Xochitl Gomez on Landing America Chavez Marvel Role and Leaving 'Baby-Sitters Club' (Exclusive)

It's an exciting time for Xochitl Gomez!

The 15-year-old actress landed the role of America Chavez, Marvel’s first Latinx queer superhero, in the upcoming Doctor Strange sequel, forcing her to leave her role as Dawn in The Baby-Sitters Club series. While it was hard to say goodbye to her Netflix cast for season 2, this was an opportunity of a lifetime.

"I can't say too much. I'm having a sense that I should not say too much. But, I can't even explain how honored I am that I was able to receive such a role, and that it was even out there," Gomez told ET's Deidre Behar at the LALIFF screening of In the Heights. "That, not only a Latina, but just a girl, a young girl, a superhero, and it means so much. I'm just so happy I get to be the one that plays that character. I hope that a lot of people look up to America and me, hopefully."

As for her reaction on landing the mega role, Gomez says she was in shock. "My reaction was basically, 'Oh, great, wow.' Then of course, as I get off the call, I'm like, 'Did that really just happen?'" she recalled. "Of course, it took me probably two or three days until it actually hit. That's when I actually, I cried. I mean, my mom didn't know. I don't want her to know, but I definitely, at night I cried. It's just crazy that I get to be a part of this crazy, huge thing. It's so just insane."

Gomez, who has wrapped filming on the movie, said that putting on the superhero suit for the first time was a great experience for her. But, without wanting to give too much away, she simply noted that it was "comfortable" and she "felt ready."

"I felt like this was perfect. That's what I felt. I felt perfect, and it just felt right," she expressed, before sharing these words to describe America Chavez: "I find her powerful. Girl power, and I guess it's the same, but strong. I mean all those words, just strong."

Scoring a role in the MCU meant Gomez had to take a step back from playing Dawn in The Baby-Sitters Club series, where she appeared in the first season. Kyndra Sanchez took over the role of Dawn for the second season.

"I felt really sad, but I knew that, just because of COVID, I couldn't be at one place and then another and then have to just switch all the time," she noted. "But I think Kyndra Sanchez is going to do an amazing job and I'm really excited to see her in season 2 of Baby-Sitters Club as Dawn."

"We just talk to each other, which I find kind of funny. At first, I was like, 'I don't know if it's going to work out or something.' But no, it was literally, because we're cast as Dawns, we just clicked and we just talked about whatever," she said of chatting with her successor. "Currently, it's about school and how stressful it is to do tests, but just normal things and 'fit checks."

Gomez is still friends with the other actress and wishes them nothing but the best, noting that whenever they "get a chance to tell each other how it's been and everything, we definitely catch up. I'm just lucky to be a part of that group. They're really nice girls."

For more on Gomez, see below. Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness is scheduled to be released on March 25, 2022.

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