A GLASGOW schoolgirl unexpectedly landed herself a role in the Batgirl movie after visiting the set with her dad.
Film fan Isla Neil dressed up as her heroine to get a glimpse of movie crews when they were transforming the city into Gotham earlier this year.
We previously reported that the nine-year-old got a shout-out from director Adil El Arbi, who dubbed her 'the coolest Batgirl'.
Isla's dad Alastair Neil has since revealed that his daughter was actually asked to play a minor role in the film, which was expected to be released later this year.
The pair were sworn to secrecy, but have spoken out about the experience following the recent news that Warner Bros. scrapped the production altogether.
Alastair, 53, said: "One night we went up to watch the filming take place and the directors came over and took a video to post on Instagram for Isla.
"He said to me to give one of the crew members my phone number and he’d get Isla in the movie.
"We never actually thought anything of it but that week we got a phone call from someone at Warner Bros.
READ MORE: Meet the Glasgow girl, 8, who dressed as Batgirl and got a shout out from the director
"They had applied for an entertainment licence from Glasgow City Council, and we got permission from Isla’s school for her to take time off and we filled in the paperwork."
Isla was invited to a costume-fitting, where she got to choose certain elements of her Batgirl outfit - and opted for yellow duck boots.
She then spent one day filming in Glasgow city centre, after landing a role of a little girl in Gotham, who was inspired by Batgirl.
Alastair, from Mansewood, said: "It was incredible. The sets she shot were amazing, I was sitting watching nearly in tears. She was taking directions really well.
"The assistant director said 'this girl’s brilliant, she’s going to go places'.
"The whole experience made her feel like a star. The crew treated her like one too and I'd like to thank the staff, the directors, and Leslie for showing Isla so much love.
"After shooting one of the scenes she was in, the director played it back to show me and it looked incredible."
Following their day of filming, Alastair and Isla got a call to go back and meet American actress Leslie Grace - who played the real Batgirl.
"Isla was over the moon," Alastair said.
"It was emotional watching them together. It’s just a pity we’re not getting to see the movie.
"We had to keep it all a secret for so long.
"We kept saying to Isla 'you’re going to be on the big screen'. We had plans to go to the cinema when the film was released and she wanted her friends to see her in the movie.
"She was upset, really upset about it being scrapped, but she’s got the memories she’ll never forget.
READ MORE: Glasgow girl dressed as Batgirl spotted by Leslie Grace
"She also said 'I’ll never see Leslie Grace again' as she was hoping to go to the premiere and meet with her again.
"I was absolutely gutted too. I was expecting to see my wee girl on the screen in a real movie.
"Isla was actually away on holiday when I heard the news and I waited until she came back to tell her face-to-face."
Alastair, who regularly attends Comic Con events with Isla, recently started a petition urging Warner Bros. to release the movie, which was filmed entirely in Glasgow.
It has since gathered more than 1600 signatures and was set up following Alastair witnessing the hard work everyone involved put in.
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here