The cancelation of Batgirl came as a blow to many, be it fans of Leslie Grace, Michael Keaton, Brendan Fraser and the DCEU in general, and following the announcement many shared their opinions on the subject including, actors, directors and others from the industry. One person who remained mostly silent on the demise of Batgirl was Fraser, who would have played the villain Firefly in the movie. In a recent interview with Popverse, the actor took a moment to heap praise on Leslie Grace, who he says “gave a great performance” in the defunct movie.
Batgirl was a strange movie in many ways, being set for release on HBO Max but seemingly aiming to be part of the larger DCEU picture with the inclusion of Michael Keaton’s Batman and Justice League’s J.K. Simmons as Commissioner Gordon. Of all the projects to be canceled by Warner Bros. Discovery as part of their DC shakeup, the fact that Batgirl was all but complete and also being actively marketed at the time made it so much harder to comprehend for both fans and the industry.
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Brendan Fraser is making a comeback in Hollywood right now, and although his appearance in The Whale is expected to bring him back to the big screen in a big way, Batgirl was also set to be a huge part of his journey. Despite the way things turned out, Fraser had nothing but good things to say about his co-star, saying:
Leslie Grace Recently Spoke Highly of Brendan Fraser
The comments by Brendan Fraser are very much a reciprocation of the praise that Leslie Grace heaped on him shortly before Batgirl was canceled. He discussed the dynamic between them on set, and how it was really hard to work with him as a villain considering how he is “such a huge teddy bear” in real life. He said:
“Leslie Grace is her namesake. She’s dynamic. She gave a great performance. She’s a stone-cold professional. You’re going to see more from her. And I’m looking forward to it.”
Brendan Fraser will soon be seen in The Whale, a role that has been said to give the actor his most dramatic and outstanding role of his career. He is also is set to appear in Martin Scorsese’s Killers of the Flower Moon, the Josh Brolin and Peter Dinklage comedy Brothers and upcoming Behind the Night Curtain. For his fans, this at least softens some of the blow from losing his Batgirl performance, but doesn’t quite make it forgotten just yet.
“I had to summon up some things in me that I didn’t even know were there. It was an incredible learning experience to be on set with also action veterans like Brendan Fraser, and soak up it all up. It was so hard because he’s our villain and I’m not supposed to like him but he’s such a huge teddy bear. He is one of the nicest people that I’ve ever met. In our fight sequences the way he would just hit marks, it came from all of his experience. You can’t improvise that kind of experience. There’s some crazy stuff that happens. There’s lots of fire because as everyone knows by now, he plays Firefly. There’s crazy fire. There’s crazy stunts, crazy drops. She’s a biker chick, so you’re going to see her do a bunch of badassery.”
