TV

DC's Stargirl star Brec Bassinger teases 'epic' finale fight scene: 'We had to earn this'

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Published on August 7, 2020 10:00AM EDT

If the supervillains of DC's Stargirl had their way, all our current problems would be a thing of the past. Adults would have their minds reprogrammed to end discrimination, fight global warming, use clean energy, and even support universal healthcare. That doesn't sound so villainous, right?

Too bad their method requires millions of deaths. They are bad guys, after all — even if they're fighting to save the country rather than destroy it.

Part 1 of the Stargirl season 1 finale dropped that hilariously shocking reveal, causing all the young JSA superheroes to stop in their tracks and wonder if they were doing the right thing by trying to stop Project New America. But Brec Bassinger, who plays Courtney Whitmore/Stargirl, is every bit as heroic as her onscreen alter ego when it comes to the debate of whether the JSA should continue their mission in stopping the ISA in next week's "Stars and S.T.R.I.P.E. Part 2."

"What they want isn't necessarily bad, but they're willing to do it at the extent of losing millions of people," she tells EW. "Especially right now in the time we're in, you can't do that. Innocent people's lives are not disposable. That's the true difference between ISA and JSA: The ISA sees people as disposable, where the JSA truly sees each individual as someone worth saving."

But she admits that hearing the ISA's true goal was not at all what she was expecting from the supervillain cabal. "It was shocking," Bassinger says with a laugh. "The lines Courtney says when she realizes that represent how I felt reading it as Brec."

Thinking back to when she filmed the second half of the finale almost a year ago, before the coronavirus pandemic hit, Bassinger admits she "never imagined it would be like this" when it aired. "Even when we started airing, I was like, 'Okay, by the finale the cast will get together and we'll get some of the crew and we'll have like a big finale party,'" she says. "And now I'm like, 'Just kidding. So not going to happen that way!'"

Even though the cast and fans can't gather in person to celebrate the end of the season, Bassinger warns that the episode will have viewers wishing they could in order to break down all the big reveals and teases of what's to come in season 2. "Superhero stuff is notorious for little beats, tiny little moments at the end that are cliffhangers, and we have a couple of those that I think will really shock fans," she says.

While she can't reveal anything about those spoilers, she does hint at an "epic" fight scene in the finale that will blow people away. "We had the best stunt team ever, and I have to mention all the hard work they put into it," Bassinger says. "It was just so fun finally having the whole team together. Throughout the season I'm recruiting different JSA members, but to finally get to all film this big, epic fight scene together, it was very full-circle and payoff for viewers, but also payoff for us personally."

The culmination of all their hard work comes in this big sequence, which Bassinger says is unlike anything she's seen before on TV. "That's something I've really loved about this season," she says. "From the beginning, we were rookies and we got beat up like rookies would. We weren't just instantly these superheroes, but we had to earn this final great battle scene where we actually look like a team and look like real superheroes."

When she saw the final version of the fight, with all the special effects, she was "totally surprised."

"When we're filming anything with Solomon Grundy or S.T.R.I.P.E., they're not there," Bassinger says. "My Cosmic Staff, the creativity of how they use it in the fight scenes — it's not just a bo staff, it has that personality and it's doing things that I don't even realize as I hold it. And so getting to see all those little pieces and parts come together, it always exceeds my expectations. But it also has me super-excited to go back for season 2 now that I've seen the caliber of fight scenes; I feel like my imagination will be able to better sell it when I'm there filming with a tennis ball and a 16-foot pole."

She laughs as she adds, "And Solomon Grundy is a cute little puppy dog, I just love him. He's not completely evil, there is a humanity to him, unlike Brainwave or Icicle. And he's not even human, so that's ironic!"

Part 2 of the Stargirl season 1 finale debuts Monday on DC Universe and airs Tuesday on the CW.

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