On August 9, 2021, the Geena Davis Institute hosted a captivating advanced screening and Q&A with the cast from DC’s "Stargirl." Moderated by Madeline Di Nonno, CEO of the Geena Davis Institute, the panelists included five female actors from the hit CW show, namely Amy Smart, Meg DeLacy, Yvette Monreal, Brec Bassinger,and Anjelika Washington. They spoke about making "Stargirl," the challenges they faced, the impact of female superheroes on young audiences, and developing a show based on a comic book that doesn’t lose the human element.
Event Highlights
The virtual event started with the different actors speaking about the characters they play and some of the challenges the different roles entail. A particularly impactful moment was when Anjelika Washington, a black woman, spoke about having to play Dr. Mid-night, a superhero that was originally a white male. Before taking on the role, she was warned of the negative comments that she would receive on social media. Conversely, she also talked about the positive responses that she received from the show’s fans including from young black women who were seeing a black woman with an afro as a superhero for the first time on television.
The Q&A addressed fun topics such as the actors’ playlists, if they could be a different character for one day who would it be, playing female superheroes and what that means to young girls, and how the impact of seeing young ethnic girls on TV is inspiring. In addition, they spoke about the difference between diversity and inclusion and how "Stargirl" has both. To close, the actors shared stories from the comics that they would like to see developed in the show.
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