Original SUPERGIRL Star Helen Slater Praises Milly Alcock's Performance and Amusingly Roasts Her De-Aged Cameo in THE FLASH
Long before superhero movies became the biggest thing in Hollywood, Helen Slater suited up as Supergirl in the 1984 film and introduced audiences to DC's iconic Girl of Steel.
More than four decades later, there's a new Supergirl soaring across the big screen with Milly Alcock taking over the role in Supergirl. Slater recently shared her thoughts on Alcock's performance, and it's clear she's a fan of the new direction the character has taken.
Speaking with The Hollywood Reporter, Slater looked back on landing the role when she was only 18 years old and revealed just how physically demanding the production was. Before filming even began, she spent four months preparing for the role, transforming herself with an intense training program that added 15 pounds of muscle.
“I was very scrawny when I got the part,” she recalls. “The trampolining was wild. I learned to do backflips on the trampoline, and then there’s an aerial ballet in the Supergirl film, which we practiced quite a lot.”
Although Slater originally signed a three-picture deal, Supergirl struggled both critically and commercially, earning only $14 million domestically and ending those sequel plans before they ever had a chance.
She did eventually return as Kara for a memorable cameo in The Flash, appearing alongside the late Christopher Reeve's Superman during the film's multiverse sequence. Many viewers assumed the entire moment had been created digitally, but Slater was actually flown to London to shoot her appearance herself.
Looking back on the experience, she laughed about just how much digital de-aging was used in the finished movie.
“I loved that movie The Flash. Ezra was so lovely and knew about my graduate work in mythology and wanted to talk about that. I was in this very wild machine with 600 eyes around it.
“But they could have just put a Barbie doll in because I’m de-aged so much. They were so kind to fly me out to London, but I don’t know that they needed to.”
Now that Alcock has officially stepped into the cape, Slater couldn't be happier with what she saw. “I loved the new Supergirl film. I thought Milly Alcock was astonishing — fierce, strong and great comic timing!”
Slater also believes that iconic heroes like Supergirl should continue evolving with every generation instead of staying locked into one interpretation.
“My understanding is that these myths should be changing,” she added. “We want reinterpretations. That keeps it alive and keeps it going. It echoes what’s happening in the culture right now. It’s fun that it evolves and keeps developing.”
While Supergirl has had a disappointing run at the box office, making a direct sequel seem unlikely, Alcock's journey as Kara is far from over. She's already set to return in Man of Tomorrow and is also expected to appear in another upcoming DCU film, with many fans speculating that it could be Wonder Woman.
It's always fun seeing one generation of DC heroes pass the torch to the next.