After her dancing skills caught attention, Xochitl Gomez’s voice role in Cat in the Hat is next

A New Voiceover Challenge

She told The Hollywood Reporter she thought voiceover would suit her, but the opportunity had not come. After an audition and a roughly three-hour scratch session for Gabby, she waited months before learning she had won the role.

Landing the Role of Gabby

The new animated The Cat in the Hat, directed by Alessandro Carloni and Erica Rivinoja, was released Friday. Gomez voices Gabby, the older sister in the family. Gomez said she was the first cast member in the family because the filmmakers wanted to establish Gabby before filling the other roles. She described the part as a chance to help bring a Latino family to the center of the movie.

From Set Visits to Co-Stars

Gomez grew up visiting film sets with her mother, who worked as a set decorator. She recalled watching the mechanics behind an animatronic troll on the set of Hansel & Gretel.

She has since worked with actors she admired, including Benedict Cumberbatch and Elizabeth Olsen in Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. In The Cat in the Hat, she works alongside Bill Hader, who voices the title character and whom she calls a voiceover legend.

Exposure and Public Attention

Gomez said she was not prepared for the exposure some projects would bring. She also described having people debate aspects of her, including her hair and skin tone. She is currently filming Bad Influence, an adult road-trip horror movie, in Kentucky.