A biography for Iman Vellanihasn’t been written yet.
“Marvel fandom is demanding.”
“With dreams, you can do literally whatever you want.”
“I hope that we're able to shift the perspective on how we see Muslims in mainstream media.”
“Watch myself on-screen, I'm able to disconnect because it feels like I'm reading a 'Ms. Marvel' comic and watching my friends.”
“For some people, power is money. For Marvel fans, it's knowledge and secrets and all the inside scoop on all the movies that haven't been released yet.”
“I think my parents, being immigrants, wanted us to try new things. They would never be the ones to be like, 'Just focus on your studies,' because you can do that anywhere. They brought their kids to a different country so they could have different opportunities.”
“I really think it's important to find a passion and explore it. You don't have to have everything figured out at 16.”
“My entire family is very academic; my brother's an engineer, my mom's a nurse practitioner, my dad's an accountant.”
“On 'The Marvels,' we had like almost two hours worth of content in 80-something days.”
“You're not gonna impress everyone.”
“I had some acting experience; I studied theater in high school, but high school theater does not compare to Marvel Universe, let me tell you that.”
“I mean, I'm so far removed from the film industry.”
“I live in Markham, Ontario, and no one even knows where that is.”
“I had a lot of experience in high school alone when I would share my excitement with someone, and then they'd immediately shut me down for being so excited. I would hate to see that within the fan community as well, because it does feel awful.”
“One day, I picked up an issue of 'Invincible Iron Man: Ironheart' by Brian Michael Bendis, and Kamala Khan was on the cover. I was like, 'Oh, my God, who is this Brown girl?' Then I went into a deep dive of 'Ms. Marvel' comics and just absolutely fell in love.”
“If you keep generalizing people in one-dimensional ways, that's how we're gonna see them, but when you represent them in a way that reflects the way they actually live, it can open people's eyes.”
“In elementary school, there was a teacher who would always call me an Apple product - like I-Man, iPod. I hate it when people emphasize the 'man' because my name means 'Faith;' it's a very important Arabic word, especially in the Quran.”
“Film and TV shape how we see people, and so when Muslims are represented in a very one-note type of way, that's how you come to see those two billion people in the world.”
“My aunt sent me a WhatsApp forward that she got through this entire forward chain of 'Ms. Marvel' casting calls.”
“I think that aspiration to be greater than who you are is such a universal feeling, regardless of gender identity.”