Image Source: Ryany Gallery, Screen Rant, DeviantArt

Eternals brought a new variety of heroes to Marvel in its phase four and broadened its horizon to a different kind of storytelling. Bringing in 10 new superhero characters in a single film, the story managed to knit a tale woven through several thousand years and brought in a renewed zest. 

One of the latest Marvel superheroes to join the team is Sprite, an Eternal, is played by Lia McHugh. The actress recently opened up about what it was like to star in a Marvel film and where she thinks MCU is headed next with her character. 

The release of Marvel's Eternals definitely made a big difference in the life of Lia McHugh. While she opted to stay humble and said that she is not a big celebrity, she revealed that there is a big difference between the popularity of LA and that of her small town in Georgia. 

She said, "When I was in LA, there was a bit of a shift. But I actually live in Georgia in a smaller town and, it's funny. When people around where I live start to figure out, people just talk a lot, who lives there. It's almost like I'm extra famous where I live because people aren't used to seeing celebrities. I'm not really a celebrity." She added, "But, people here aren't used to meeting people or knowing someone like that. So it's like, 10 times more where I live, I feel like, than LA, I feel like people are used to it."

Apart from fame, stepping into a Marvel movie also means that the actors get to meet so many superheroes from the studios. Lia also got the opportunity to socialite with other Marvel heroes from MCU as President of Marvel, Kevin Fiege, introduced her to forerunners of some famous Marvel franchises, like Tom Holland from Spider-Man. Lia McHugh shared, "I got to meet a lot of people at Comic-Con, almost everyone except Captain America and Iron Man, I didn't get to meet, but I think I met pretty much everyone else." 

Recalling a funny incident, she revealed, "But at D23, I was talking to Kevin Feige, the President of Marvel, and we were having a conversation, and you know, I was talking to the President of Marvel, right? So I'm paying attention and being very talkative, and I looked behind him, and I see Tom Holland, and then I was like, "Oh my gosh, that's Tom Holland!""

Seeing that Lia was totally enthralled and star-struck with the Uncharted actor and was no longer actively in conversation with him, Kevin Fiege asked her, "Do you want to meet Tom Holland?" and she replied with "Yes, please!" Sharing the personality of Tom Holland, She said, "He's the kindest, sweetest guy. The way he is in interviews and stuff, that's how he really is, and he was really excited for me because he sort of went through this thing recently."

Recalling the piece of advice that he shared with her being cast young as a superhero, Lia said, "He was what? 17 or 18 when he got Spider-Man, so he was in a similar boat, and he was like, "You have no idea how much your life is gonna change. Just enjoy the ride." He was so excited for me. And later, he came up to me again, and he was like, "I'm just so excited for you. This is crazy." And I sort of one-upped him now because I'm now the youngest superhero, and he was. So it was just a really sweet moment. He's such a nice guy. I talk about him a lot. I love him so much."

The actress also later shared that she enjoyed watching Spider-Man: No Way Home, and being a Marvel actress under the NDA, she already knew the big secret that all three Spideys are going to be together. Needless to say, Eternals had its own share of secrets, and the actors of the movie could not talk about them before in the interviews. 

"It's so much easier to talk about it now because back when we were doing these other interviews, I'm just like looking behind the camera, and they're like," she said and motioned the word 'no.' "You're not even supposed to acknowledge the question and I feel so rude. I'm like, "I'm really sorry. I can't answer your question."

She then also shared that it was hard to keep Harry Styles also being a Marvel superhero a secret! "It's just so weird to think of him as a superhero that I couldn't wrap my mind around it. And I met him, and I got to talk to him and go to a couple of his concerts. It was just so cool,": she added. "But I wanted to tell everyone, and I couldn't. So it's really nice to be able to post a couple pictures and talk about it now."

Still, director Chloe Zhao did a marvelous job at keeping her casting a secret. "I think she kept it in her back pocket a little bit until it was time for him to come shoot, and then she told us. And one day she was like, "You wouldn't want to go to a Harry Styles concert with me, would you?"," said the actress. "And I was like, "Is that even a question?! A few of the Eternals went, and it was great."

Sharing Marvel's vision for Sprite and her deciding to become human, she said, "I can grow up. Yeah. I don't have to be shrunk down, which is nice. I don't know. I think there's so many things that can happen with the character. I think it's cool that I'm the only one left on earth, which is interesting. I don't know if I have my powers or not. I mean, they don't really tell me much."

Lia McHugh shared the advice Tom Holland gave her after being star-struck by him; Credits: The Direct

It would be amazing to see how things turn as Eternals 2 rolls in!