Batgirl star Leslie Grace opens up about her reaction to the news she was cast as the titular heroine in the DC Extended Universe film. Development on the film has been underway for nearly five years, first beginning with Joss Whedon being set to write, direct and produce though ultimately dropping out a year after being hired by Warner Bros. and DC. The studios would instead turn to Christina Hodson to pen the script after being impressed by her work on Birds of Prey and set Bad Boys for Life duo Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah to direct the film at HBO Max.

Grace, who recently made her film debut in WB's adaptation of In the Heights, was on the short list to lead Batgirl alongside Isabela Merced, Zoey Deutch and Haley Lu Richardson. Upon ultimately landing the role, it was confirmed she would portray the Barbara Gordon iteration of the character. Additionally, Justice League star J.K. Simmons would enter early negotiations the same month to reprise his role as Jim Gordon, Gotham City Police Commissioner and Barbara's dad, in the film.

Related: How Batgirl's Commissioner Gordon Casting Changes Ben Affleck's Batman

While attending the 2021 MTV Music Video Awards, Variety caught up with Grace to discuss her being cast in Batgirl. The actress opened up about the "incredible moment" in which she was told she had been cast in the lead and her reaction to getting the news. Check out what Grace said below:

"It was an incredible moment. When I say incredible, I mean the textbook definition of, I could not believe it. My brain actually broke when I got the news. The directors actually called me, and the producers were on the line. They called me under the pretense, or had me hop on a Zoom link under the pretense that I was doing a final test -- that this was just another step in the process. It was the middle of the day, and I was looking crazy, and they were like, 'Get on the phone really fast; this could be a final test or some news or something.' So I hop on, and I only see our two directors, Adil [El Arbi] and Bilall [Fallah], who are so sweet. They were like, 'Yeah, we just want to do this final test,' but at the bottom I can see that there are eight participants, and it's recording, and I'm like, 'Alright, I don't know what this is.' And then they broke it to me like, 'We just want you to read this text; we're going to send it to your email.' And I open it and it says, 'I'm Batgirl, love Adil,' and my brain broke."

Leslie Grace as Nina Rosario in In The Heights

The announcement of Grace's casting as Batgirl came as exciting news for fans for a multitude of reasons, one of which being progress was continuing on the project but namely a better effort for diversity of some of the more iconic characters in the comics. Additionally, with Grace's film debut in In the Heights receiving rave reviews from critics, it became clear she was a star in the making and would be a great presence to bring Barbara Gordon to life on screen. To hear Grace's reaction to being cast in the role should prove a sweet story for fans who were just as eager as the actress to see her cast in the part.

While some may still be leery of Batgirl heading direct to HBO Max, the film still has plenty of potential behind it to become one of the best installments in the DCEU yet. With the duo responsible for bringing the Will Smith and Martin Lawrence-led franchise back to life in Bad Boys for Life at the helm and the woman responsible for the critical hit Birds of Prey and the upcoming solo Flash film, Grace has a great creative team to work with for the best live-action portrayal of the heroine yet. Only time will tell when the film arrives on HBO Max sometime in 2022.

More: How HBO Max Is Setting Up A Better Birds of Prey Movie

Source: Variety

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