FANGIRL POWER
‘I only auditioned because was a huge Marvel fan, ” laughs Iman Vellani, the 19-year-old newcomer cast in the title role of the Marvel Cinematic Universe’s latest Disney+ series. It’s April and Vellani is Zooming with Total Film from her childhood bedroom in Markham, Ontario, Canada. “The only thing I would talk about is Marvel, Marvel, Marvel – specifically Iron Man. That little corner is totally an Iron Man shrine.” She signals to a red-and-gold hued patch on a wall plastered with posters (mostly Marvel, but Portrait Of A Woman On Fire can be glimpsed in the mix).
It’s appropriate that Vellani’s a full-on Marvel fangirl, as the character she’s bringing to the MCU is a superfan of the Avengers (particularly Captain Marvel); Kamala Khan avidly follows her idols’ exploits in New York from across the river in New Jersey. Dressed in a dark-blue Marvel Comics t-shirt, Vellani had no real acting experience before a chance text message led to an audition.
“I didn’t even want to do acting, ” she laughs. “My aunt got a WhatsApp forward from a group which she never opens. So it was so fated that this even happened. It was like, ‘Ms. Marvel casting. Send headshot and resume here.’” After being talked into it, she sent an academic CV and received
