Xochitl Gomez has landed her first voiceover role in The Cat in the Hat, playing Gabby after a roughly three-hour scratch session and a months-long wait. The 20-year-old said the part fits the way she already works on set: fast, expressive, and willing to try something new.
Gabby Comes After Months
The casting decision came after Gomez auditioned for the animated film and completed the scratch session that helped shape Gabby’s voice and timing. She said she had always wanted to do voiceover because she is such an animated, fun person, but the chance had not come together until this audition arrived.
“I’d always wanted to do voiceover because I’m such an animated, fun person. I was like, ‘It just fits the vibe, right?’ And it would just never really happen,” Gomez said over Zoom. She added, “I was like, ‘OK, maybe it’s just not going to happen for me. Other people can have that. Leave it to the pros.'”
From Marvel to Animation
Gomez’s move into The Cat in the Hat follows visibility built through Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness in 2022 and Dancing with the Stars in 2023, where she won season 32 with Val Chmerkovskiy. That mix of live-action and competition work made the voice role a different kind of assignment, one that pushes her into a new part of the business without changing the profile she already built on camera.
She said she was the first person cast in the family because Gabby mattered so much to the film’s setup. “I was not expecting this, but I was the first person to be cast in the family because Gabby’s such an important character that they were like, ‘We want to get this character down and everyone else will just fill in the blanks,'” she said.
Why The Family Setup Matters
Gomez said she wanted the movie to have a Latino family in the front and center of the movie. That puts her casting into sharper focus than a standard credit: it is both a first voice role for her and a specific creative choice inside an animated feature that is still assembling its ensemble around her character.
“I was just like, ‘OK, this is a really cool opportunity and I’d love to get this because that would also mean that we have a Latino family in the front and center of this movie,'” she said. That is the practical takeaway for viewers tracking the film’s cast: Gabby is not a background addition, but the anchor around which the family is being built.
Bad Influence in Kentucky
Gomez was filming Bad Influence in Kentucky when the interview took place, a reminder that her schedule already spans film, television, and live performance. She also said the exposure from those projects brought people debating things about her hair and skin tone, which makes this casting notable in a less tidy way than a pure career-win headline.
“I have to say that show really, really expanded my fan base,” she said of Dancing with the Stars, while the earlier movie and set work helped explain why she is now making the jump into voice acting. For Gomez, the next step is less about proving she can do animation and more about whether The Cat in the Hat turns that first voice role into a lasting lane.
