Playing Saturn Girl on 'Supergirl' Transformed Amy Jackson Into A Comic Book Fan

While she had never been a regular reader before, Supergirl guest star Amy Jackson is now a bona fide comic book fan after having bought up enough Legion of Super-Heroes books to get studied up on her role as Saturn Girl.

And, yes, just like you would think, starting your comic book reading experience with something as complex and long-running as the Legion is a hell of a task.

"The Supergirl team, the writers, gave me a whole array of homework and some of my first proper comic books actually," Jackson told ComicBook.com. "I must admit I got addicted to it. I didn't realize that it went so far back in so much depth and detail. It took me a little while and obviously I'm still learning things about her. I actually watched a documentary called Superheroes Decoded, which led me onto something else and took me into a whole other world."

Knowing a lot about the world of comics, though, does not inherently make it easier to grasp the complicated and oft-rebooted continuity of the Legion.

"It was very daunting because obviously it's such a huge thing in the comic book world," Jackson said. "To be one of the founding leaders of that distinguished group, it was very daunting and it was a totally new world for me, but once I got into it I can safely say I am starting to get it. I am a self-proclaimed comic book fan, and it's fans who have made this what it is and so that drives me to make it as authentic as possible. It's like when I am working in India and I have to do my homework on roles there. I had to do justice to the character for sure."

Another thing that she is proud of? Taking on the responsibility of being the first to play the role at length. The character has appeared in animated form, and in an episode of Smallville, but Supergirl represents the first time Imra Ardeen had has a significant screen presence.

We asked her if it was exciting to realize that going forward, she would be the benchmark against which all subsequent Saturn Girls are measured.

"I haven't thought of it like that, but when you put it like that, it's true," Jackson said. "This is the first time she is getting real airtime and so that's why it's so important for me as an actor to really portray her properly. I sit there with the writers, I go over my scenes, and we talk about how she should actually be. I take it very seriously, but it's an honor to able to do something like that and make this character come to life."

Supergirl airs Monday nights at 8 p.m. ET/PT on The CW.