Xochitl Gomez Says Her ‘Doctor Strange’ Fame Came With an Unexpected Catch

Landing a role in a Marvel blockbuster is the kind of break most young actors dream about. For Xochitl Gomez, it arrived early, at an age when most teens are still figuring out what they want to do with their lives. Gomez was born in Los Angeles on April 29, 2006, and started acting at 5 after her mother enrolled her in a musical theater class.

Her résumé grew quickly from there. She made her onscreen debut in Disney Channel’s ‘Raven’s Home’ in 2018 and led one season of Netflix’s ‘The Baby-Sitters Club’ before jumping to the Marvel Cinematic Universe at age 16 as America Chavez in ‘Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.’ The film made almost $700 million in its first two weekends, which put a largely unknown face in front of a massive global audience.

Now 20, Gomez is looking back at what that leap actually did for her career, and the answer is more complicated than a typical success story. Speaking to Bustle, she described her Marvel breakthrough as “a gift and a curse.” The reason, according to the interview, was a perception problem that followed her into the audition room.

In the Bustle conversation, Gomez said that after joining Marvel she had a hard time landing roles because filmmakers assumed she would be too expensive or that her schedule would be too packed. She said she kept wanting to tell them they were guessing. What she really wanted, she explained, was a shot at the smaller indie projects.

That frustration says a lot about how franchise fame can work behind the scenes. A big-budget credit raises a performer’s profile, but it can also make decision-makers assume she is out of reach before she ever gets a chance to read for them. Gomez’s experience suggests the assumption can do real damage to a young actor still trying to prove her range.

The pressure of the franchise itself was another factor. She said scripts were being changed constantly during production, and that as a 14-year-old fan of ‘Doctor Strange’ it was difficult to speak up when she felt her character wouldn’t act a certain way. She also noted that the upside of a franchise is an excited audience with clear expectations, and that studying the material as closely as fans do earns their appreciation.

Her path into Marvel was already a high-stakes decision. Reports at the time noted she had to choose between ‘The Baby-Sitters Club’ and Marvel, and taking the role meant leaving her part as Dawn in the Netflix series. Having made that sacrifice, it is easy to see why the aftermath stung.

Gomez has since built a career on her own terms. She won the Mirrorball trophy on ‘Dancing with the Stars’ in 2023 with partner Valentin Chmerkovskiy at 17, kicking off the show’s resurgence. She also said that the win helped introduce audiences to who she is, rather than just the character they knew.

She is also getting choosy about what comes next. Gomez said she has turned down projects that felt off, only to see stories come out later that made her feel she was saved by the bell, and that she has watched many young people lose their spark and doesn’t want that to happen to her. Her latest role is voicing Gabby opposite America Ferrera in the animated ‘The Cat in the Hat,’ which arrived in theaters Nov. 6.

As for a possible Marvel return, Gomez kept the door open without making any promises. Asked about ‘Avengers: Doomsday,’ she said Marvel owns the rights to her image, so a comeback is possible. Fans of America Chavez will be hoping the studio takes the hint.