Birds of Prey’s director has enthused the Margot Robbie film goes with the animated series

Birds of Prey is a movie about extending your wings and breaking out of your cage. For the film’s female quintet – fronted by Margot Robbie’s Harley – it’s as literal as it’s metaphorical.

Seeking freedom from the male-dominated criminal underworld Harley, along with Black Canary (Jurnee Smollett-Bell), Huntress (Mary Elizabeth Winstead), Renee Montoya (Rosie Perez), and Cassandra Cain (Ella Jay Basco) become embroiled in for different reasons, it’s their shared goal of escaping their misogynistic shackles that brings them together.

In a superhero genre that, until recently, has been male-oriented too, Cathy Yan – the film’s director – thinks that it’s time that the industry recognises women love superhero and action movies as much as men.



‘Women love comic books and superhero movies,’ Yan tells Metro.co.uk as Birds Of Prey prepares to hit cinemas. ‘We like watching and directing action movies. We want these things and now we get to make a movie starring female characters instead of men. Inevitably, the conversation around the movie will have that element and it’s very important, but I think it’s cool to see something that hasn’t been done before and the power of that. I think that the ultimate goal was to make a good, compelling, exciting movie and one where it doesn’t have to be separated by gender.’


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But Birds of Prey isn’t the only adult-rated take on Harley Quinn’s mentally unstable, compelling character. The animated Harley Quinn TV series, helmed by The Big Bang Theory’s Kaley Cuoco, has been a big success and proves that there’s an audience for content with mature slants on badass female comic book characters.

For Yan, Birds of Prey and Harley Quinn’s TV series help to broach the subject of anti-hero female characters, and show that the industry is finally waking up to the fact that women in films and TV shows don’t always have to be likable.

‘There’s more of an interest from the industry side that tell stories of complex female characters that don’t have to be perfect and heroic,’ Yan continues. ‘You see the Joker and he’s so compelling despite being a villain. He’s been reinterpreted in so many wonderful ways down the years, and I think what’s most exciting about this is that we get a central character who is an anti-hero, flawed, or messed up, but who is also a woman. Maybe it takes a female director or team behind camera to say “We’re okay with not making this female character likable”. I’m just very happy where we’re now at a place where we can do that.’

Caption: Birds of Prey: And the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn (Picture: Warner Bros.)

When it comes to the film, Birds of Prey’s subject matter is thematically important for its narrative, but making a film packed with great action sequences and plenty of humour was just as vital.

Keeping things light and fun during filming helped set the tone for the flick, and allowed the cast to improvise during certain scenes.

‘Everyone ended up being great improvisers,’ the director says. ‘It created a lot of freedom and allowed us to go “Okay, let’s do a take like this”, so that created a vibe that allowed us to play around. It was always grounded in character and the scene. We knew what the situation was and what their motivations were, so if we were to cut a blooper reel together it would be quite fun!’

Kaley Cuoco voices the cartoon version of the character (Picture: DC Universe)

Still, while there was a freedom to adlib, other scenes required the film’s cast to adhere to the script. The movie’s climactic battle, where Harley and her crew make a stand against Black Mask (Ewan McGregor) and his goons, required everyone to be on point and stick to the lengthy-but-intricate choreographed combat.



‘I love many scenes, but I like when the women come together,’ Yan admits. ‘That feels very cathartic in a way and, while it was very challenging, it was rewarding to shoot the carousel fight. It was so much work getting the carousel to move properly, everyone had to be right on time hitting the right notes, and the way it was shot was a big risk. It was something I really had to fight for, so I’m very proud of the way that turned out.’

The end of any long shoot requires some downtime for everyone involved. It just so happened that one weekly ritual – implemented by star and producer Robbie – always gave the hardworking cast and crew something to look forward to at the end of each week.

‘We had Pina Colada Fridays,’ Yan reveals. ‘Because Margot loves Pina Coladas – as do I now – the cast and crew would get dressed up in Hawaiian shirts. I have shed the shame of it and totally embrace it now, so I love my sugary drinks.’

Birds Of Prey is in cinemas Friday.

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