Birds of Prey: Mary Elizabeth Winstead Talks Creative Freedom on Set

If the recently-released trailer was any indication, Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn) is set to shake up the superhero movie world in a pretty epic way. The film will follow an unlikely team-up between some of DC’s most beloved female characters, all while bringing a diverse array of female representation in front of and behind the camera. In an interview with Collider Ladies Night earlier this month, Huntress actress Mary Elizabeth Winstead spoke about how different the set was from previous projects she’d been a part of, especially when it came to making creative decisions.

“It was so much fun. And yeah, you totally can [feel the difference],” Winstead explained. It was just so easy. There was no ego in any of it. Not to say that ego is a male-only trait. It’s certainly not. But in this case, it was just so easy. Everybody just wanted to be there, wanted to be with each other, wanted to be playing these roles. And it was exciting, everything about it was so cool, like the costumes. And [director] Cathy [Yan], really being at the helm of it, and really making these decisions that she thought were cool, as opposed to going ‘Well, we’ve got to appeal to this person, we’ve got to appeal to that person.’ It was really like she had the reins. And Margot was super involved in a collaborative way, but it was all just like ‘What do we think is cool?’ Not like ‘But are guys going to think this is sexy?’ We didn’t have any of those questions. It was just like ‘What do we think is cool?’”

Winstead also spoke about working alongside Margot Robbie, who will reprise her role as Harley Quinn while also serving as an executive producer on the project.

“I think it’s so important for people to have a platform like her, to be making the kinds of choices that she’s making. And to be making sure that she works with women and people of all different ethnicities and backgrounds. And being able to say ‘Oh! I have the opportunity to get films made now. I’m going to use that to make sure people have a voice, who didn’t have it before. I think she’s absolutely going down that road. And also just making smart choices in terms of just making good films, and picking talented people to share her time with. So I think she’s on an amazing track, and I hope more people follow suit.”

Birds of Prey will follow an alliance between Winstead’s Huntress, Robbie’s Harley Quinn, Jurnee Smollett-Bell’s Black Canary, Rosie Perez’s Renee Montoya, and Ella Jay Basco’s Cassandra Cain, as they team up to fight the vicious crime lord Black Mask (Ewan McGregor).

Joker is in theaters now. Upcoming DC movies include 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.