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Yvonne Craig explained that this was the biggest issue she had while playing Batgirl
It wasn't all Bat-tastic all the time.
Playing a superhero seems like pure wish fulfillment, but the reality is actually much tougher than you might imagine. There are plenty of long hours spent filming, grueling physical stunt work, and let's not even get into the discomfort involved in wearing a superhero costume for a prolonged period of time.
While Yvonne Craig was and is one of our favorite Batgirl actresses, she was willing to admit to The Tallahassee Democrat that working on Batman wasn't all peachy all the time.
Before she became an actress, Craig had previously worked as a ballet dancer, a career she felt assisted her in winning the role of Batgirl. "I guess I was partially chosen because of my dancing background," she said. "Although I had only been able to dance in one movie with James Coburn, 'In Like Flint,'
While there was no dancing in Batman (besides the Batusi, of course) Craig's talent for movement lent itself well to the stunt work she'd be tasked with when playing Batgirl. "I did all my own stunts as Batgirl," Craig said. "Although I flunked physical education for three years straight in high school."
But her biggest problem with Batgirl didn't have anything to do with the physical stunts at all, but rather, Batgirl's less-than-heroic ride. "The most trouble I had playing Batgirl was with my Batgirl cycle," she said. "It was customized and weighed over three hundred pounds. The center of gravity was way off and I was constantly falling off of it."
But while the oversized cycle was a bit more than Craig was willing to handle, it didn't sour her entire experience in Batman. The actor said that she'd be interested in working on another series after her time on Batman had come to an end. "Yes, definitely, I would," she said. "I like the change in it. Although you play the same character each week, you get a fresh script to work with and new challenges all the time."
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