Former Robin and Batgirl actors Chris O’ Donnell and Alicia Silverstone looked back on how they first met and the almost-immediate negative blowback Batman and Robin got.
How Chris O’Donnell and Alicia Silverstone Met
O’Donnell recalls first meeting Silverstone at a photoshoot for GQ magazine. What was interesting was that she was just at the brink of blowing up in her breakout role in Clueless.
“She hadn’t really broken yet, and we had a weekend with the whole team. The photographers went down to the desert or something, and she was so young, but she was really fun and good energy, and I really liked her. It was a small world that years later we ended up being in Batman and Robin together.”
Silverstone admitted that filming Batman and Robin felt very discombobulating- including the process of getting the Bat-suit costume on. Fortunately, it helped that she had Batman actor George Clooney and O’Donnell to help advocate any needs.
“I remember a lot of things not making sense. We would be in a big warehouse and there was so many extras and so much going on…. [George] really was like a big brother in those circumstances. So cool. He stood up for me and was reasonable when things were not. And to get the outfit on took so much time and energy. And once you had it on, you couldn’t go to the bathroom for ages. These were not easy costumes. You had to put baby powder all over your body to get it on. The whole thing was a big production.
“I remember we finally got the things on and we’re standing there on top of this platform in the warehouse, and I turned to Chris and George and I said, ‘What do we do?’ And they’re like, ‘Don’t worry, you’ll figure it out.’ I was like, ‘What do you mean?’ And then I hear over a big bullhorn, ‘Throw the thing!’ and I said, ‘Chris, throw what at what?’ He’s like, ‘Don’t worry about it, you’re overthinking it.’ It’s like, ‘What do you mean? We don’t even know what we’re throwing!’ because they added it all later.”
The Immediate Hate for ‘Batman and Robin’
“All of a sudden, you were starting to get the feedback, and you realize it was just going sideways. There was so much hatred of the film when it came out. It was like, ‘Oh my God.’ And you want to do your job and promote the movie…. I remember at one point [director] Joel Schumacher just threw up the flag. He’s like, ‘I’m out. I can’t do it anymore.’ He was so heartbroken and kind of bummed out about it.”
O’Donnell also mentioned how Batman and Robin still continues to have a positive legacy for his family. His son of all people has an everlasting reminder to O’Donnell about the infamous film.
“My son, we just took him to college, and we moved him into his room, and I walked in and he was wearing a Batman & Robin hat,” he shares. “I go, ‘What are you doing?!’ He’s like, ‘What? It’s one of my favorite hats.’ I go, ‘You’re out of your mind.'”
Batman and Robin is streaming on HBOMax.
Source: EW.com
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