Supergirl Tranny
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Supergirl Tranny
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People.com Entertainment TV TV's First Trans Superhero Nicole Maines 'Didn't Want to Just Be a Diversity Hire' on Supergirl
"You want to meet and exceed expectations," actress Nicole Mains tells PEOPLE of joining Supergirl as trans superhero Dreamer
By Dana Rose Falcone October 25, 2018 03:57 PM
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TV's First Trans Superhero Nicole Maines 'Didn't Want to Just Be a Diversity Hire' on Supergirl
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Supergirl ‘s newest superhero has arrived, and she’s here to fight more than just the bad guys.
As the first transgender superhero, actress Nicole Maines , who portrays Dreamer on the CW show, wants to break the mold of trans characters on television.
“What I’m really excited for is to see the evolution of trans characters and see more diverse stories be told, so that every time we’re on screen we’re not really playing the part of educator and having to explain the experience to the audience, because it will have already been normalized,” Maines, 21, tells PEOPLE in this week’s issue. “Then a trans character is free to portray whatever kind of arc fits their character.”
Maines’ own journey began at a young age, when she noticed differences between herself and her identical twin brother, Jonas.
“Growing up with him, I could see him identifying with all of our boy toys and everything and he would be really comfortable in his skin and in his gender,” the Maine native recalls. “And at the same time, I wasn’t. I thought it was the most natural thing in the world, so I went up to my parents at 3, 4 years old and I asked them when I would get to be a girl because I just expected that I would be.”
With her parents’ support, Maines began transitioning. “I had been on puberty suppressants and hormone suppressants, so I did not go through male puberty,” she says. “And watching Jonas get his voice got deeper, his features became more masculine and defined, that was really surreal. It was like, dodged a bullet, Nicole!”
RELATED VIDEO: Lost in Transition Couple Jennifer and Lawren Open Up About Their Transgender Journey
Maines had acting dreams in middle school, but thought she should come up with a more practical career plan. So she decided to attend the University of Maine in pursuit of becoming a video game designer.
Still, she still hoped acting would work out.
“I studied digital arts and graphic design, and then at the same time I was studying, I was still doing auditions,” Maines says. “It was really a matter of whatever comes first, but I’m so happy it was acting!”
The newcomer landed her Supergirl role after sending in an audition tape she made in her Maine home. And then the world found out about her joining the Supergirl cast at San Diego Comic-Con in July.
“Walking on stage, that was just one of the biggest rooms of people I’ve ever been in, and that they were all cheering and clapping for a trans superhero, for a trans actor, and that was so special for me,” Maines says. “It’s not that long ago that the reaction to that announcement would have been very, very different.”
She also felt a great responsibility to live up to the hype. “You want to do it right,” Maines says. “You want to meet and exceed expectations. You don’t want to just be a diversity hire. You want to be a valued addition to the cast.”
Now as Dreamer — whose day job consists of serving as Kara Danvers’ ( Melissa Benoist ) mentee at CatCo Worldwide Media — fans are seeing her storyline come to life. “I was really, really relieved to see how well people received her,” Maines says.
Being part of the DC Comics universe, Maines even has her own real-life super power dream.
“If I had a super power, I’d want to be able to fly just so I could float around my apartment,” she says. “Or I’d really like telekinesis because then you’d be able to slam the door on somebody.”
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"It helps me believe that the change we're fighting for is coming"
The CW hit, now entering its fourth season, announced the casting of TV’s first transgender superhero at this year’s San Diego Comic-Con. The character of Nia Nal will be portrayed by 20-year-old transgender actress Nicole Maines, with the newest superhero described by producers as a “soulful young transgender woman with a fierce drive to protect others.” It’s a fitting role for Maines to take on, as she’s a superhero of sorts IRL, gaining notoriety when she challenged her school district over her right to use the women’s restroom, winning a discrimination lawsuit in the process.
The casting of Maines feels especially important, as it comes straight on the heels of Scarlett Johansson’s v. controversial casting in (and subsequent withdrawal from) Rub & Tug . For those unfamiliar, the film is about the life of Dante “Tex” Gill, a transgender man who owned a chain of massage parlours in the ’70s and ’80s. For further clarification: Johansson is a cisgender female, so her casting in the role just really did not make sense. Backlash (justifiably) ensued, and Johansson issued a less than desirable response before ultimately pulling out of the film.
The casting of Maines was met with support online, especially from members of the trans community. “Oh my god,” one user wrote. “Trans girl superhero. On network television. Played by a trans girl! When I was a kid, I honestly never though I would see this in my lifetime. There’s a lot of shit in in the world, but maybe we’re actually clawing our way forward, too.”
“Trans actor playing a trans role. Here I am, watching Supergirl again. They’re doing it right,” tweeted another fan.
Offline, the support from those within the trans community seems equally as positive, especially from those in the film and TV industry.
“I love it,” Avery Jean Brennan says of the show’s casting. “I’m thrilled. I don’t know her, but I am so excited for her success and for comic and superhero fans to see trans representation in the media.” Brennan, a Toronto-based actor, is also transgender, and she says this is a big step forward for the community. “Casting directors are starting to see the importance of casting actual trans people to tell trans stories,” she says. And that’s important for actors trying to make it big, or even get a foot in the door. Brennan says she remained closeted as a trans woman for six years, for fear of no longer being able to work as an actor once she transitioned. “Until very recently, the industry was a very hostile environment for me as a trans person, both before and after I came out,” she says.
While Brennan didn’t audition for the show, she was aware of—and impressed by—the casting process. Supergirl put out an open casting call for self-taped submissions, a move Brennan says demonstrated awareness of the plight of trans actors. “ It really showed me that the people in charge of casting for [the show] were aware that the majority of trans actors do not have the level of experience that cis actors may have, simply due to there being so many more opportunities for cis actors, and, as a result, they may not have a big enough agent —or an agent at all—for them to be submitted for the role,” she says.
Maines’ new gig is obviously *big* for representation. “Young trans kids—who may not even know that about themselves yet—get a chance to see themselves on screen,” she says, “which is so important in helping people understand that who they are is valid.” And not only do more visible trans actors and roles help those within the community, but they also further educate non-transgender audiences, some for whom shows like Supergirl may be their only exposure to transgender people and their experiences. That’s why the casting of cis actors—like Johansson, a woman pretending to be male—in trans roles can be harmful. It perpetuates the (problematic) idea that trans people are just dressing up, says Sydney Martin, a Vancouver-based production assistant and set designer who is also transgender. “It doesn’t make it clear to [audiences] what we’re trying to make clear: the idea that we are men or women,” he says. “A transgender person is a woman, they just happen to be transgender.”
Also worth noting? The character of Nia Nal, herself. Often, we see transgender characters in storylines as the victims of sexual or physical violence, or with an emphasis solely on their transition. (Films like Hilary Swank’s Boys Don’t Cry and Eddie Redmayne’s The Danish Girl come to mind.) But Brennan says she feels Maines character is different. “She really does [seem multifaceted],” Brennan says. “It appears as though the writers really want to make her something larger than the story of her transition, while simultaneously maintaining that aspect of her,” she says. That’s not to say that storylines should completely omit trans-identity. “I think it’s important to address the specific issues that she, as a trans character, may face in the world of this show, so as not to ignore or erase that aspect—and [it’s] just as important to show that she’s also got a life beyond her gender.”
Brennan says she’d love to see more roles and storyline likes this, because it rings true and reflects her reality. “My gender is a very important part of myself and shapes my perspective, but it’s only one aspect of me that contributes to that perspective.” Like Maines’ character, and any character—she’s multifaceted.
While the existence of a character like Nia Mal, played by a trans actor, is definitely something to celebrate—“It helps me believe that the change we’re fighting for is coming,” says Brennan—there’s still a lot of work to do both in front of and behind the camera.
“We need to allow space for more trans people in all facets of the industry, not just onscreen or on stage,” Brennan says. “More trans writers crafting stories from their unique perspective, more trans directors shaping shows and productions… [and] more trans agents and casting directors who understand the importance of storytelling.”
Casting transgender actors and actresses in cis roles is another significant milestone that needs to happen. Martin, who has worked in the industry since 2014 on shows like Riverdale , says he knows trans actors can take these roles on, it’s just a matter of time. “ We have come a long way,” Martin says, “but I think it’s [up to] public approval… and funding and the producers who everyone has to answer to. [The powers that be] must think the world is more accepting of what it’s used to… which is kind of getting old.”
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'Supergirl': Nicole Maines shows her power as TV's first transgender superhero
'Supergirl': Nicole Maines shows her power as TV's first transgender superhero
Nicole Maines joins 'Supergirl' as TV's first transgender superhero
Nicole Maines, who won a 2014 case that advanced rights for transgender people, will play Nia Nal/Dreamer, TV's first trans superhero, on "Supergirl."
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BURBANK, Calif. – Nicole Maines understands the significance of her new “Supergirl” character by imagining what someone like Nia Nal/Dreamer would have meant to her when she was a child.
“If I had had a trans superhero, someone who looks like me wearing a cape, (while) growing up, that would have changed the game. That would have been an entire new level of validation in myself to think that I can be a superhero!” says the 21-year-old trans woman, who joins the CW action series in Season 4's opener (Sunday, 8 EDT/PDT).
Nia, who is inspired by and an ancestor of 30th Century DC Comics character Nura Nal/Dream Girl, marks TV's first trans superhero. She's introduced as a young reporter working for Kara Danvers/Supergirl (Melissa Benoist) at CatCo Worldwide Media. Her identity, her superpower (Dreamer is an alien "precog" who can dream the future) and her icy-blue suit will be revealed as the season progresses.
Producers were committed to adding a trans hero to the DC Comics TV universe headed by megaproducer Greg Berlanti ("Arrow," "The Flash"), says executive producer Robert Rovner.
Nia’s identity as a trans woman is part of her origin story, adds executive producer Jessica Queller, and is connected to “why and how she’s inherited these powers.” As with Kara in Season 1, she will have to come to terms with her power.
Nia's role as a journalist is important, too, as "Supergirl" is "hoping to portray the press as heroic," Queller says.
After spending a significant part of Season 3 off-world, Kara/Supergirl & Co. are back in National City for the new season. Nia shows ambition and some youthful awkwardness, reminding Kara of an earlier version of herself.
The new character also meshes well with the upcoming season’s focus on a growing campaign against aliens, including superheroes, that's led by a charismatic leader, Agent Liberty. The allegory parallels timely discussions about immigration and acceptance of people regardless of race, ethnicity, sexual orientation or gender identity.
Maines says Nia's experience as an alien, like Supergirl, and a trans woman give her perspective on the treatment of marginalized communities. "It's very relevant to today."
In casting Nia, “we were looking for somebody who embodied the innocence, strength and intelligence of a young Kara, which was Nicole, who also happened to be a real-life superhero in our eyes,” Rovner says, referring to Maines' activism.
Long before being cast in "Supergirl," Maines was in the news as a winning litigant in a 2014 Maine Supreme Court case that gave people the right to use the bathroom of the gender with which they identify, a big advance for transgender rights.
During her childhood, Maines and her family faced extreme public scrutiny and harassment, leading parents Kelly and Wayne to move Nicole and her twin brother Jonas to a different school. Their story became the basis for Amy Ellis Nutt’s 2015 book, “Becoming Nicole: The Transformation of an American Family.”
Maines, who later enrolled at the University of Maine, became an accomplished public speaker, giving an impressive TED Talk while just a teen and speaking at schools about her family’s experience, including her father’s slow but loving acceptance.
“The TED Talk and ‘Becoming Nicole’ and being a public speaker has given me some notoriety to the degree that I was already prepared with how to interact with social media (and) negative comments,” says Maines, who was featured in the 2016 HBO documentary, "The Trans List."
But attention "exploded" after she was introduced in July at San Diego Comic-Con. Although there’s been some negative reaction to her "Supergirl" casting, it's mostly been positive. .
As for disapproving comments, “It’s the same that trans women, trans men face on social media every day, folks who don’t agree or don’t believe in this,” she says. But there’s been “an outpouring of love and support from fans of the show and from folks who don’t watch the show (and) are so excited to have someone who looks like them, not just on television, but wearing a cape (on TV). It’s so validating and empowering.”
Maines, who played a trans teen in an episode of USA’s “Royal Pains” and in “Bit,” an upcoming horror film about intersectional feminist vampires, says it’s important for trans actors to play trans characters.
When cisgender men play transgender women, it creates an image of "men wearing dresses" that can affect people's perceptions. “When we have trans actors play trans characters, people can look onscreen and say, ‘OK, this is what trans is.’”
Opportunities for trans actors are growing, in Amazon’s “Transparent,” Netflix's "Orange Is the New Black" and FX’s “Pose.” But they're still rare, and firsts are significant. However, that identity shouldn’t be all-defining for the character, and it isn’t for Nia.
"What’s amazing with Nia is we have a trans woman who has personality and growth outside her trans-ness. … She’s a reporter, a superhero, a trans woman. She has a personal life,” Maines says, adding gleefully: “Oh, Nia! How do you do it all?”
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