.

"My daughter knew absolutely nothing about my actions, and in my misguided and profoundly wrong way, I have betrayed her," Huffman said in a statement obtained by PEOPLE. "This transgression toward her and the public I will carry for the rest of my life."

Sophia's college acceptance was rescinded in 2019 after news broke of the cheating scandal. However, she still went on to graduate from high school in June 2019 and continued to pursue both college and acting. In the fall of 2020, she enrolled at Carnegie Mellon University as a student in their prestigious theater program. She also made her acting debut in season 2 of Jordan Peele's CBS show The Twilight Zone earlier that year.

"I'm so so grateful," Sophia wrote on Instagram about her role in The Twilight Zone. She also called the experience "an absolute pleasure" in a separate post.

In February 2024, Macy told E! News that he's excited Sophia is getting into acting.

"I love this business. I figured if I can do it, anyone can do it," he said.

Georgia Grace Macy, 22

Macy and Huffman's second daughter, Georgia Grace Macy, was born in Los Angeles on March 14, 2002. Becoming a mother to two young children overwhelmed Huffman, but it also helped her land one of her most iconic acting roles: Lynette Scavo on Desperate Housewives.

Huffman recalled to PEOPLE in 2008 that she had "just left two screaming [toddlers] in the bathtub" when she headed out to her audition for the television show. When producers asked her about her feelings on being a mother, she responded honestly: "It's really hard and I'm losing my mind." Producers later told her that that candid response and her "frazzled" appearance ultimately landed her the role of Lynette.

Macy opened up about his younger daughter's personality traits in 2007. "Georgia is like her mom: fierce," the actor said, adding that she was also "so smart, like Felicity." But unlike her famous parents and older sister, Georgia had no interest in acting — she preferred politics instead.

"She's interested in politics, political science and pursuing that," Macy told Parade magazine in January 2019. "She's in a very academic school and killing it."

Georgia currently attends Vassar College in New York, where she is set to graduate in 2024. Her Instagram reveals that she enjoys outdoor activities, including horseback riding, skiing and the beach.

She also appears to be close with her parents and her older sister, despite Macy saying that Huffman's relationship with her daughters "exploded" following the college admissions scandal. "I must've done something good in a past life to deserve a family like this one," Georgia wrote on Instagram in November 2022.

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