Ivory Aquino to Star as First Trans Character in DC's Live-Action 'Batgirl'

Ivory Aquino is making history with her new role in the upcoming DC superhero film Batgirl. According to Deadline, she will be starring as Alysia Yeoh — the best friend of Barbara "Batgirl" Gordon, and a bartender, who is the first major transgender character to appear in a live-action film adaptation of a DC comic.

Based on writer Gail Simone and artist Ardian Syaf's Batgirl, the live-action film will reportedly focus on Gotham City police commissioner Jim Gordon's daughter Barbara, who will be played by Leslie Grace. Set to premiere on HBO Max, further details about the film's plot and release date have yet to be announced.

Ivory, acclaimed for her roles inTales in the City and When They See Us, portrayed transgender activist Cecilia Chung in the 2017 ministries When We Rise. The Filipina actress previously starred in cisgender female roles before publicly coming out as a transgender woman during a promotional tour for the ABC series.

"This is my first trans role because I have played cisgender roles on stage," she told IndieWire. "I have been in New York doing theater, doing Shakespeare. I got to play Juliet two seasons ago in Bryant Park, and no one knew I was trans. And it didn't matter to the audience because they were so invested in the story. After playing Juliet, for me, I was telling a castmate, 'I could go to heaven now.'"

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