Filipino-American actress Ivory Aquino officially made history as she has been cast as DC’s first transgender character “Alysia Yeoh” in the upcoming 2022 DC film “Batgirl”
The casting was first leaked on social media when Leslie Grace posted a photo of two women crossing the street in what appears to be the film’s set on her Instagram story. Grace tagged Aquino and captioned the post, “Barbara and Alysia 😍🦇”
According to Variety, The DC character Alysia Yeoh first appeared in a 2011 issue of “Batgirl” that was written by Gail Simone and illustrated by Ardian Syaf.
The character, Alysia Yeoh is a best friend of the titular superhero, whose alter ego is Barbara Gordon, played by Leslie Grace. The actress, who is also transgender, is making history for her part starring in the first live-action film adaptation of a DC Comics property to feature an openly trans character.
Ivory Aquino, the niece of former Philippine president Corazon Aquino, was born in the Philippines and soon moved to the US during her teenage years.
Best known for her role in ABC’s docudrama “When We Rise.”, Aquino has also appeared in Netflix’s drama miniseries “When They See Us” and “Tales of the City” and in “Lingua Franca.”
Other known cast members of the upcoming “Batgirl” include; J.K. Simmons, Brendan Fraser, Michael Keaton and Jacob Scipio.
HBO Max’s “Batgirl,” is directed by Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah and also features a screenplay by Christina Hodson.
The film is currently said to release during the 2022 year on a streaming platform.
