On Saturday at San Diego Comic-Con, it was revealed that Supergirl has cast activist and actress Nicole Maines as Nia Nal, aka Dreamer, in the upcoming 4th season of the CW’s TV show.
‘Supergirl’ Adds Nicole Maines As Transgender Superhero; April Parker Jones & David Ajala Also Cast – Comic-Con https://t.co/YEwL5liZx8 pic.twitter.com/8ztxOJNXaY
— Deadline Hollywood (@DEADLINE) July 21, 2018
Nia Nal, the newest addition to the CatCo team, is a “soulful young transgender woman with a fierce drive to protect others.”
Maines opened up to TV exec editor Debra Birnbaum at Variety’s Comic-Con Studio about the new role, saying “I haven’t really wrapped my head around it. It feels fitting to say with great power, comes great responsibility,” adding, “I’m nervous because I want to do it right.”
“We can be whoever we want, we can do whatever we want, we can be superheroes, because in many ways we are. We’ve had trans representation in television for a while but it hasn’t been the right representation.”
The 21-year-old star hopes that the casting will form part of the 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 is a transgender actress who was featured in HBO documentary, The Trans List. In 2015, she was featured in a book titled, Becoming Nicole: The Transformation of an American Family by Washington Post writer Amy Ellis Nutt. She also appeared on USA Network’s Royal Pains as a transgender teen.
Supergirl season 4 returns Oct. 14 on CW.
