Leslie Grace Talks New Single “Bachatica,” Playing ‘Batgirl’ As A Latina
Leslie Grace is solidifying herself as a multi-hyphenate talent. The Dominican-American singer crossed into acting this year with her big screen debut in the movie In the Heights. Now she’s preparing for another role as Barbara Gordon in the upcoming Batgirl movie. In an exclusive interview, Grace talked about her return to bachata with “Bachatica,” playing Batgirl, and her interest in upcoming The Bodyguard remake.
Leslie Grace is gladly juggling her music and acting careers.
After her starring role in In the Heights, Grace is now navigating the world as a singer-slash-actress. She loves both worlds dearly so that’s a challenge she’s ready to take on.
“It’s lot of exhaustion,” Grace tells mitú with a laugh. “It’s learning how to balance mentally while trying to give my best to multiple tasks and multiple projects at the same time, which is definitely new for me. I’m stretching my range of limitations. I’m learning how to stretch myself more and more, and growing. This is the season for me to be juggling multiple projects and enjoying them as much as I can too.”
Leslie Grace’s boyfriend co-stars in her “Bachatica” music video.
Grace is making sure to dedicate time to both acting and singing. As a teen, she became famous for her bachata covers of classics like “Will U Still Love Me Tomorrow” and “Be My Baby.” She returns to her roots with the new single “Bachatica.” It’s a sensual and magical take on the beloved Dominican genre.
“We haven’t heard a lot of bachata come out in this time in Spanish, so I felt like it would be an awesome time to give this to my fans who have been asking for one,” Grace says. “It’s a beautiful love song that’s dedicate-able to whoever you love the most, and you can sway and dance with them along to the song.”
Grace certainly sways to “Bachatica” with her loved one in the music video. She shares a dance with her real-life boyfriend Ian Eastwood.
“My boo!” Grace exclaims. “He’s my beloved. He’s my boyfriend, so it was beautiful to be able to share this moment with him. To be able to do partner dance work together gave us like this whole new part of our relationship. The song was inspired by our love too. We owe him a bit of credit for the ‘Santo Domingo to Chicago’ line in the song because he’s from Chicago.”
Leslie Grace is training now training for her starring role in the new Batgirl movie.
Grace is currently training for her lead role in HBO Max’s upcoming Batgirl movie. The film will explore the origin story of Barbara Gordon, who famously becomes Batgirl.
“It’s a lot of training!” Grace says. “They’re busting my butt. It’s going to be so much fun to embody Barbara Gordon. It’s so exciting in a sense that we’re going to get to know this character and superhero in a way we haven’t really been able to see her. We get to find out why Batgirl becomes Batgirl.”
As an Afro-Latina, Grace is also excited to be representing Latinos in the Batgirl universe. She hopes to inspire other Latinos in Hollywood to continue breaking down barriers on the big screen.
“To represent my people in a space where we haven’t seen a lot of Latinos in the past, I feel so blessed and so honored to hold that space,” Grace says. “Anything that I do, by me doing what I love, it’s so awesome that I get to represent the dreams of so many other people that may come from where I come from or not. I’m so excited to give it my best. I hope everyone enjoys it when it comes out.”
Could we see Leslie Grace in the remake of The Bodyguard movie?
Matthew López is writing the remake of the 1992 movie The Bodyguard that starred Whitney Houston. In taking on this project with Warner Bros., he told the studio that he wants “the protagonist to be Latina.” Even though the project is in early development, fans have put up Grace’s name to take on the role that was popularized by Houston.
“Hey! I would love to!” Grace says with a smirk. “I’m not going to say I wouldn’t love it. I’m just excited that we’re getting to have more stories that are giving opportunities for our people to take center stage. It’s beautiful that Matthew López said from the onset that role would be a Latina lead. I’m excited to see how that pans out.”
She adds, “I love The Bodyguard. It’s such a classic, and Whitney is such a classic. Beyond the film, the soundtrack is again so classic. It’s one of my favorite soundtracks of all-time.”
Leslie Grace is also taking more control of her music career.
Even though Grace is in full acting mode, she’s still hard at work on her next album. She doesn’t want to put a release date on it yet, but she’s excited to be more hands-on with her music in terms of writing and producing.
“I am working on a new full project,” Grace says. “I’m excited to be showing different colors of what is my sonic world. You’ll be hearing song by song more and more of it as time progresses.”
