‘Wonder Woman’ Director Patty Jenkins’ Gave ‘Birds Of Prey’ Director Cathy Yan Confidence

Director Cathy Yan was nervous to helm “Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of one Harley Quinn),” but she reached out to someone she knew could relate: “Wonder Woman” director Patty Jenkins.

“I had impostor syndrome, as I think many people do. I came from an indie world and I had a matter of months between my first feature premiering at Sundance and then running the ship on ‘Birds of Prey.’ There was an element of: Do I belong here? Can I do this? Like all the insecurities that anyone would have,” Yan told Vanity Fair.

She consulted with Jenkins about her concerns. Yan says she was “able to lean into that confidence and say, ‘Yeah, … they should be looking at me. I’m the director!’ It was just that little boost of confidence I think that was much needed.”

While promoting “Birds of Prey” earlier this year, Yan admitted that she reached out to Jenkins on several different occasions. She called directing a lonesome gig and said it was always nice to get some insight from others.

“There was a lot for us to talk about it,” Yan told TheWrap in February. “I called her a bunch of times throughout and she was very much working on ‘Wonder Woman 1984’ at the same time, and she gave a lot of great advice. It’s nice to have that camaraderie. It’s not even just among female directors — directing is actually quite lonely. There aren’t that many of us and what we do is pretty singular so I’m always very curious talking to other directors.”

Both “Birds of Prey” and “Wonder Woman 1984” have been affected by the COVID-19 crisis. Social distancing guidelines have shut down movie theaters, forcing “Birds of Prey” out of theaters early. The R-rated Margot Robbie flick was released Tuesday on VOD platforms. The “Wonder Woman” sequel’s release date, meanwhile, was pushed from June to August.