Parenthood in a superhero universe is a dangerous and sometimes awkward (“MARTHA!!!”) occupation. Don’t tell that to Rosa Vasquez, the foster mother to not one but six superpowered teens, played by Spanish-American actor Marta Milans.

I recently got the chance to sit down with Milans to talk with her about her experience returning to her role as “Mama Rosa.”

Milans, who was born in Spain and has developed her acting career there as well as in America, said that Shazam! Fury of the Gods is the largest production that she has ever worked on.

“I remember walking through the stages and seeing the huge air fans and the cranes and the light balloons and thinking, ‘Wow, I don’t think it gets any bigger than this,'” she said. “But at the end of the day, it really is just about the work and the characters that you bring on screen when the camera is rolling. All the other stuff is amazing and it’s a treat to be part of something like that, because you feel like this childlike excitement of being in an amusement park when you were little and you’re getting to be part of it.”

Though she didn’t know how big her role was going to be, when Milans got the call to be in the Shazam! sequel she jumped at the chance (and for joy).

“I didn’t know what part of the story she was going to form, and she finds out about the little secret that her kids have and she joins in the fight to protect the family,” Milans said. “And I think that’s important. That’s a very positive message to send out to the world. And in a movie of this size, I’m just proud that I get to be a part of it.”

Like many other movies, the COVID-19 pandemic delayed filming for this production. During this time the child stars continued to grow, which Milans said was hard for her to deal with.

“With the children cast, I had a hard time because they grew up so fast. Faithe (Herman) who plays little Darla was an adorable little cupcake in the first movie, and then she’s almost a preteen and I did not want to see that,” she said. “But obviously, you know, it’s life and we had COVID in the middle. Our movie was delayed because of the pandemic. But then there was also a lot of fun to be able to interact with the adult versions which I didn’t have the chance to do in the first movie. Obviously Mama Rosa doesn’t know [about their superpowers]. So it was just wonderful in both ways.”

Milans and I had our interview the day after International Women’s Day, and Shazam! Fury of the Gods doesn’t pull any punches when it shows off a fair share of girl power. However, that is not always the case in Hollywood and women often still have to contend with trivializing roles or oppressive and abusive forces in the industry. Milans shared that while she think there is good social progress being made for women across the board, she would like to see a day where equity is standard and no longer has to be a topic of discussion.

“I think we’re walking in the right direction. I think women are becoming more fearless in every walk of life and every aspect and every career,” the actress said. “I would like to see a world in which we’re not putting labels on everybody, whether it’s race, color, ethnicity, gender.  I wish it for the future to be a moment where it’s just a character. You just get to play this character or this other character, and it doesn’t matter if you’re a man or a woman or your gender or your race. And I wish that to be the future down the road for everybody.”

Be sure to see Marta Milans in Shazam! Fury of the Gods in theaters now.

Published by Matt Fernandez

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