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Jameela Jamil is no stranger to major franchises. She's currently appearing as the villain Titania in Marvel's She-Hulk, she voiced Wonder Woman in DC League of Superpets, she's part of the Star Trek universe with the animated show Prodigy, and she even has an idea of her dream Star Wars role.
"It feels only natural that I should at least be allowed to do catering at Star Wars. Just as I've been referring to my nerd EGOT," the actor jokes at a New York Comic Con roundtable attended by SFX Magazine. "That would be an ultimate dream come true, and then I've fulfilled every 12-year-old fantasy I had."
While she doesn't have a specific role in mind, Jamil does have her sights set on the dark side. "I'd take literally anything, but I think a villain," she says. "I do really love playing the bad guy. I really do enjoy complex characters who start off as immensely unrelatable, who we can find the relatability of. I think the reason for that, it's probably slightly socially political. Right now we are so divided; we almost seek to misunderstand each other. And if we don't understand each other, we're never going to be able to find a way back to one another. And I think that's also been an overarching theme throughout Star Trek… We're decades into this franchise, and I think they have done a really good job at that, and I think that that's something that I'm very drawn to, is helping people understand people who are different to them."
Jamil explains she's been a fan of Star Trek since she was a child – specifically Next Generation – which means appearing opposite Kate Mulgrew's Captain Janeway in the animated series Prodigy is extra special. "It's incredible. I will never forget the first moment her voice came through my headphones when I was in the recording booth… I interact so heavily with her that they thankfully recorded her part before mine, so I got to say all of my lines to her voice. Proper chills, it was so surreal."
"We have quite a few recurring old flames from the Star Trek franchise coming in," Jamil adds. "And that's exciting. I don't know what I can talk about, but it's definitely a thrill if you are someone who understands and loves this world."
As for Titania, Jamil hopes to play her again to explore her comic book history. "I would love to be able to tell the original iteration. I think what they did was so cool and so funny with making her a relatable social media influencer, but there's a whole other world to Titania and a whole other side to her," she explains. "I really love Dan Slott's version where she's bullied as a child and that's what makes her so insecure, and that's what I had in my head, even though we weren't telling that story. That's the version of her, was her most insecure side, throughout everything I was delivering, and it's only in episode 6 that you get to see that little glimpse of that insecurity that drives Titania.
"The Doctor Doom version of Titania is something that I really want to bring to life. I want to bring the Absorbing Man in, I want Volcana," she continues. "I'm very, very involved in the Titania story, and I don't know if Marvel will ever bring me back, but if they do, that's the story I would most love to tell… And this was not my moment. This is She-Hulk's moment, I'm there as an accessory to her growth, and that is beyond an honour already. If it's ever Titania's moment, I plan on telling the full story."
Jamil hasn't had any official conversations about Titania's future just yet, though. "No, the show's only just come out. I think they have to wait and see if people like me or not. [Kevin Feige's] already got like the next four Phases planned out, so I don't know where I fit into any of that. But I'm game if they are."
The actor has also enjoyed She-Hulk's warm reception. "It's been really exciting to have She-Hulk well received. It feels like a lot of people who maybe before didn't always see their exact stories represented in Marvel – especially how much this is through a female lens – I think they've been very appreciative and very vocal about how nice it's been to see a story of a woman's experience of patriarchy. We've had lots of amazing women characters in Marvel and in the MCU especially, but I don't know if we've ever been able to have the humane conversation.
"This is one of the more grounded shows, it's more of a half-hour legal comedy. We didn't know how it would go. We were trying something really different. And I'm aware that some people have not liked how different, how much we have strayed from the traditional Marvel formula. But surely, if it's a whole universe, we have so many opportunities to tell so many different types of stories that we should welcome people who've strayed from the ordinary and take risks. The whole of Marvel, this whole genre, is about people who take risks, and we did and I'm glad it paid off."
Star Trek: Prodigy's next batch of episodes begins dropping on Paramount Plus this October 27. In the meantime, check out our roundup of the best TV shows of all time to fill out your watchlist.
