Iman Vellani on Meeting Kevin Feige, Says Chris Pratt Sent Her a Long, Supportive Email
One week away from the release of the brand-new Ms. Marvel series, The Hollywood Reporter has published a new interview with lead actress Iman Vellani where she discusses how the character of Kamala Khan felt so much like herself.
Vellani has told a few times during the press tour the story of how she came across the character for the first time. It was Ms. Marvel #19, and what drew her attention to the issue was the fact that it depicted a classic Muslim festival:
“I’m like, ‘OK, who’s this brown girl now?’ It just blew my mind that a superhero comic was showcasing Eid [the Muslim festival marking the end of Ramadan].”
It was love at first sight, and she made sure to never miss an issue after that:
“She was my total comfort character. She felt so much like me, and a lot of that comes from not just her background and ethnicity but because she’s such a fan of the Marvel universe, too.”
While she comes from a family with no artistic chops, Vellani explained why she thinks her parents have been so supportive of her acting career:
“I think my parents, being immigrants, wanted us to try new things. They would never be the ones to be like, ‘Just focus on your studies,’ because you can do that anywhere. They brought their kids to a different country so they could have different opportunities.”
Vellani’s aunt received a casting call for Ms. Marvel via a text message in a group chat, and she quickly reached out to her niece, who she knew was a massive fan of the character:
“I knew exactly which comic books they pulled the scenes from [for the audition sides]. My 10-year-old self is going to hate me if I don’t do it.”
She sent the audition tape last minute, but it was enough to impress Marvel execs, who invited the young actress to L.A. for an audition:
“I was fully nerding out in front of [co-president] Louis D’Esposito and [casting head] Sarah Finn. I wanted to take full advantage of being there because I didn’t know if it was going to happen again.”
She received the news that she’d been cast on the last day of her senior year. When filming began, Vellani’s first encounter with Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige did not go as well as she’d hoped:
“My favorite people on the planet are Robert Downey Jr., Billy Joel and Kevin Feige. The day [Feige] came to set, I fully froze. He was trying to talk to me, and I stared at him until he left, and then I went back to my trailer and cried the hardest I’ve ever cried before. That was the most cathartic feeling ever.”
We already knew that, while filming The Marvels, which Ms. Marvel is a part of, Brie Larson and Teyonah Parris had been very supportive of her. But Iman Vellani also added that another actor had been a huge help for her. It is none other than Star-Lord himself, Chris Pratt:
“He made himself so available for any help I would need in the future, so I shot him an email asking about press and stuff and he sent me this juggernaut of an email with so much advice and what’s gotten him through this.”
She wrapped up with the following message, looking ahead at what’s to come for her:
“I got interested in cinematography when I started watching Ingmar Bergman movies and a lot of Agnès Varda. But acting’s working out pretty well so far, so I’ll see where this takes me. I want to try a bunch of things, because I’m still young and I don’t really know what I’m good at. I want to be involved in work I’m proud of and has a good message, and that Hollywood hasn’t really seen before.”
Ms. Marvel will premiere its first episode next Wednesday, June 8th, when we will meet Iman Vellani as Kamala Khan for the first time. Stay tuned for more coverage on the series. You can also check out the latest TV spot here:
Miguel Fernández is a Spanish student that has movies as his second passion in life. His favorite movie of all time is The Lord of the Rings, but he is also a huge Star Wars fan. However, fantasy movies are not his only cup of tea, as authors like Scorsese, Fincher, Kubrick or Hitchcock have been an obsession for him since he started to understand the language of filmmaking. He is that guy who will watch a black and white movie, just because it is in black and white.
