‘Shazam!’ star Marta Milans, who plays Rosa Vasquez, sat down with HL EXCLUSIVELY to talk about playing a mother to superheroes, why ‘Shazam!’ is different from other superhero movies, and more.
Shazam! is out in theaters everywhere now. Before the movie’s highly-anticipated release, HollywoodLife talked EXCLUSIVELY with Marta Milans, 36, about playing the role of Rosa Vazquez, a foster-mother to half a dozen children, including Billy Batson, a.k.a. Shazam. For Marta, being a part of Shazam! was a no brainer. “If someone comes up and offers you a role in a wonderful superhero movie that happens to tell a story for kids, about kids, and offers you the chance to play the mom of all the superheroes, how could you ever say no to that? So that was one amazing gift from God or my guardian angels, but the other part of the gift, so to speak, is the type of woman that Rosa is, the heartwarming character that she embodies,” Marta told HollywoodLife. “She is the bringer of love to the home. She is giving a home to all these kids who come from all different backgrounds, all different ethnicities, who feel like they don’t belong. They are orphan kids and Rosa brings them together and gives them a home. It’s such a beautiful message to all the kids out in the world, from all kinds of different backgrounds, different countries, to feel that there is a place for us all even if we didn’t feel that we belong or that we deserve to feel loved. To me, there is big importance about telling that story, so I’m just excited for all the kids out there to see it and to feel like they can relate to that on the big screen.”
The movie isn’t just about Billy becoming a superhero, it’s about family. “Ultimately, the throughline of the story is him wanting to find a family,” Marta continued. “He wants to find his real mom and eventually realizes that we give him that family. That is what is so different from any other superhero movie out there. We have all the action and we have all the fun stuff like flying around over the cities, but we also have this story about the kids and that’s what makes it really stand out above the others.”
Being the foster mom to six kids meant that Marta got to spend a lot of time with the young cast members, including Asher Angel, 16, Jack Dylan Grazer, 15, Faithe Herman, 10, and more. Marta opened up about working with the Shazam! kids. “It was a gift from the gods, really. Truly. I got to Toronto and knowing that I had to play the mom of six kids, I wanted to spend all this time with the children. They might be actors, but they’re still kids. I was really adamant that I needed to spend a lot of quality time with the kids before we started shooting so that we could develop that bond and that connection,” Marta said.
Asher plays the younger Billy Batson and Zachary Levi, 38, plays the older superhero version of the character. Marta raved that the actor was perfect to play Shazam. “Zach was born to play this character. He is a 14-year-old kid trapped in an adult body. He has that pace, that essence, that spark, that energy. It’s hard to keep up with him on a daily basis. He is just so full of life and energy and just so funny. What was also wonderful and lovely to watch was the banter between him and Jack. It is so critical to making the movie, because of that chemistry that they have and the great comedic timing they both have. It was beautiful to see and it worked perfectly for both of them. What Jack does for Zach and what Zach does for Jack… they’re both really elevate each other.”