Ruby Rose can’t stop crying about playing lesbian superhero Batwoman
Ruby Rose (LISA O’CONNOR/AFP/Getty)
Ruby Rose has said she kept “spontaneously crying” when she found out she’d landed the role of lesbian superhero Batwoman.
The former Orange is the New Black star revealed that she was told she had been cast as the iconic character, who is set to debut in The CW’s superhero TV universe this year with appearances on Arrow, The Flash and Supergirl, just one hour before she went to the premiere for her latest film The Meg on Monday (August 6).
Speaking The Tonight Show on Wednesday, she told host Jimmy Fallon: “I was so nervous doing the red carpet that I basically skipped everybody, because I kept, like, spontaneously crying, adding: “I’m so thrilled.”
Talking about her new role, she told Fallon: “It’s a game changer.”
Rose, visibly holding back tears in the interview, continued: “I feel like the reason I kept getting so emotional is because when I was growing up watching TV, I never saw someone I could identify with, let alone a superhero.”
The gender fluid actor added that she related to two Oscar Wilde sayings – “be yourself; everyone else is already taken,” and, “be the person you that you needed when you were younger” – adding: ““I feel like one led me to the other, and I just, like, kept crying about it.”
A standalone Batwoman TV show is also currently in development at the CW, though a premiere date has not been set.
It will follow Kate Kane, a Jewish lesbian who, according to the network, is “armed with a passion for social justice and a flair for speaking her mind.”
.@RubyRose gets emotional about being cast as Batwoman pic.twitter.com/vWpfuTbagE
— Fallon Tonight (@FallonTonight) August 9, 2018
In the new series, “[Kate] soars onto the streets of Gotham as Batwoman, an out lesbian and highly trained street fighter primed to snuff out the failing city’s criminal resurgence.”
Ruby Rose confirmed her role on Tuesday, writing on Instagram: “The Bat is out of the bag and I am beyond thrilled and honoured. I’m also an emotional wreck because this is a childhood dream.
Batwoman in the comics. (DC Comics)
“This is something I would have died to have seen on TV when I was a young member of the LGBT community who never felt represented on TV and felt alone and different.
“Thank you everyone. Thank you god.”
Ruby Rose (Jamie McCarthy/Getty)
The version of Batwoman headed to TV screens is set to remain true to her comics portrayal, where Batwoman has been an out lesbian since 2006.
Prolific producer Greg Berlanti – who has overseen numerous CW shows, as well as hit film Love, Simon – will executive produce the new show.
Ruby Rose (Emma McIntyre/Getty)
The CW superhero universe is growing significantly, with trans actor Nicole Maines set to play TV’s first transgender superhero on CW show Supergirl.
Animated series The Ray also featured a gay lead.
The diversity within the CW universe stands in stark contrast with the total lack of LGBT characters in blockbuster superhero films.
Ruby Rose got a lot of attention when she debuted on the third season of Netflix prison drama Orange is the New Black, serving as a “lust object” for main character Piper.
The actor apreviously released a music video exploring her perception of non-traditional gender identities.
The star wrote and produced a 5 minute video set to Butterfly Boucher’s ‘It Pulls Me Under’, where Rose transitions from female-presenting to male-presenting.
She said at the time: “It’s weird, some of the androgynous photos I have taken lately really make me wonder what I’d have looked like if I did a FTM transition like I wanted to when I was younger.
“I am a woman, but I would have been just as comfortable as a boy.
“I know a lot of people don’t understand that, but I know a few of you do.”
