ON OUR RADAR

XOCHITL GOMEZ IS READY FOR SOMETHING STRANGE

Xochitl (pronounced Soh-Chee) plays America Chavez, a queer Latin-American superhero in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. The actress (15) is best known for her roles in the Netflix series Gentefied and The Baby-Sitters Club.

America, who also goes by the superhero name Miss America, has powers which include super-speed and strength and she can kick starshaped holes in reality – handy for traversing the multiverse.

Director Sam Raimi, who previously helmed the Tobey Maguire Spider-Man films, said the Doctor Strange sequel will “take us on a journey through different realities in the multiverse”.

The multiverse is infinite parallel universes, each universe home to everything that already exists, but in a different reality. Some are only slightly different from our own and others are virtually unrecognisable.

Because Strange – played by Benedict Cumberbatch – has limited knowledge of the multiverse after his misadventures in Spider-Man No Way Home, he needs a guide – America Chavez.

Placing America in a Doctor Strange film is the ideal introduction for the character in the Marvel movie universe, Xochitl says.

“I loved how they put her in a Doctor Strange film because she has this amazing ability to travel the multiverse. It doesn’t feel forced. It just works. I love how young she is, because we haven’t really seen that. I think people are going to really like that.”

Xochitl wanted to be an actress for as long as she could remember. The Los Angeles-born teen started acting in musicals when she was five and she’s never looked back.

“If I wasn’t in a show, I was just coming off one or prepping an audition for the next one.”

She went on to land roles in Raven’s Home, The Letter and You’re the Worst, and really stepped into the spotlight when she starred in Gentefied and The Baby-Sitters Club. Being in Gentefied, she said, was like paying homage to her culture.

The comedy-drama series is about a trio of Mexican-American cousins who are trying to save their grandfather’s taco shop – and pursue their own dreams – as gentrification takes hold of their Los Angeles neighbourhood.

“It felt amazing to be on a set with strong female Latinas in front of the camera, behind the camera, producing and writing,” she says. “This is what representation

feels like and it is so powerful!”