Batwoman actress Javicia Leslie is no stranger to being a hero onscreen. Leslie plays Ryan Wilder, who protects Gotham City from the rotating gallery of baddies trying to blow up its citizens in the titular role of Batwoman. Why does anyone live in Gotham City? No one is sure, it's infested with crime. But the city does have plenty of queer vigilantes ready to take a stand for the underprivileged, so maybe fans (and naysayers) of the series alike can learn something from some of the fictional world's fiercest superheroes.
This cold and flu season, Puffs tissues is teaming-up their Puffs Power Pals program with Leslie, to lend a soft touch to the real world’s fiercest superheroes at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center. They're committed to donating 3,500 boxes of Puffs Ultra Soft to the little noses in need. An elite group of young yet mighty superheroes, the Puffs Power Pals are on a mission to blast sore, red noses this season with Puffs Ultra Soft, all while honoring those children that fight like superheroes every single day.
“We are honored and humbled to highlight the deserving children at Cincinnati Children’s who fight like superheroes each and every day,” said Janette Yauch, Vice President, Puffs. “We are committed to wiping out red noses while celebrating the strength and bravery of our newest Puffs Power Pals.”
“I grew up watching Batman and loving superheroes just like kids all over the world do to this day, so getting to play one in real life is an honor and a privilege that I don’t take for granted,"
Leslie added, knowing all too well about the strength of superheroes as the star of Batwoman. “When Puffs asked me to partner with them to lend a soft touch to the real everyday superheroes at Cincinnati Children’s, I had to say yes.”
Leslie also sat down with MovieWeb to discuss how much this program meant to her, how she trains to be a fierce superhero, and what other real-world community service work she has done.
Javicia Leslie Teams Up with Puffs Power Pals
Rebecca Kaplan: (If I remember) I like to start with preferred pronouns.
Javicia Leslie: She/her.
RK: Can you talk about the Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center virtual visits that you did through the Puffs Power Pals program?
JL: I got to send private, personalized messages to all of these children at the Cincinnati Children's Hospital. We got to remind them to be strong, to be brave, to keep smiling. We also got to remind them that we're here as Power Pals to help them with anything, and it's just been so much fun. I can't wait to see all of their reaction videos.
RK: I also read each patient is getting their own comic book cover depicting themselves as a hero...
JL: Yeah, isn't that cool? Surprise comic book covers to see themselves as superheroes. So that's what our videos were about reminding them that even though we, as actors, are playing superheroes, they're the real life superheroes because every single day they have to choose to be brave. They have to choose to be strong. They have to choose to keep going. So it was just really fun to be able to do this.
On Being TV's First Black, Queer Batwoman
RK: Ryan Wilder will be making her debut and as Batwoman in DC Comics. What's it like being a comic hero and a TV superhero?
JL: I am so excited. I think that Ryan being on her own journey, filling in the shoes of her predecessor and trying to find her own version of being a superhero has been so beautiful. To be able to capture that essence, it is really cool.
But what I'm super excited about is that Batwoman herself will be making her first comic debut. I believe it comes out in April, and so that is going to be freaking epic. There's some cool things that I know about that I can't tell anybody, but she's going to have some help from a very special person that is also in the DC universe that everyone's really going to love. And what's super cool is that this portion of the comic comes from this season of our show between like episodes eight and nine or something like that, so you'll get to see Poison Ivy. You'll get to see all these epic characters, and it's going to be a lot of fun.
RK: I know Nicole Maines contributed a story to DC Pride. Are we ever going to see you write a comic story?
JL: That would be epic. And heck yeah. If I get the opportunity, I would love to.
RK: As a Black queer woman yourself, what has it meant to you to play a Black queer superhero?
JL: It's funny because I feel like Ryan and I have so much in common. Seeing Ryan do her thing, and then also seeing so many fans connect to Ryan, it shows me things I thought were weird in me as a kid, I'm not alone. It's so many of us like Ryan. I'm shy when it comes to romantic relationships. Ryan is shy when it comes to romantic relationships. Ryan's very focused on her job. I'm very focused on my job. All these little things the fans point out and make fun of, these are things that I've also connected to. So seeing Ryan shine, seeing Ryan be a representation to so many people, and seeing Ryan be a hero, it lets me know that as a kid all of that lived in me.
RK: What's it like wearing the suit?
JL: The suit is tight; that thing's tight! The suit is fun. Oh my gosh. It's so cool. I feel like the moment you put it on, you immediately feel like a superhero. Your shoulders go back, you start to walk upright. You stand exactly how you're supposed to stand. You talk how you're supposed to talk. So I love the suit, it does a job for me.
RK: What challenges come with performing your own stunts? What's the training like?
JL: The training is so much fun. As soon as we wrap, I'm going to put out all the videos of us doing our stunts. But the training is so much fun. I love martial arts. So usually that's one of my favorite parts of the day whenever you get to go to stunt training and doing my own stunts is fun. I try to do as much as I can, literally as much as I can. I used to cry when they said no because I wanted to do as much as I could, but now I try to make sure I reserve some of my energy. So if they're like, "Hey, we're going to have Aisha, who's my amazing stunt double do it." I'm like, "Okay, I get it."
RK: I saw that you train with your brother sometimes.
JL: Yeah. So my brother was a semi-pro MMA fighter. Since he's moved to Montana, he now owns his own gym, so he teaches Muay Thai and boxing and kickboxing and all those other things. So whenever he comes in town, or I go to visit him, he finds his way of trying to like, quote unquote, train me. I always get hurt, so that's why I don't like playing with him. We were literally doing it on Christmas. I think there might be a video of him trying to train me for Christmas. I'm all excited and proud because I've learned something from set, and I'll come over to him like, "Johnny, look what I can do." He's like,"Let me show you how to do that the right way." I'm like, okay...
RK: Do you have a favorite style?
JL: I love kicks. I'm a kicker. Round houses, sidekicks. All of those.
Watch Leslie train with her brother below:
On Being a Military Brat and Helping Vets
RK: I was also born in Germany, and noticed you were also born in Germany. Have you had a chance to return, and also how's your status as a military brat informed your current perspective?
JL: I was supposed to go in Germany this past December. Then, when Omicron came, they started changing the restrictions, so I wasn't able to go. So hopefully I'll get to go this year. Maybe a convention will take me there.
As far as being a military brat, I grew up with both my parents being the army. Then, after Germany, we moved to California and then to Maryland. My mom switched to the reserves, so we didn't have to move around a lot, and she could raise us at home, and we were safe, and she didn't have to worry about us constantly being in different places. It definitely influenced me a lot because a huge part of my journey is also making sure that we pay attention to our military community. When I graduated from college, I worked for the army for two years before I moved to LA. I just wanted to make sure, I always gave back to community that raised me.
RK: What did you do for the army?
JL: I worked with soldiers who were stop-loss when the war in Iraq first started. I specifically worked with soldiers who had passed away. Basically, I contacted their families with a check and said this is due to your loved one, and it goes to you. But what was powerful for me? I didn't work with soldiers that died in combat, they were soldiers that passed away once they got back. What I noticed was a lot of the deaths were due to the mental health aspects of their jobs and of their journey, and so it kind of inspired me that if there's any place that I could help... Well, I know they see a lot. My mom did two tours in Afghanistan, 2015 and 2017, I believe it was. I remember she came back, and she told me the things she saw and experienced when she was out there. I can only imagine what someone in the field saw. I think that as a community, we have to do our best to make sure we support our military coming back.
RK: Yeah. I've noticed soldiers don't always get connected with the services they're actually owed.
JL: They don't get connected with the services, or they feel alone or are they feel misunderstood. You know? So to be able to provide anything in their transition back, I think is what we have to work on.
RK: Do you still do some of that work?
JL: The last thing I did was a few months ago, I got to speak to one of the military bases. We did a screening of Batwoman, and then I got to actually talk to them. But I haven't been able to be as hands on because I've been in Vancouver for the last two years.
RK: You also take care of plants. I wanted to ask about your plants, specifically Don Cheadle.
JL: Don Cheadle died! Even thinking about Don Cheadle. Oh! [Clutches her chest in grief]. So, all of my Vancouver plants, I left with a friend, and she's doing a great job taking care. She actually sent me an excellent picture of one of my plants the other day, and it's looking really healthy and good. I've been in Glendale, and I need to stop because it's not like I'm going to stay here for that long, but I've I have 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 houseplants and a basal plant. Then, I'm having a gardener coming in so that I can start building my tea garden.
You can join Puffs and Javicia in lending a soft touch to #ANoseInNeed at Cincinnati Children’s by visiting CincinnatiChildrens.org. Be sure to also visit @Javicia on Instagram and TikTok and @PuffsTissues on Instagram and @Puffs on Instagram, TikTok, Twitter and Facebook to check out the newest members of the Puffs Power Pals troupe.