Eternals Star Lia McHugh: 'I Never Thought in a Million Years' I'd Be a Marvel Superhero

Brian Bowen Smith/Marvel Studios

For Eternals star Lia McHugh, being a Marvel superhero still "doesn't feel real."

"I don't think it's really hit me yet how huge this is for me," she tells PEOPLE ahead of the movie's opening on Friday. "As as a kid, I was very imaginative but I never thought in a million years, never even dreamed of being in the MCU 'cause I never thought it would be possible."

In Eternals, directed by Nomadland Oscar winner Chloé Zhao, McHugh plays Sprite, one of the titular immortal aliens who have guided the human race for centuries. Despite looking like a teenager (McHugh was 13 when she got the role and turned 14 on set), Sprite is centuries-old like her fellow alien superheroes.

McHugh, who's been acting professionally for five years, says she relates to Sprite's strange predicament.

"I felt very stuck in being young a lot of my life and sort of being treated that way, because I look a lot younger than I am," she shares. "So I was really excited to be able to portray this character 'cause I really understood her."

Below, get to know more about McHugh:

Alberto E. Rodriguez/Getty

She was with her family when she learned she got the role

"I got the call on my brother Flynn's birthday and my mom came in the room," McHugh recalls. "I thought something terrible had happened. She was crying and she woke me up. My dad came in when he heard me, he started crying. It was just this crazy feeling. I can't even explain it."

She was nervous on set during the first few weeks of filming

"I honestly barely remember a lot of the first weeks because of how nervous I was. I was so freaked out for the table read to meet everyone. I remember I was reading my line I'm like, 'Oh my gosh, I can't stutter. I can't mess up.' I said something and everyone laughed at me and I was like, 'Oh my gosh, they like me, yay!'"

Out of her costars, she was most excited to meet Richard Madden

"I was absolutely obsessed with Cinderella when I was little. I went to see it in theaters when it came out and I had a Cinderella ball for my 11th birthday because I was just so obsessed with the movie. So I was so nervous to meet him. I loved, I loved working with him. I was so excited when I got to do scenes with him, he really was so good to connect with on and off camera."

She appeared in mostly horror movies before booking Eternals

"I have always had an interest in drama and emotional things. I felt that the horror movies that I've done incorporated that aspect into it, not necessarily just because it was a horror movie."

She draws on her family for her acting

"I have a little brother who's special needs and he's also an actor and he was adopted. My mom has had a very — she was adopted too — I guess you could say dramatic path. I think understanding all that emotion and all those different levels to people at such a young age, it made me really interested in it and wanting to portray those characters for the audience."

RELATED VIDEO: The Cast of Marvel's 'Eternals' Arrive on the Premiere Carpet

She wanted to act from a very young age

"I started doing musical theater with my brothers when I was seven and I absolutely loved it. It was at our local theater. I think I was playing a mouse in a show and I cried on stage. It all happened really naturally. I mean, I got seen by a coach and he wanted to put me on tape for something and when I didn't get that part, I was devastated and I was like, 'I need to keep trying harder and I want to keep doing this.' It was just something that I just found and discovered that I really wanted to do."

RELATED: Marvel's Eternals Called 'Shocking' and a 'Masterpiece' in Glowing First Reactions

Her brothers are wowed that she has her own Sprite Lego figure

"My brothers have always been obsessed with Legos and they absolutely freaked out. They're like, 'Oh my gosh, you're going to be a Lego and an action figure!' It's really funny watching them understand this crazy thing."

She learned sign language during the making of Eternals

"During filming I took a sign language class online because I really wanted to be able to communicate with Lauren [Ridloff, who plays Marvel's first deaf superhero] because she was just the absolute sweetest and I was really interested in sign language too. I think it's really cool and beautiful to know that. She taught me a lot too, 'cause she's actually a sign language teacher."

She wants to play Sprite again

"The cool thing about this movie is it opens up so many doors to more possibilities and I think that's what's going to be so exciting to MCU fans. They don't tell me anything. I really have no idea what the future holds, but I would hope to return."