Javicia Leslie Looks Back on Becoming the New Batwoman
The Batwoman of it all took “a lot of getting used to,” Leslie said. “No one tells you how to stand or talk or anything!”
While the deeper Batwoman voice is partly thanks to a modulator, she recalled getting notes after filming the first couple of episodes about lowering her voice herself. Now, the lower register is automatic as soon as she puts on the cowl.
“There’s no other superhero on my show right now, so to learn how to stand and present myself. I had to figure that out for myself, figure out what a superhero for myself looks like, for Ryan looks like,” she said. “Ryan isn’t your average superhero. She didn’t grow up ever feeling like she ever could have been one, so I think her figuring out how to stand, how to hold her hands and things like that, I completely understood, because that was me trying to figure it out.”
Now, it feels totally natural, and Leslie has figured out how to take some ownership of the iconic character.
“This is Ryan’s Batwoman, and that can never be changed,” she said. “So because of that, it feels completely natural, because being Ryan feels natural.”