Xochitl Gomez Is Doctor Strange’s Breakout Star: 5 Things to Know About MCU Newcomer

usmagazine.com:

Saving the day and stealing the show. Xochitl Gomez is being praised as the breakout star of Doctor Strange and the Multiverse of Madness, but she almost didn’t even audition for the blockbuster.“I did my first audition in February 2020, and then six months later, in August, I got my second audition, which was for a younger version of the character,” the Baby-Sitters Club alum, 16, told The Hollywood Reporter in May 2022 about reading for the role of America Chavez.

The character was originally written for someone in their late teens, but a then 14-year-old Gomez decided to take a chance and send in an audition tape anyway.

By her second reading, they had tweaked the role to open it up to a larger range of actresses.“I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, I might have a shot at this!'” she recalled. “So I did some stunt training for a full month, every other day for a couple hours, and then I did the test.

And two days later, I found out I was cast. It all went pretty quick!”Though she has been acting since the age of 5, Doctor Strange was the biggest project that Gomez has been a part of, and it took some time for her to process that she was playing a superhero. “My reaction was basically, ‘Oh, great, wow.’ Then of course, as I get off the call, I’m like, ‘Did that really just happen?'” she told Entertainment Tonight in June 2021. “Of course, it took me probably two or three days until it actually hit.”The You’re the Worst actress continued: “That’s when I actually, I cried.