The actress who first played Kara Zor-El says the new Supergirl star was “astonishing”
When Supergirl landed in cinemas this month, much of the conversation centred on its opening weekend. But one person who isn’t interested in the box office discourse is the woman who first wore the cape.
Helen Slater, who made her acting debut as Kara Zor-El in 1984’s Supergirl, has thrown her support behind the new film and its star, Milly Alcock, following shock over the movie’s $37 million domestic opening.
“I loved the new Supergirl film,” Slater told The Hollywood Reporter. “I thought Milly Alcock was astonishing — fierce, strong and great comic timing!”
The endorsement comes after DC Studios co-CEO Peter Safran acknowledged the film’s opening weekend fell short of expectations, despite strong reviews from critics.
For Slater, though, the focus is firmly on the performance rather than the numbers.
Long before superhero movies dominated Hollywood, the actress was just 18 years old when she landed the role that launched her career.
Getting ready to play Superman’s cousin wasn’t exactly a walk in the park, either.
Slater spent four months preparing for the role, undergoing an intensive training program that included trampolining, fencing, horseback riding and aerial choreography. By the end of it, she’d gained around 15 pounds of muscle.
“I was very scrawny when I got the part,” she recalled.
“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.”
Nearly four decades later, Slater even returned to the role for 2023’s The Flash, appearing as a digitally de-aged version of Kara.
She previously joked that the cameo required very little from her.
“They could have just put a Barbie doll in,” she quipped.
While superhero franchises have changed dramatically since 1984, Slater’s enthusiasm for seeing a new generation take on the character clearly hasn’t.
And if anyone knows the pressure that comes with being Supergirl, it’s the woman who got there first.
