Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness is finally hitting theatres tonight, and the newest MCU movie will feature the return of Benedict Cumberbatch as Doctor Strange, Elizabeth Olsen as Wanda Maximoff/Scarlet Witch, Benedict Wong as Wong, and Rachel McAdams as Christine Palmer. The long-awaited sequel will also include the debut of Xochitl Gomez as a fan-favorite comics character, America Chavez. Recently, the 16-year-old actor spoke with The Hollywood Reporter about her six-month audition process.
“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. So I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, I might have a shot at this!’ 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,” Gomez shared.
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“But for someone so young to join the MCU at 14 years of age, full credit to Xochitl,” Wong told the outlet. “As anyone would be, there was kind of a rabbit in the headlights at first, but she’s grown and grown into this amazing character that everyone is going to see.”
“Once I logged on, Stella was on the phone with [casting director] Sarah Finn,” Gomez previously revealed to Marvel.com. “She said she had something big to tell me, and said, ‘Xochitl, welcome to the MCU! You are America Chavez.’ I was so shocked and frozen. It took me a couple weeks to process the news.”
Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness director, Sam Raimi, recently spoke to Empire Magazine about how Chavez is an important part of the film.
“Strange is still learning about the Multiverse,” Raimi explained. “And here’s a character that can actually travel through it. He’s such a know-it-all all the time, and to have to learn from a kid probably smarts.”
“I think when people see the movie, much like it is in life, it is not any one thing that defines any one character,” Kevin Feige added in a press conference. “As Xochitl said, she’s a 14-year-old girl figuring out this very traumatic element of her life, which is not the LGBTQ issue, it’s the fact that she keeps being tossed around the Multiverse multiple, multiple times. Being truthful to that and showcasing that, and that is not what the movie is about, but it is an important part of the character she becomes in the comics. We wanted to touch upon that.”
Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness is now playing in theatres.
