Brendan Fraser Filmed Numerous Action Scenes For Scrapped 'Batgirl' Movie

After starring in the critically acclaimed "The Whale," Brendan Fraser was set to continue his career comeback with "Batgirl," for which he filmed many action scenes before it ended up being scrapped by Warner Bros.

In a recent interview with Collider's Maggie Lovitt, the lead star of the axed superhero movie, Leslie Grace, shared interesting bits about the canceled project.

According to the 28-year-old singer-actress, she had a great time doing the film even though it was hard to shoot all the action scenes. Leslie also confirmed that she filmed several action scenes with the 54-year-old actor, who played the villain Firefly.

"I truly had one of [the best] experiences with 'Batgirl.' In terms of the experience of shooting, we were all so excited for people to see a lot of the action, a lot of the practical shots we did with fire," she told Lovitt.

The "Be My Baby" hitmaker continued, "Our movie was full of practical fire, which was really hard to shoot. Brendan, our villain, our Firefly, he was just so outstanding and so happy that he's having this incredible moment — this Brenaissance as everyone says."

Leslie also went on to praise Fraser for being so sweet in between takes. She even noted that they would hug after beating each other up when the cameras were rolling.

"He's amazing. He's one of the kindest people in the world, and I felt so blessed to have him as my sparring partner. We had so many amazing action scenes together where we were beating each other up, but hugging in between takes because he's just so sweet," she said.

"Batgirl," from directors Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah, was supposed to premiere on HBO Max last year as part of the standalone streaming platform's original offering. However, it was scrapped in post-production so that Warner Bros. Discovery could take a tax write-off on the canned project, according to Variety.

"Batgirl" reportedly had an initial working budget of $80 million. However, the COVID-19 protocols added a significant burden to production costs, pushing the budget to nearly $90 million.

Last August, rumors swirled that "Batgirl" got canceled despite its completion because the test screenings for audiences were poorly received, as a top Hollywood source told New York Post at the time.

However, studio insiders quickly insisted via Variety that the decision to axe "Batgirl" was not driven by the quality of the film. Instead, it was allegedly because the studio wanted its DC features to be at a blockbuster scale and not a budgeted project for the streamer.

Though "Batgirl" failed to release, Fraser went on to regain his spotlight in Hollywood through the psychological drama "The Whale" by Darren Aronofsky.

Variety's Brent Lang lauded Frazer's triumphant comeback last October, saying his role as a 600-pound gay man in the movie resurrected his career.