The Batgirl movie is currently filming in Glasgow, and there’s a rumor going around that a character very close to Leslie Grace’s titular character may appear in the movie.
A few photos have been circulating from the set, including our first look at the Batgirl suit itself. The hypothesis is that a lot of source material is being culled from the Batgirl: Year One series, and that would include the addition of Alysia Yeoh, Barbara Gordon’s best bud and roomie.
The photo in question involves a photo of actor Ivory Aquino. She’s a relatively unknown actress but she did make waves as Cecilia Chung in When We Rise. Here’s that photo.
In the comics, Yeoh is a transgender woman and a bartender. Aquino is a trans actress who didn’t come out publicly until after ABC’s When We Rise, about the gay rights movement in America. She told IndieWire that she previously played cisgender characters.
“This is my first trans role because I have played cisgender roles on stage,” Aquino told IndieWire about her role in the miniseries. “I have been in New York doing theater, doing Shakespeare. I got to play Juliet two seasons ago in Bryant Park, and no one knew I was trans. And it didn’t matter to the audience because they were so invested in the story. After playing Juliet, for me, I was telling a castmate, ‘I could go to heaven now.’”
She said she was never pressured to come out and came to the decision to do so of her own volition.
“The whole thing is very sensitive because you want to have people do it on their own time,” she said. “ABC never pressured me to do it, but they did ask if it was addressed that if I would want to address it, and I said yes. They were very supportive.”
She said a run in with a friend made her decide to share her story.
“I live in New York, and … there was someone that I knew. We were having a conversation. He was originally from Serbia. The LGBTQ community was brought up, and he said, ‘Yeah, I hate those people. I can’t stand them,’” Aquino said. “It was shocking to me that he was saying this. And I live a very quiet, private life, but then I really felt compelled at that point to tell him, ‘Do you know what? I am trans, and you can’t possibly hate a trans person because you are my friend.’”
Batgirl is scheduled for release sometime in 2022.
