Ms. Marvel: How Iman Vellani Became Marvel’s First Muslim Superhero
The 19-year-old Pakistani-Canadian talks playing Marvel’s first Muslim superhero
Iman Vellani, the 19-year-old Pakistani-Canadian star of the upcoming Disney+ original series Ms Marvel, based on the best selling comic book series, is still barely processing her life right now.
After all, Iman Vellani has gone from a Marvel fanatic who was drawn into the world of Marvel comics because in 2014 Marvel introduced its first Muslim superhero, Ms Marvel Kamala Khan, to becoming Marvel’s first Muslim star herself, all while playing the character she grew up loving.
Ahead of the series’ debut exclusively on Disney+ June 8 both in the Middle East region and worldwide, we spoke with Iman Vellani about her journey to becoming the character, how the show has strengthened her connection to her Pakistani and Muslim heritage, as well as her fantastic relationship with Marvel Studios President and lead producer Kevin Feige–which is a lot more like Peter Parker and Tony Stark in the MCU than we were expecting.
Read our full interview with Ms Marvel star Iman Vellani below:
William Mullally: So, how are you processing all of this so far?
Iman Vellani (IV): It’s the most surreal thing ever. I really got into comic books when I just got into high school and Marvel is the only thing I ever talked about. I was very active on all the Marvel subreddits and I was making theory boards. I was that kid who was obsessed. I would go frame by frame when trailers came out and breaking down all the Marvel movies.
The fact that I’m playing one of my care favorite characters is just the most crazy heartwarming experience ever. I’ve gotten to meet so many incredible people who are part of this project and people who are from a South Asian Muslim background, because I didn’t really see many people from a creative side who looked like me doing things that I wanted to do when I was a kid. I’m just very happy that we can be the ones to bring this precious character to mainstream media.
WM: Okay, as a huge fan of this character, what did the transition into becoming her involve? Was it difficult to make it your own when you had such huge reverence for the character she was on the page?
IV: It was really difficult, because I felt like I had to put on a face. I’m acting, so I have to be in character, and this is my first character, and my first role ever. Marvel’s amazing casting director Sara Finn held my hand throughout the whole thing and said, ‘look, we cast you, we want you, so just be yourself. You don’t have to go any extra mile in trying to put on a face. That’s not you. You’re already Kamala’. That was all the reassurance that I needed.
It’s pretty easy to slip into the character. And on top of that, all of our creatives were using me as a great resource and just getting advice from me because the show is written by 30 year olds and they’re writing for 16 year old characters. That has, a lot of times in Hollywood, not been the most realistic thing. Ir eally appreciate that the producers and our writers and directors, talk to us as humans and our directors called me and were just like, ‘we want to hear about you, and about your crushes in high school, your favorite teacher’s favorite subjects. What was your high school experience?’ And they brought so much of my real experiences into the show. I think they did that for a lot of the other characters and just really have those important conversations. And so it was pretty easy for me in that sense.
And then obviously, physical training was important—just to keep your stamina high, because honestly, the movements of it aren’t that difficult. It’s just doing the same thing for 10-to-14-hour filming days, and then you’re using muscles you didn’t even know existed. I was just sore every day. But keeping your body as limber as possible is part of the process.
WM: Have you gotten any advice from other Marvel stars on how to handle fame?
IV: Yes, actually, Brie Larson reached out to me two days after I got the part. She talked to me on FaceTime for a while and she’s been my greatest resource and mentor throughout this whole process. Even though she was Oscar winner beforehand, Marvel has completely changed her life. I’ve seen it happen to the Chris Hemsworth and Tom Hollands of the world, but I can’t even imagine putting myself in those shoes and what this next year is going to look like. it is daunting in that sense, but I just have so much love for this character.
I want people to see what I saw when I picked up those comics. Kamala is a fairly new character, she only premiered in 2014 in the comic books. I’m excited for people to see my interpretation. I want people to understand how likable she is. And it’s just such a fun character. And I think the MCU really need her.
WM: What was the audition process like?
IV: I literally got cast on my last day of high school, which was the perfect graduation present, considering I didn’t get one during COVID. My aunt actually got sent the casting call through a WhatsApp forward, which is like the brownest way this could have happened. It looked super sketchy, but I did it anyway.
And I think two days after I sent myself tape, I got a call and they’re like, ‘do have a lawyer? We’re flying you to LA’. And I was like, I’ve got a test tomorrow!’.
They were so great in walking my dad and I throughout this whole process. My dad flew with me to LA and it was the most fun I’ve ever had in my entire life. I just wanted to use that experience as much as I could, because I didn’t know if I’d ever be in the same room with Marvel employees again, or if I was going to get the part or not. I just I really took full advantage of that. I think they saw that outside of the acting I was so in love with this world. That definitely gave me a bit of an upper hand. That was in February of 2020. Then COVID hit, so they sent me one email saying ‘you’re very much in the running, but we have got to figure some stuff out on our side’. I was like, okay.
June hits, and they do another screen test over zoom. That was like, super weird. I didn’t really know where to look or how to make a connection with someone over zoom. But clearly it worked out.
WM: How did you react when you found out you got the role?
IV: As I mentioned, it was on the the last day of high school, even though the end of high school ended up being over like Google Hangouts, which was really depressing. But my friends and I were like, okay, we’re going to go get burritos, go shopping, or whatever. So I get picked up by my friend, and we’re going to pick up another friend.
I get a text from [Casting Director] Sara Finn, and she says, ‘can you get on a call right now?’ And I’m like, ’no’. My friends didn’t know I had auditioned. And then she says, ‘I just sent you the link, get on.’ I said, ‘okay’, so as I get out of my friend’s car, and I’m on her driveway, I open the Zoom link, and it’s just Kevin’s face. I know there’s like 15 other people on the call, but I literally could not see anyone but Kevin Feige.
Kevin Feige is like my deity in every sense of the word. I could not breathe, or talk, or anything. It was on the Zoom app, so you have to keep talking for people to see you. And I couldn’t keep talking, I was just like heavy breathing to make any noise. But yeah, Kevin told me about the part.
I was basically in shock for a year and a half. I’m just now processing it. My friends asked, ‘did you win the lottery? Or what happened?’ I said, ‘basically?’ I told them, and we were just like screaming in the car. Yeah. It’s a very weird moment. I didn’t believe it. I didn’t know how to react.
WM: With this as your first role, is your dream to continue to act, or do you have other aspirations?
IV: Well, listen, I’ve pitched [Marvel Studios head] Kevin Feige so many movies. He does not take any sh** from me. I don’t know, I made shorts for fun when I got bored in high school, but I never wanted to be an actor, even though I went to school for theatre in high school. I fell in love with the behind-the-scenes stuff. I didn’t know what I wanted to do. I kind of wanted to try everything. That’s kind of what university was supposed to be for.
But that didn’t happen. Now I am getting, essentially, the greatest crash course on how to make a movie here. We’ve worked with four different directors and three different cinematographers, with constant crew changes every other episode. In between takes I’m just watching people, observing people, and the acting bit is working out pretty well so far. I’m not complaining. Maybe one day [I’ll direct], I don’t know, as long as it’s a project I’m passionate about.
WM: Tell me more about your relationship with Kevin Feige. What are these movies that you’re pitching him? What are the sorts of conversations that you have, what are the best nuggets of goodness that he’s given you that helped you get into this?
IV: Okay, so my top favourite people in the entire world are Robert Downey Jr, Billy Joel and Kevin Feige. Kevin is three, and he knows how much I’m obsessed with him. He has been, you know, warming him up to my reaction.
In our first week of filming, they told me, ‘he’s going come on Wednesday’. And it’s Monday. And I’m sleeping in my chair or something. And then someone walks up to us. And she’s like, ‘so there’s someone here to meet you’. And I, look down, up. And it’s just Kevin’s eyes because he was wearing a mask, and I froze completely. And he says, ‘I heard you’re doing a great job here!’
I did not speak to him or smile at him until he left. I literally gave him a stare. I felt so bad because he was trying to make conversation with me and talk to me. And I gave him nothing. And I had this letter, a four-or-five page letter handwritten I had written for him that I was going to give to him in case this happened. But I did not bring it with me that day, because they told me he was coming on Wednesday. So Wednesday rolls around, and he comes back. And the same thing happens. Kevin’s like, ‘I’m going to leave unless you say something to me’. And I was like, I have something for you. And I gave him my letter. And he took it. And then I grabbed it back out of his hand. And he’s like, ‘do you want me to have it or not’? ‘Yes, yes,’ I said.
And then the next day, he calls me on Zoom and PDFs with like, first 60 questions I had asked him in the letter. There’s a lot. The first page of the letter was just me being in love with him. And then the rest was just questions I had about his life, the MCU, what time he wakes up, when he eats for breakfast. It was like very basic stuff like that. I didn’t even care what the answers were. I just wanted to hear him talk. I cannot tell you any of his answers, but some of them were really dumb.
And he segues his way around every single question I had about like spoilers and stuff, which is the most infuriating thing. Before all the three Spider-Mans were announced, I said ike, ‘so are three Spider-Mans in the movie? He goes, ‘I don’t know. But I’m going to show my kids Amazing Spider-Man tonight’. And I was like, what kind of answer is that? And those are all the ways he answers his questions, but he loves it and he loves the hold that he has on me. He’s very sweet and has been very supportive throughout this whole thing. And I think he really likes how nerdy I am about the Marvel stuff. Because when I visited his office, he said, ‘God, it’s so nice to show people stuff who actually care!’ Like, yeah, tell me more, Kevin.
That’s our relationship. I love it.
WM: Marvel has been stretching the MCU further in terms of tone and genre as of late. How would you define Ms Marvel’s? Do you think it had any obvious influences, other than the source material?
IV: I think we really wanted to lean into that coming of age, corny vibe, because being a kid as being a teenager is so embarrassing sometimes and cringy. We wanted to really embrace all of that. I think our show is quite self-aware about how corny it is.
A lot of our inspirations come from Bo Burnham’s Eighth Grade, Ladybird Scott Pilgrim. A lot stuff like that. When you’re a teen, you go through all your emotions, your crushes and your friendships, and everything is so heightened. The small inconveniences feel like the end of the world. I think we really were trying to lean into that whole experience. High school is no one’s peak, but you feel like you’re on the top of the world.
I think what I was told at the beginning is that, when you’re a kid, you want for people to take you seriously, for people to treat you like an adult, for adults to talk to you like you’re an adult. You want to grow up so fast, but you don’t even know anything about yourself. It’s a great story about self-discovery and identity, all while having superpowers.
WM Since the journey of this show is about a girl discovering herself and embracing her identity, what was your own journey in that regard?
IV: Being Pakistani was a part of my life I was very dismissive about, and I felt disconnected from my culture prior to this show. I was born in Pakistan, but I moved to Canada when I was a year old. I didn’t feel like I had a connection to it. I didn’t really have any Muslim Pakistani friends. Being on the show and seeing so many Pakistani and Indian actors that I grew up watching with my family and, and Sana Amanat who co-created the character was just like my big sister throughout this whole process. It was so encouraging for me to see that. I felt so far removed from the film industry and wanted to be a part of it so badly growing up. I’m so grateful I got to work with so many women and people of color behind the camera. I just hope that that opens a lot of doors for this industry. And I think it’s so cool that the parallels between Kamala and I, that we both went on the same journey of self-discovery, learning about our family and our heritage as the show progressed. And now I could not be prouder to be Pakistani. It’s cheesy, but it’s true.
WM How does it feel to be Marvel’s first Muslim superhero?
IV: It’s an honor and a privilege that Marvel trusts me to bring her to life, but I don’t really go to work thinking everyday that ‘oh, I’m like, the first Muslim superhero’ I’m never going to get anything done that way.
The whole reason I got into the comics was because I saw in her a girl like me. She was Pakistani-Muslim superhero fanatic. I was a Pakistani-Muslim superhero fanatic. And it was just crazy, because I didn’t think a story like that was possible, because I never really saw it before. This comic book was something that was holding a mirror in front of me and I just completely fell in love with her.
But yes, I do understand how important representation was because I felt that isolation that comes with not feeling understood. As close as I get to my school friends, they’re never really going to know my experiences and I’m never going to really know theirs, but film and television shape how we see people in this world, so accurate representation is so long overdue. I couldn’t be more happy that Marvel is taking steps and being more inclusive and creating space for a character like Kamala to exist.
Iman Vellani can be seen in Ms. Marvel only on Disney+ on June 8
Lead image courtesy of Instagram/@msmarvelofficial
Written by Esquire Middle East