How a singer's chance encounter led to an alien experience in Hollywood

"Would you like to be in my film?"

It's a question any singer songwriter dreams of being asked by a big movie director, and when the question was put to Winnie Ama after performing in a bar one night, she couldn't believe her luck.

But there was a catch.

As part of her role in the new Supergirl movie, her original song What Are We needed to be translated into an alien language.

Two weeks after the Belfast singer's chance encounter with the film's director, she and her pianist were invited for an official audition.

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

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

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

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Winnie had never acted before being cast in the Supergirl film

'I've always wanted to be an alien'

Winnie is well used to the spotlight - from performing in London bars to outdoor music festivals - but singing in an alien language brought a whole new world of challenges.

Her character performs her original song in an alien bar in space, when Supergirl visits the planet of Bilquis.

What Are We is the first song Winnie released as a solo artist in 2020, and an alien language specialist was hired to help her translate it into the Bilquis language.

"We went through each word and each syllable to make sure that the pronunciation was perfect for Bilquis," she said.

"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 production she would have to wake up at 4am to travel to the film set at Leavesden in time to get her Bilquis costume on.

"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."

Winnie Ama 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 settingWinnie Ama

It took four hours in makeup for Winnie to be transformed into a Bilquis alien

What Are We fits well into the narrative of the film because the song "is about conflict, and there is a lot of conflict in the film", Winnie said.

"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."

DC Studios Milly Alcock, wearing the blue Supergirl suit complete with red cape and red S emblazoned on the chest, stands against a hazy, sunny sky and stares down the camera with a wry smile on her face.DC Studios

Supergirl focuses on the main character's quest to save her dog, Krypto

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, teaming up with a bounty hunter named Lobo, played by Jason Momoa.

"We've had so many different versions of Superman and not that many about Supergirl," Winnie said.

"I think this film is really important because it's not your traditional superhero, she's like a real person with real emotions.

"I think it's quite ahead of its time."