How Winnie Ama’s chance meeting led to an alien role in Supergirl

Belfast singer Winnie Ama was cast in Supergirl after a bar meeting with the director, later performing her song What are we as a Bilquis alien.

Winnie Ama performed her original song

What are we

in the Supergirl film, which was released in UK cinemas on 25 June. After singing in a bar one night, the Belfast singer was asked by the director,

Would you like to be in my film?

and was later cast in the new DC Studios movie.

Two weeks after that chance encounter, Winnie and her pianist were invited for an official audition. She said,

I had never acted before, so I was sweating quite a lot, but we made it, and we got the part in the room

, adding,

We went for fittings straight away, and it went from there.

She was then cast to play a singing alien in the film, which was released last month.

Winnie had never acted before being cast in the Supergirl film.

How did the role come about?

Winnie said the opportunity began after she performed in a bar, where the director approached her with the invitation to appear in the film. The singer-songwriter, who has performed in London bars and at outdoor music festivals, said the experience felt like a dream.

As part of her role, her original song

What are we

needed to be translated into an alien language. The song, first released by Winnie as a solo artist in 2020, is performed by her character in an alien bar in space when Supergirl visits the planet of Bilquis.

An alien language specialist was brought in to help translate the lyrics into the Bilquis language. Winnie said,

We went through each word and each syllable to make sure that the pronunciation was perfect for Bilquis

. She added,

He told me about the structure and the origins of the language that he created, which was so cool, because he's the guy who created other alien languages like [Star Trek's] Klingon.

Being a Bilquis alien was so much fun, I've always wanted to be an alien.

During filming at Warner Bros. Studios in Leavesden, England, she said the production schedule began at 4am and she and the rest of the team were taken to get into costume and makeup.

A person in bold avant‑garde makeup with bright blue eyes, a large white beaded wig, and metallic costume accessories, standing in a tent-like backstage setting — Image caption, It took four hours in makeup for Winnie to be transformed into a Bilquis alien

She described the transformation process, saying,

The hair, the make up, everything was applied by hand and it took about four hours - and at the end of the day they would scrub me down.

Why does the song fit the film?

Winnie said the track fits the story because the song

is about conflict, and there is a lot of conflict in the film

. She explained,

Supergirl is navigating a lot of conflict and trauma - and in the song I'm really questioning what it's like whenever you start to question a relationship, whether it's a friend or someone you live with where you just fundamentally disagree and there's some elephants in the room that you have to navigate.

The DC Studios Supergirl film, directed by Craig Gillespie and starring Milly Alcock, follows a reluctant superhero on a quest to save her dog, Krypto, while teaming up with a bounty hunter named Lobo, played by Jason Momoa.