I thought I was too old to be in a superhero TV show
Hollywood star Luke Wilson enters the comic book world as the father of a super-powered teenager, played by Brec Bassinger, in DC’s new Stargirl series. KERRI-ANN ROPER found out more about it from the show’s co-stars
HOLLYWOOD star Luke Wilson has embarked on a first in his acting career: a superhero project.
The 48-year-old plays Pat Dugan in DC’s Stargirl, which sees high school student Courtney Whitmore (played by Brec Bassinger) pick up the mantle from a superhero team of old – The Justice Society of America – and inspire a new generation of superheroes.
American star Brec, 21, who fronts the new Amazon Prime Video series, has previously starred in School Of Rock and Nickelodeon show Bella And The Bulldogs.
The series has been created for the small screen by Geoff Johns, whose projects include the forthcoming Wonder Woman 1984 film, Justice League and Green Lantern.
Stargirl is described as inspiring a new generation of superheroes – was that part of what appealed to you about the series?
Brec: For me it 100% did, because growing up I always loved the coming-of-age films. I think high school is such an interesting time for anyone, so having a girl go through high school as well as trying to navigate being a superhero... that’s a really interesting dynamic that isn’t a story that’s told a lot. So for me it was a very appealing story.
Luke: For me to be around the new generation just in terms of actors, I started thinking ‘What’s it going to be like to be around these kids? Are they going to be on their phones all the time or is it going to be hard to kind of connect with them?’
And then I had so much fun being around all of them and especially Brec, just how professional she was and how well prepared (she was), and how hard she worked on every aspect, not just emotional scenes, but also on dialogue.
Also the physical stuff and the stunts, so for me to get to be around these people for half of a year was really great.
Luke, this is your first superhero project. Why did you want to do it?
Luke: When I think about it, I was like, OK, I’ve done comedies, I’ve done some dramas, I’ve done
Westerns, I’ve played a policeman, and then I started thinking of course there are all these superhero shows and movies now, and I thought, gosh, I’ve never gotten the chance to do one of those.
I kind of thought, well, I’m probably too old now to get to do one. So when the opportunity came around to get to work with Geoff Johns and he thought I could do this role, it was exciting for me.
The script has some great comedic one-liners...
Luke: That was one of the things we kind of discovered as we went along. Some of that stuff wouldn’t be in the script and we kind of discovered it as Brec and I got to to work together and also just those family scenes.
For some reason they kind of lent themselves to some humour... we would just have fun at those dinner table scenes or those scenes in the kitchen. That stuff wasn’t scripted.
Brec: I think comedy is so fun and almost everything I’ve done up to this point in my career has been comedy. So it’s kind of a safe place for me and I love it.
This series is based on the DC comic. How did you feel about the built-in fan base that comes with the DC universe?
Luke: “I definitely thought about it because you hear that stuff where somebody gets cast as Batman and the whole internet kind of turns on the person. So, yeah, it’s like sports fans, they are so well-informed and opinionated that I found myself thinking about that. I know Geoff is so steeped in the comic book world that he is aware of all that stuff. I definitely was aware of it and wanting to do a good job and hoping that people thought the casting worked for them.
Brec: I was nervous... comic book fans are so opinionated, because they know their stuff, they put a lot of time and effort in, they deserve to be opinionated and I wanted to do some justice to this role.
But I think having Geoff, the creator of Stargirl, someone who is a comic book legend – it made me feel safer. If I had any questions regarding the comic I could go to him and he would give me the answer... He’s like a walking comic book encyclopedia, so having him there made me feel confident in what I was doing.
This is a really feel-good series. Do you think it’s the type of viewing we all need after a tough few months?
Luke: I remember talking to Geoff when we were first talking about doing the project, and he said that he really wanted the project to have a good feel.
He wanted it to have action, drama and villains that were scary, but overall he wanted it to have a good feeling and have it be something that you could watch with your family.
And I just thought ‘Gosh that’s really nice, I’ve never heard that before’ and, yeah, you mention this being on during the pandemic, I’ve never had that obviously, that feeling before (that) we’re actually putting something out there that people can just sit with their family and take their mind off their job, or the rent or whatever is kind of, weighty issues that are looming over them, and maybe just be entertained. I feel very thankful to be able to do that.
■ DC’S Stargirl is on Amazon Prime Video now.
I was nervous... comic book fans are opinionated, because they know their stuff, they put a lot of time and effort in, they deserve to be opinionated and I wanted to do some justice to this role...
Brec Bassinger on meeting Stargirl fans’ expectations