Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn) charmed fans with its first neon-hued teaser earlier this year, and it sounds like bringing the film to life was equally as fun. While speaking to A Book Of, Cassandra Cain actress Ella Jay Basco was asked what her most memorable experience on the film’s set was, and revealed one day when she and the film’s principal cast were improvising a scene.
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“We had this one scene where Margot [Robbie], Jurnee [Smollett-Bell], Rosie [Perez], Mary [Elizabeth Winstead] and I had to improv the majority of it.” Basco revealed. “That entire day we were laughing, making jokes, and having a great time. The director Cathy Yan, told us to do a bunch of silly things that made us smile the whole day. The location was also near a Shake Shack, so in our spare time we just ate burgers, fries, and a bunch of other junk food. That day was super fun and didn’t feel like work at all.”
Early rumblings around the film – and the aforementioned first teaser – have hinted at the film’s unique style and sense of humor, something that this largely-improvised scene certainly carries through.
“I could not put the script down, it had so much dark humor to it which a lot of my work does, and there are themes of female empowerment which are so strong and relateable.” Yan revealed during a panel appearance last year. “So I went in with, not with confidence, but at least a sense that I belonged in the room, that somehow magically in terms of timing and luck that this opportunity was open to me and I was definitely going to make the best of it.”
“It’s all women and genuinely funny and weird.” Winstead said in an interview this May. “It feels from the ’90s, in the best way.”
Birds of Prey will see Harley Quinn (Robbie), Black Canary (Smollett-Bell), Renee Montoya (Perez), and Huntress (Winstead) teaming up in Gotham City, as they attempt to rescue Cassandra Cain (Bosco) from one of the city’s most vicious crime lords, Black Mask (Ewan McGregor).
“I pitched the idea of an R-rated girl gang film including Harley, because I was like, ‘Harley needs friends.’ Harley loves interacting with people, so don’t ever make her do a standalone film,” Robbie said in a previous interview. “She’s got to be with other people, it should be a girl gang. I wasn’t seeing enough girl gangs on screen, especially in the action space. So that was always a big part of it.”
Are you excited to see Birds of Prey hit the big screen? Share your thoughts with us in the comments below!
Upcoming DC movies include Joker on October 10th, Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn) on February 7, 2020, Wonder Woman 1984 on June 5, 2020, The Batman on June 25, 2021, The Suicide Squad on August 6, 2021, and Aquaman 2 on December 16, 2022.
