Production on HBO Max’s Batgirl is underway, but it turns out that there was more than the start of filming to celebrate with the first day on set. Co-director of the upcoming film Adil El Arbi took to social media to celebrate another special occasion as well: Brendan Fraser’s birthday. El Arbi posted both a photo and video of Fraser being surprised with cake and song for his birthday on set and as you can see in the post below, Fraser was quite surprised by the touching celebration of his 53rd birthday.
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It was announced back in October that Fraser had been cast in Batgirl reportedly as the villain, Firefly. Fraser joins Leslie Grace as Barbara Gordon/Batgirl and J.K. Simmons as Commissioner James Gordon. Jacob Scipio is also in the film in a currently unknown role. Fraser also plays Robotman/Cliff Steele in HBO Max’s Doom Patrol.
Earlier this week, the film’s composer Natalie Holt also shared a behind-the-scenes look at Batgirl, sharing on social media close up photo of the Gotham City Police Department’s uniform, complete with a logo identical to that seen in set photos of Ben Affleck’s Batman on The Flash. At this point, details about Batgirl are few, though we do know that the script is from Christina Hodson, who also penned Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn) as well as the upcoming The Flash movie. Grace has also spoken a bit about her character for the film, talking about the research she’s done and how she sees Barbara.
“This is only my second role, but I’m learning from my colleagues and other friends of mine that you put a little bit of yourself into each character,” Grace explained in an interview with Entertainment Tonight earlier this year. “And just in the bit of research that I’ve been doing leading into pre-production, I’ve learned a lot of things about Barbara that are very in line with me.”
“She’s someone who’s been underestimated by even her own dad and being the youngest kid, sometimes you’re insulated from all of the tough stuff of life and she’s so eager to prove to herself and to everybody else that there’s some things that she can handle,” Grace continued. “So, this journey is definitely going to show me a lot of that. I feel like I’m on an endless journey of proving to myself what barriers I can break, what limits I can break for myself and I’m excited to put a little bit of that eagerness and drive and, like, almost a bit of stubbornness into Barbara’s character.”
Batgirl does not currently have a release date.
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