On Saturday at Comic-Con came news that Nicole Maines would be making history on the fourth season of CW’s “Supergirl,” becoming the first ever trans superhero on television.
Variety sat down with the trans activist shortly after the news broke to talk about her character Nia Nal aka Dreamer as well as what the TV casting means for the trans community.
“I haven’t really wrapped my head around it,” Maines told TV exec editor Debra Birnbaum at Variety’s Comic-Con Studio. “It feels fitting to say with great power, comes great responsibility,” adding, “I’m nervous because I want to do it right.”
Maines, who was featured in the HBO documentary “The Trans List,” says she wants fans and TV viewers to take away a better understanding of the trans community with the casting.
“We can be whoever we want, we can do whatever we want, we can be superheroes, because in many ways we are,” adding, “We’ve had trans representation in television for a while but it hasn’t been the right representation.”
When Maines came out to her parents in the late 90s and early 2000s, trans women were solely portrayed by cisgender men as either sex workers or drug addicts, which she said painted a very specific image.
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“They’re men in dresses and that was damaging for a long time.”
Maines hopes the “Supergirl” casting is part of larger wave of the “right representation” of the trans community.
“I think we’re in a time right now where more than ever representation in the media matters. And what we see on television has a very dramatic effect on our society.”
Maines also talked about the recent controversy surrounding Scarlett Johansson, who bowed out of playing a transgender man in a feature filming after her casting sparked an intense backlash online.
Johannson’s casting, according to Maines, would’ve only furthered stereotypes about the trans community.
“I think that cis gender actors don’t take roles out of malice, it’s just a failure to realize the context of having cis gender people play trans gender characters,” she said. “We don’t see the same issue with sexuality, we see straight people play gay all the time. With trans folks we have a lot of people accusing us of just playing dress up for whatever reasons and that’s just not true. Having trans people play trans roles show that we are valid in our identities and we exist.”
The fourth season of “Supergirl” returns Oct. 14 on the CW.
Nicole Maines, the plaintiff who helped set a precedent for allowing trans individuals to use the restroom of their choice, will join The CW drama as a series regular and play the groundbreaking character of Nia Nal (aka Dreamer).
The CW's Supergirl is making some important TV history.
The DC Comics drama has enlisted transgender activist and actress Nicole Maines to play TV's first transgender superhero.
Maines will join the fourth season of the Warner Bros. TV-produced drama as Nia Nal (aka Dreamer), a character described as a soulful young transgender woman with a fierce drive to protect others. Nia's journey in season four means fulfilling her destiny as the superhero Dreamer, which is similar to Kara's (Melissa Benoist) journey to become Supergirl.
If Maines' name sounds familiar, it should. The activist made headlines across the globe in June 2013 when a Maine Supreme Court ruled that her rights had been violated under the state's Human Rights Act and set a landmark victory for trans rights in its ruling that transgender people can use the bathroom of their choice. Maines was previously featured on the HBO documentary The Trans List. She is the subject of the book Becoming Nicole by Amy Ellis Nutt. Her acting credits include USA Network's Royal Pains.
The character of Nia Nal is a spin on the DC Comics character of Nura Nal (aka Dream Girl), who can foresee the deaths of others but is not specifically identified as transgender.
The role arrives as transgender stories are becoming increasingly common on the small screen. FX's dance musical Pose, already renewed for a second season, set a TV record earlier this year for the largest cast of transgender characters portrayed by transgender series regulars.
Maines' casting comes as inclusive storytelling has become increasingly the norm on broadcast, cable and streaming series. For his part, Supergirl exec producer Greg Berlanti — who has a TV-record 15 scripted series — has made it a personal mission to tell LGBTQ stories. "Even with the action shows though, I've still tried to do my part in making those shows relevant where I can, whether it's having openly gay actors play straight characters or straight actors play gay characters," he told THR in May 2016.
That Supergirl plans to introduce a transgender superhero arrives days after The CW and Warners announced plans to team with Berlanti to develop a Batwoman TV series. As in the comics, the character of Batwoman will be a lesbian. That makes it the first time that a lesbian superhero will be the center of a TV series.
Maines' casting — as well as fellow new series regulars April Parker Jones (as Col. Haley) and David Ajala (as Manchester Black) — was announced Saturday at San Diego Comic-Con as part of DC/The CW's superhero block. Maines is repped by Defining Artists Agency and Landis-Simon.
Supergirl returns Oct. 14 at 8 p.m. as part of The CW's first-ever Sunday night lineup.
Supergirl will be making history in Season 4. At the CW series’ San Diego Comic-Con panel on Saturday, it was announced that transgender activist Nicole Maines has been cast in the series regular role of Nia Nal aka Dreamer, television’s first transgender superhero.
In addition, the show has tapped April Parker Jones (If Loving You Is Wrong) to play the series-regular role of Colonel Haley and David Ajala (Falling Water) to recur as Manchester Black. So, who are these new characters? According to the show’s official descriptions…
* Nia is the newest addition to the CatCo reporting team. A soulful young transgender woman with a fierce drive to protect others, Nia’s journey this season means fulfilling her destiny as the superhero Dreamer, much like Kara came into her own as Supergirl.
* Hardline career military woman Colonel Haley lives and dies by the orders of her commanding officers. Dedicated to her country, she always acts in its best interest — even if it’s not her own.
* And finally, based on the iconic DC character, Manchester Black is the type of guy who brings a knife to a gunfight and still walks away the winner. With a dark past, he easily deflects the brutality of his mission with his charm and sense of humor.
Previously, it had been revealed that Supergirl was adding to its series-regular cast Jesse Rath as the Legion of Super Heroes’ Brianiac-5 and Sam Witwer as Agent Liberty. Season 4 kicks off on Sunday, Oct. 14, at 8/7c.
