Alicia Silverstone Suffered Massive Body Shaming As Batgirl

Joel Schumacher’s much debated Batman and Robin has more than a few issues, including an not so successful take on Batgirl. At least he didn’t have to go through constant body shaming at the hands of critics and staff like Alicia Silverstone did.

Silverstone was coming off of her star-turning role in Clueless, but that popularity caused her to be under the microscope from critics and staff during filming. As noted by THR, that resulted in observations like this, where critics “thought she looked more Babe than babe.” The studio would come out and say she was training hard for the role to ease critics fears as a result.

It’s one thing to take that kind of garbage from outside critics, but Silverstone also faced scrutiny from inside the production office. After rumors surfaced that she was having issues with her costume fittings, a Storyboard artist named Burgard drew a cartoon of Batgirl as a joke.

“I heard that she was in the costume department being synched into a corset to fit into what they were going to try to do the costume,” says Burgard. “So I did a cartoon of what I thought that looked like … I did it as a movie poster, Clueless 2: The Casting of Batgirl. It was a private joke, just the guys in the art department.”

It didn’t take long for that to make the rounds though thanks to a production assistant.

“He put it up by his station, whereof course Bob Ringwood, the costume designer saw it — and had a s*** fit. I think the quote was, ‘She is trying so hard! Luckily for me, I never signed it. So I got to keep working.”

While she might not have had the easiest time on set, she is up for another shot at the role, recently saying “I feel like I could do a much better Batgirl now than I did then. It would be fun to tackle it again because I’m older and my acting is better. I know I would bring so much more to it. I was just a baby. It was a different thing. But I had fun back then. And I think it would be fun to do it again.”

Batgirl will be joining the DCEU in the near future, and up next for the cinematic universe is Justice League.

Justice League currently has a 4.16 out of 5 on ComicBook.com’s anticipation rankings, and the official description can be found below.

In Justice League, fueled by his restored faith in humanity and inspired by Superman’s selfless act, Bruce Wayne enlists the help of his newfound ally, Diana Prince, to face an even greater enemy. Together, Batman and Wonder Woman work quickly to find and recruit a team of metahumans to stand against this newly awakened threat. But despite the formation of this unprecedented league of heroes—Batman, Wonder Woman, Aquaman, Cyborg and The Flash—it may already be too late to save the planet from an assault of catastrophic proportions.

Justice League is directed by Zack Snyder, from a screenplay by Chris Terrio, and features an ensemble cast that includes Ben Affleck (Batman), Henry Cavill(Superman), Gal Gadot (Wonder Woman), Ezra Miller (The Flash), Jason Momoa (Aquaman), Ray Fisher (Cyborg), Ciarán Hinds (Steppenwolf), Amy Adams (Lois Lane), Diane Lane (Martha Kent), Jeremy Irons (Alfred Pennyworth), J.K. Simmons (Commissioner Gordon), Amber Heard (Mera), Kiersey Clemons (Iris West) and Jesse Eisenberg (Lex Luthor).

Wonder Woman is in theaters now, followed by Justice League on November 17, 2017; Aquaman on July 27, 2018; Shazam on April 5, 2019; Justice League 2 on June 14, 2019; Cyborg on April 3, 2020; and Green Lantern Corps on July 24, 2020. The Flash, The Batman, Dark Universe and Man of Steel 2 are currently without a release dates.

MORE JUSTICE LEAGUE: Geoff Johns Arrives In London For Reshoots? / Stephen Colbert Compares Russia Investigation Special Counsel Team To Justice League / Watch The Justice League Trailer With Danny Elfman’s Batman Score