Xochitl Gomez
Xochitl Fiona Gomez-Deines is an American actress. She began acting at age five, performing in local musical theater productions and student films. Gomez made her professional debut in 2018 in Raven's Home. She starred in the first season of the Netflix comedy series The Baby-Sitters Club, and gained wider recognition for playing America Chavez in the Marvel Cinematic Universe film Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. In 2023, she won season 32 of Dancing with the Stars.
Early life
Xochitl Fiona Gomez-Deines was born on April 29, 2006, in Los Angeles, California. Both of her parents are of Mexican descent; her mother is a set decorator for feature films, while her father is a construction worker from Morelos. She was raised in Hollywood, and moved to Echo Park at age five. She grew up with "a lot of Mexican influences" since her friends and babysitter were also Mexican, and her parents spoke Spanish at home. Gomez stated that she feels she has "lived in both worlds and that has shaped who as a person." She has attended public school her entire life.Gomez took her first musical theater class at age five and began acting in a local production of The Little Mermaid. Gomez continued with musical theater until she was 12 years old, performing in 22 full-length musicals. She also acted in student films. Gomez has cited musical theater as a reason she is passionate about acting. Jennifer Lawrence's performance as Katniss Everdeen in The Hunger Games film series inspired her to pursue a professional acting career. Gomez attended auditions around Los Angeles every day after school for several hours. At times, she would attend four or five daily, an experience she found "crazy." Gomez secured her first parts in commercials at age ten. She found it difficult to book roles because "you would have to be the younger version of an actor or the kid of a famous actor," but she did not resemble any actors. However, Gomez felt her performances in student films helped people notice her talent. She began studying martial arts, including kung fu, at the age of 11 to bolster her acting resume.
Career
Gomez made her onscreen debut in 2018 on the Disney Channel sitcom Raven's Home. She also starred in Shadow Wolves, for which she won a Young Artist Award for Supporting Teen Artist. In March 2020, Gomez joined the cast of The Baby-Sitters Club, an adaptation of Ann M. Martin's novel series of the same name, as Dawn Schafer. Released on Netflix on July 3, 2020, the show garnered critical acclaim. Entertainment Weekly stated: "Gomez delivers Dawn's social-justice-themed dialogue with heartfelt frankness." In March 2021, Netflix recast her role for the show's second season due to scheduling conflicts with Gomez filming Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness.Gomez starred as America Chavez in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. She was 13 when she first auditioned for the role of then-18-year-old America in February 2020. The character was later re-written as a younger teenager. Gomez did martial arts, kickboxing, and stunt training for "every other day for hours," hoping to "blow minds" in a potential callback. Six months after her initial audition, Gomez received a callback and did a screen test with Stephen Strange actor Benedict Cumberbatch. She was cast two days later. Aged 16 at the time of Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness release, Gomez was one of the youngest actors to portray a superhero in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. The film was a commercial success, grossing over $955 million worldwide. Its critical reception was mixed, but Gomez was praised for her role, with Empire writing she "brings impressive warmth and feeling." In August 2022, she was cast in the science fiction thriller film Ursa Major alongside Mary Elizabeth Winstead.
In 2023, Gomez competed on the thirty-second season of the reality competition series Dancing With the Stars; she was paired with professional dancer Valentin Chmerkovskiy. At 17 years old, she was the youngest celebrity to appear that season. Gomez and Chmerkovskiy won the competition on December 5, 2023, and were awarded the inaugural Len Goodman Mirrorball Trophy. They were the first individual couple of the season to earn a perfect score, and finished at the top of the leaderboard with a perfect score of 120 out of 120 for the final two weeks of the competition. In 2024, Gomez joined on the Dancing with the Stars: Live! tour, and performed with Chmerkovskiy during the finale of season thirty-three. She returned in season thirty-four to compete in a jive relay with conservationist Robert Irwin.