Leslie Grace Wants Batgirl to Meet up With Blue Beetle and Supergirl On-Screen (Exclusive)

HBO Max is gearing up for the release of Batgirl, with singer Leslie Grace in the coveted role. The In The Heights star is breaking ground as an Afro Latina playing the beloved superhero. It’s a major opportunity for representation on a grander scale for all viewers to be able to relate to their favorite character. In a recent interview with Pop Culture, she opened up about the impact this role had on her personally, and what it means for fans of all different ethnic backgrounds. She also revealed what fellow DC superheroes she’d like to team up with.

“It’s a huge, incredible opportunity. And I feel blessed. No matter what opportunities come my way, I always feel like I carry my family’s name, my people’s hustle and struggle, and resilience and excellence with me,” the Bronx native said. “And so with this opportunity, it really caught me off guard. I’ve been really open about this process. I audition, and I give my best every audition, but I did not [think this would come to be]. I was just like, ‘I’m just happy to be in the mix.’ I did not think that I would be playing Batgirl. You never are –  at least I’m not ever so presumptuous. Anytime I audition for anything, I just give my best. And I hope that the right role comes at the right moment.

Grace admits she did not understand how big the project was until after they recently wrapped. She shared the first photo of her in the Batsuit recently to her Instagram followers.

“So when I got the news, I didn’t really soak up the magnitude of that. It wasn’t until afterward that I was just like, ‘Yo, we’re really changing things out here. We’re really marking a new wave of representation.’ Which I think is so important not only visually, but as well as being in certain spaces where you can talk about the details that do matter when certain people play certain roles. And I definitely had the opportunity to do that on this run,” she added.

More than anything, she’s happy to open doors for those behind her. “And that changes the industry as a whole. And that’s what I hope in all. Wherever there’s someone new entering a new space, I hope that is what’s happening, on a greater scale, is that we’re as an industry, as a movie industry, or, film and TV all together. And I’m happy to be a part of that progression in one way or another.”

With actors of different ethnicities playing such superheroes, there are a few superheroes she wants to link up with onscreen as Batgirl in the future. “Speaking of representation, we’ve got our first origin story for a Latino superhero, Blue Beetle. And I would absolutely love to meet up. I don’t know how that will work, because, you know, Batgirl in Gotham, she doesn’t leave,” she notes. “But I would love, at some point, to cross paths with Blue Beetle, who’s literally changing the game. And I would love to meet up with Sasha, with our Supergirl, our new Supergirl. In the comics, Batgirl and Supergirl actually become really good friends. There are some villains I would like to meet too, like Poison Ivy. I just remember growing up and watching the old Batman movies and I’m just like, ‘Wow. Some of these villains are super iconic too.’ So Catwoman…there are so many characters I would love to meet.”