'Supergirl' Nicole on Evolving Transexual Characters

One of the most acclaimed and popular shows recently, Supergirl has a very popular character in the form of Nia Nal/Dreamer which is played by Nicole Maines. The character, as we know is TV's first transgender superhero since the show’s fourth season. But for the trans rights activist and actor, progress is the chance to play a villain.

“I think it’s that more and more trans characters [can] be less than perfect and be a–holes and be the villains,” Maines, who is featured in this year’s Power of Pride list, tells Variety via phone from Austin, Texas, where she is quarantining with her family. “We can look at them, and be like, ‘They’re just people. They make poor choices. They can be bad people. They can be not nice.’ Trans-ness is not a person. A person is not identified by their trans-ness.”

She has relished evolving Dreamer, a character whose darkness bubbled to the surface in the show’s most recent fifth season, coming to a head when, in an episode titled “Reality Bytes,” she (SPOILER) almost murders her roommate’s transphobic assaulter.

It’s a stark contrast to when she first started playing her, when she was afraid of revealing any trace of a character flaw, and much more in line with her most recent starring role as Laurel in the queer indie vampire film “Bit.” The latter centers on a newbie vampire whose intersectional feminist vampire friend group aren’t exactly who she thinks they are.