The actress opens up about joining the Marvel Cinematic Universe and the geeky props she stole from set.
Like Kamala Khan herself,Iman Vellaniis a fan.
Long before she snagged the lead role inMs.
Daniel McFadden/Marvel Studios
Marvel Halloween costumein high school.
Like Kamala, Vellani is also new to the superhero game.Ms.
Marvelis her first on-screen credit, and she landed the role as a high school senior.
Iman Vellani as Kamala Khan on ‘Ms. Marvel’.Marvel Studios
you’re able to’t help but root for her and be drawn to her.
It just made sense.
There’s no other Kamala than Iman Vellani."
With the first episode ofMs.
Marvelout now, EW sat down with Vellani to talk about her journey to the Marvel universe.
What was it about Kamala that you loved?
She just felt so different, and her culture wasn’t something that she neglected.
Honestly, it was really inspiring for me because I felt quite dismissive of my culture growing up.
I was absolutely fangirling over Sana.
[Laughs] I admire her so much.
And knowing that she is a very big part of my life now…
I’m truly so lucky to have someone like her in my life.
A lot of those conversations at the beginning were mostly just them asking me about my life.
I was like, “I can contribute more than this!”
and they’re like, “No, tell us who your favorite teacher was!
Tell us what your favorite subject was.
Who did you like in high school?”
It was like therapy.
I was spewing all these stories at them, and they incorporated so much of that into the script.
I think it made the characters and the story as a whole really real.
As an actor, how did you want to balance the big superhero moments with the teenage angst?
Honestly, I was quite reliant on our directors.
Life is not all just rom-com-y.
There’s a lot of ups and downs, especially when you’re a teenager.
I think when you’re in high school, you just feel things so intensely.
All your emotions are so heightened: your crushes, your friendships, minor inconveniences.
They just feel like the end of the world.
So, we wanted to channel all of those things that come with coming of age.
Plus, I just lived it!
I was 17 when I got cast.
The character was 16.
So, I was just learning from my own experiences and projecting that onto Kamala.
Was there anything about making this show that surprised you?
I ended up becoming really in touch with my culture.
I’ve listened to Bollywood music willingly now.
That’s a huge character development for me, I must say.
You’re going to become a watered-down version of someone else.
Seeing Kamala come to terms with all the 50,000 things that make her her really inspired me.
Yeah, she represents everything about being a teen and everything about fan culture.
She’s just so unapologetically herself.
All of our cast is wonderful, and they’ve brought so much of themselves into the world.
What was the biggest learning experience for you onMs.
I had a different perspective on filmmaking.
It was essentially the greatest crash course on film I could have ever received.
What was the day on set where you geeked out the most?
AvengerCon is what my dreams look like.
[Laughs] I had so much fun filming there.
I stole so much from that set, too.
I took boxes home.
So, what did you take?
I got a lot of posters, a lot of T-shirts, a lot of hats and sunglasses.
I got some cool mugs and Funkos.
Just everything that was there!
[Laughs] My closet is now a mini AvengerCon.
