Why Stargirl Looks So Familiar

Many kids get their professional start via the Nickelodeon media route, and Bassinger is no exception. She started small as a secondary character on The Haunted Hathaways when she was 14. With her foot in the door, she snagged plenty of other work with the childrens' network: A small musical short, then Nick TV movie Liar, Liar Vampire, and a Christmas special. All of it culminated in that universe's pinnacle, a leading role as Bella on Bella and the Bulldogs, a comedy series about a cheerleader who decides to take over as quarterback on her school's football team. It didn't last, producing only 40 episodes over two years, but when that fell through, she also appeared as secondary character Kale on Nickelodeon's series adaptation of the 2003 movie School of Rock.

All this background is critical to what Bassinger is looking to portray in her new role as Stargirl, as previous on-screen iterations of the character, on Smallville and Legends of Tomorrow, have been older. She explained to IGN, "That was an older, more mature version of Stargirl, and I think this follows the comics ... well, at least the Stars and S.T.R.I.P.E. comics a little bit more, in that she's young, high school, naive, which I wanted to bring that into this version of Stargirl." Bassinger is 23 now, but she needs to remain relatable as a teenager, and she's got an entire decade of that specific kind of entertainment work behind her to maintain the illusion.