Iman Vellani has finally made her debut as Kamala Khan a.k.a the titular hero in Ms. Marvel. The new Disney+ series chronicles the adventures of a Muslim teenage girl living in New Jersey. The show, which is big on the representation of Pakistani American culture at its core, features a slew of South Asian cast as well as a nod to fan culture, action, and coming of age storyline.
Just like Kamala, Vellani too is a big fan of superheroes in real life. So she felt ‘honored’ getting initial support from the likes of Simu Liu (Shang-Chi), Kumail Nanjiani (Eternals), and Captain Marvel herself, Brie Larson. Vellani told Variety all about her first call with Larson.
She was the sweetest. I was really shy and I felt like everything I wanted to ask would have been stupid, but she didn’t make me feel like that. She has such a warm presence and made our Zoom call intimate, telling me all about her experience. Any time I had any issue on set, I would text her and she’d make herself so available to answer my questions, as silly or small as they were.
The young actor will continue her story in the upcoming The Marvels alongside Larson, and Teyonah Parris under Nia D’costa’s direction. Talking about her experience of working with the amazing women, Vellani is all praises. “Nia DaCosta is my favorite human ever. I think she’s so talented and so caring and considerate. She’s very much an actor’s director. Like after she gets a take she wants, she’s like “This is yours. Do whatever you want. Anything we haven’t tried, just do it,” she explains.
Further adding, “Brie and Teyonah are the same. Standing next to them, sharing a screen with them is so empowering. I didn’t want to be the one to continually just gush over them, so I had to hold back a little bit, because they took it very seriously, and I’m just like, Oh my God, I’m in a movie.”
And that’s not all, in her short time Vellani has also developed a special relationship with Marvel head Kevin Feige. “I just like hearing Kevin talk. I ask him so many questions every time I see him, I ask them just so he can talk about things that he wouldn’t normally talk about. I’m like, “So Kevin how much, how many hours of sleep do you get? Do you put your socks on left foot at first or right foot?” These tiny little things, it’s so mundane,” Vellani revealed.
The first episode of Ms. Marvel is streaming on Disney+ now.
