LOS ANGELES — Xochitl Gomez had puffed up cheeks, freshly swollen from having her wisdom teeth extracted, when she and her mom drove hours to a Target earlier this spring so the teenage actor could take stock of an impressive career first under fluorescent lighting.
"I was like, 'Oh my god, I'm an action figure!' and within two minutes, I just started crying," Gomez says. "My hope is for kids to see themselves in me as an action figure. Something about that is pretty crazy and it's pretty cool and it's not lost on me how significant it is. I remember having it in my hand and freaking out — I was just so proud to have her."
The feat came earlier this year after she joined the Marvel Cinematic Universe with her debut as queer Latina superhero America Chavez in the Benedict Cumberbatch-led "Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness." It's a role she didn't think was in her cards. When her mom put her in martial arts classes years ago to add action skills to her resume, Gomez scoffed: "I always told her, 'I'm never going to be a superhero, I'm never going to be in a blockbuster. This is just never going to happen. It's never gonna be me.' ... I was so wrong. It's just so crazy how much it has changed since then.
