Among the hundreds of people affected by Warner Bros. Discovery’s shocking decision to cancel HBO Max’s Batgirl movie yesterday (even as it was reportedly 90 percent of the way to completion), few are as central, obviously, as star Leslie Grace. Singer-songwriter Grace—who had her breakout acting role in 2021 as one of the leads in Warner’s In The Heights—has, after all, spent quite a few months of her life at this point getting fake-beat-up in spandex in Scotland for the film, which was scheduled to come out on HBO Max after wrapping its initial filming back in March 2022. Observers have, thus, been pretty curious about what she had to say about the parent company’s move to shelve the movie indefinitely
Grace took the high road tonight, though, posting a message to Instagram this evening that was focused entirely on the people she made Batgirl with, rather than the not-especially appreciative overlords they technically made the movie for:
Querida familia! On the heels of the recent news about our movie “Batgirl,” I am proud of the love, hard work and intention all of our incredible cast and tireless crew put into this film over 7 months in Scotland. I feel blessed to have worked among absolute greats and forged relationships for a lifetime in the process! To every Batgirl fan – THANK YOU for the love and belief, allowing me to take on the cape and become, as Babs said best, “my own damn hero!”
Grace accompanied her post with a number of photos and videos from the film’s Scotland production, including videos of her serenading the camera while getting into costume, working with the film’s camera crew, and singing with her castmates. It’s all very positive, and very light on the “fuck you, Warner Bros. Discovery president David Zaslav.” Grace’s post comes not long after the film’s directors, Adil El Arbi and Bilall Falla, made their own social media statements about the cancellation, describing themselves as “saddened and shocked by the news.”