Birds Of Prey Writer Christina Hodson On Living With Harley Quinn And Her Future In The DC Universe

Christina Hodson has been living with Harley Quinn for a very long time, and also you can mention she's grown emotionally attached. "I never want Harley to leave me," the screenwriter tells MTV News over the phone from London, where she's in the middle of a hectic press day promoting her latest film, Birds of Prey (and the Fantabulous Emancipation of One Harley Quinn). 


Told from the perspective of DC Comics' resident wild child, and in her own eye catching voice, the film is a colorful explosion of chaos, violence, glitter, plus it finally gives Harley a chance to stand on her own. A passion project for both Hodson and star Margot Robbie, the pair developed the plot with each other four-and-a-half years back. From the begin, they knew the film had to be three things: It had to be Harley's story; she required to find her girl gang (enter: the Birds of Prey); also it must be R-rated.


"Our objective once we set out was to do something that felt different," Hodson says. "We both loved big action movies. We both loved superhero movies. Although we deliberately set out to do something that felt fresh and bold and risky ... And Harley was the best car to do that with. She feels unlike anyone else in any universe. She's very much her own thing."


In this conversation with MTV News, Hodson talks about living indoor Harley's mind while in the development of the film, networking with on set with director Cathy Yan, and why she's using her platform to empower female writers to pitch their own superhero movies. Plus, she answers the age-old question: Where goes Batman get his breakfast sandwiches?


MTV News: This film is set in Harley Quinn's world, and you've been working on this project for years. What has it been like living indoors Harley's brain all this time?


Christina Hodson: I love it so much. Harley has been there since the starting, and right now we've let her loose. It's been a dreamy experience working with Margot. It's been been four-and-a-half years since we began talking about this. Getting indoor Harley's head was easy because she's got such a good history in the comics, from the very starting when Paul Dini and Bruce Timm introduced us to her. I have especially love getting to know Margot at the same time. Harley feels like a piece of both of us. We speak the language fluently now.


MTV News: Making it an ensemble film was also key, bringing in the Birds. I don't know if an entire film about Harley would have worked quite as well if it did not have these other characters like Huntress, Black Canary, and Renee Montoya to balance out Harley's eccentricities. Was it developed as an ensemble film from the start?


Hodson: All credit goes to Margot for that. Whenever she was filming Suicide Squad, she knew immediately that she wanted to do more with Harley. And what she really wanted was to be able to see a girl gang on-screen. She's got such a strong categorize of companions, and she wanted to be able to see those relationships reflected. She loved the Birds of Prey. There are so several incredible female characters in the DC Universe, so we both began doing a lot of studying on the Birds of Prey, beginning with the Chuck Dixon comics and all of the way through to Gail Simone's work. It was about falling in love with these characters and bringing them with each other in a way that felt different. We've saw a couple of ensemble team-ups that feel roped — the gang is assembled and so they go off to save the day. We wanted to give each of those ladies their own story and then have the stories collide so that they're forced together.


MTV News: What was it like balancing those characters, with their individual story lines and nuances, in the script? 


Hodson: They're all such different characters. Huntress, historically in the comics, has this incredibly prosperous and sort of dark backstory. In several ways, she's the female Batman of the DC Universe. Nevertheless what I wanted to do with her, and what I think the actress Mary Elizabeth Winstead does so well is bringing a real heart and humor to that role. Even any time she's being tough and kicking ass, she's pretty fucking funny. Likewise, Canary has excellent wisecracks, and that's true to the comics. Gail Simone has done such an excellent job with Canary over the years. And Jurnee Smollett-Bell embodies that; she can kick you in the gut and then mention something hilarious. And Rosie Perez brings real depth and heart and hilarity to a character like Detective Montoya, who can read as really straight. There's only so much I can do on the page, nevertheless she brings that character to life in such a dynamic way.


MTV News: I really like that it was a film that celebrates and empowers girls without being a "girl power movie." 


Hodson: We wanted it to feel natural and not like a girl power movie. It doesn't need to be a feminist movie because we're all females writing and making this movie. It's just certainly there. It's a movie that I hope boys and females will love.


MTV News: I particularly loved the fight sequence set to "Black Betty" in which Harley inhales a unknown substance and then proceeds to lay waste to an entire mob of criminals. 


Hodson: Margot is so good in that scene! And she does so several of these stunts herself. Margot is fantastically good with bat. It's a little bit scary.


MTV News: Did you spend a lot of time on set?


Hodson: I was on set each and every day. And I should give a shout-out to Margot's stunt double, Renae Moneymaker. Anything that Margot couldn't do — and there isn't a lot Margot can't do — Renae is the one doing it. Yet she was also the one training Margot and working with her day-to-day. She is so talented and worked her ass off on this movie. Also it pays in dividends.


MTV News: What was it like networking with with Cathy Yan and all of those creatives on set?


Hodson: Getting to work with other ladies whose work you've fancied is so great. I met Cathy for coffee two years back. It was immediately after Sundance. I saw Dead Pigs and thought it was good. It's an irregular one to watch and then mention, "Hey, you have to direct a superhero movie." Although there's a darkness there, and it's an ensemble story. I immediately introduced her to Margot, who loved her. There really are so several astonishing ladies who worked on this movie, like Sue Kroll, our other producer. She has such a depth of knowledge on the marketing side. And we had some really lovely males on this movie too!


MTV News: Was there a scene or efficiency that really surprised you?  


Hodson: Chris Messina playing Zsasz. He paid for so much depth and life to that role. Even watching him on set, he would play so much with that efficiency. He's such a gifted actor, and most people have never seen Chris play a villain. To be able to see Chris go to town and be so wickedly, deliciously evil was good. He and Margot really bounce off each other well. He licks her face in several scenes. I remember him going up to her and asking, "Is this OK? Am I going also far?" And she was like, "No! Bring it!"


MTV News: Ewan McGregor is also having so much fun in this movie. 


Hodson: Roman Sionis is a really unusual villain. One of the crucial things for Ewan that I think comes through on-screen is that he's not playing Roman as a villain. Roman in Roman's mind is very much the hero of the story. Ewan approached it because the guy who think he's in the right; he's not being evil for the sake of being evil. He's being evil because he is a narcissist.


MTV News: This film also picks up on some of the specifics you'd find in the comic books, like the emotional attachment that Harley has toward a bacon, egg, and cheese sandwich. 


Hodson: It's very important!


MTV News: Although things like that, getting to go into restaurants and meet other people who reside in this city, make this film feel very fresh. Batman doesn't go to bodegas, however it's so integral to Harley's story. 


Hodson: Where does he get his breakfast sandwiches?


MTV News: Alfred probably makes them. 


Hodson: They're very posh breakfast sandwiches, I'm sure.


MTV News: Although how fun was that for you to really dive into the streets of Gotham? 


Hodson: Super fun! We wanted to be able to see a different sort of Gotham City. It's the insides of the bodegas that are some days a little scuzzy; it's Doc's Taiwanese restaurant. We just wanted to go residence with Harley, so there were a lot of specifics that were brought to life. As soon as you go indoors her apartment, she has Queen Elizabeth pillow as well as a picture of her as a schoolgirl with several nuns. Little specifics like that.


MTV News: And the beaver, which is just not explained at all. 


Hodson: obviously! You can't not have the beaver.


MTV News: I hope it noticed its way into Margot's own residence. Did you take anything from Harley's home? 


Hodson: Props department would not be happy if I answered that question!


MTV News: The dynamic between Harley and Cassandra Cain is surprisingly sweet. Why was it crucial for you to bring those two with each other and make them the heart of this story? 


Hodson: One of the things that I love about that dynamic is getting to be able to see Harley with a kid. It's such a unusual thing. We're so used to seeing her with Joker or with her peers, although seeing her with this kid who really looks up to her, and seeing the terrible suggestions that Harley would give to a child, honestly just makes me giggle. Yet it also opens up a weak side to Harley, along with a sweet side. It was really fun being to be able to see Harley go to those places.


MTV News: The film really earns its R rating, which must have been quite liberating for you.  


Hodson: That was one of the initial things Margot notified me as soon as we met: She informed me she wanted Harley, she wanted Birds of Prey, and she wanted it to be R-rated. I was immediately in. Harley is a character who is best told in a R-rated setting. With that, you could expect the unexpected. She's not routinely going to be dainty and polite about what she does. So to do that with the language and action was key. With PG-13, you can't hit someone and have wet blood, you could only have dry blood. It's not that we wanted the movie to be gory or gratuitous. We just wanted to feel free in our storytelling.


MTV News: You're working on a couple of other DC assignments at the moment, like Batgirl and The Flash. What do you love about these characters? 


Hodson: For me, the thing about the DC characters is that they have real humanity. I love Batman. I've habitually loved Batman. Some people visualize him as an archetype however, in the event you picture it, he's got an incredibly human story. He is a kid who lost his parents if he was young. Barry Allen, likewise, is such an emotional character. Andy Muschietti has come on to direct The Flash and he brings so much of that heart and warmth to everything he does. Because these characters have been around for a long time, DC has explored so several facets of who they are and where they came from. I'm an enormous DC fan — routinely have been.


From left to right: Jurnee Smollett-Bell, Cathy Yan, Rosie Perez, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Margot Robbie, Ella Jay Basco, Chris Messina, and Christina Hodson


MTV News: Last year, you and Margot teamed up for the Lucky Exports Pitch Program. Why is that so critical to the both of you? 


Hodson: About two years back, as soon as Time's Up was kicking off, I began looking into the information of female representation on-screen. I also looked at the behind-the-scenes numbers in the Writers Guild of America. Looking at feature writers, boys were outnumbering females 3:1. Out of about 1,600 feature writers, there were only 116 people of color. Those information are terrible and so they require changing. I felt like there was a real practical way of doing it, which was to bring up other females. In the same way that I've had possibilities, I wanted to prepare more possibilities for female writers looking to break into the space that I'm currently in, tentpole action movies, which traditionally has been seen as a predominantly male space. There really are so several ladies out there who love action movies and aspire to write action movies.


MTV News: So then you brought it to Margot's LuckyChap Entertainment. 


Hodson: LuckyChap was founded on this principle of wanting more female representation on-screen and in back of the camera. So I approached them, and so they were super excited to get involved. It was a four-week program that we ran in November, where these six incredible female writers came in, and we took them all of the way from that early seed of an idea through outlining a movie and coming up with a great pitch. The thing that was really inspiring for me and Margot was seeing how they collaborated. There's this assumption that there's competition among females in the industry, and that's fully untrue. Both of us have noticed real support in our girlfriends.


MTV News: What's the key to having a really successful pitch?


Hodson: Two things: confidence and love. You must really, truly feel enthusiastic about it. You need to feel it in your bones. The girls that I know who are going to succeed in this field aren't faking it. They love these action movies. They love superhero movies. It's who they are and the stories they wish to tell.