Naomi Star Kaci Walfall Talks Portraying The CW’s Newest Superhero

Tuesday night will see the premiere of Naomi, a new superhero series based on the Brian Michael Bendis, David Walker, and Jamal Campbell comic character of the same name. The new The CW series showcases the origin story of Naomi McDuffie (Kaci Walfall), a young girl in the small town of Port Oswego whose status quo — and relationship to the world of superheroes — changes significantly. Walfall, whose filmography includes The Equalizer, Army Wives, and Power, is about to gain a whole new legion of fans through her work on Naomi, and as the seventeen-year-old actress told reporters during a recent roundtable, she’s excited about it.

“It’s a privilege to play her,” Walfall explained. “And stepping into this world, it allows representation in so many ways. It allows representation for people who look like Naomi, but it also allows for representation for a lot of people. She’s super into comics. She’s skateboards. She is super confident. She knows all these languages. She’s in all these AP classes. I think that there are so many different, great things that Naomi does that people can relate to, but they can also probably relate to how great of a moral compass she has.”

“I read the comic when I got the part,” Walfall revealed. “I’ve played a couple characters that have been in books, or characters that have been in movies before, but this is my first lead role. So, of course I got my hands on the comics. I feel like it would sort of be an injustice not to… It’s such a great story, and such a beautiful story. And I have the Justice League issues that she’s in, too. Of course I got the comics. I carry the Naomi comic in my bag all the time when I’m at work. I think that it’s such a good reference point. It really makes me feel centered to the character. That was probably the first thing I did when I found out I booked the role.”

Naomi is still a relatively new character in the landscape of superhero comics, which has made the idea of a potential long-term television adaptation of her story intriguing. As Walfall explained, she sees Naomi’s newness as a unique creative opportunity, especially as the story of the series goes forward.

“I think that it actually can be a little bit more fun. I think that it allows for more freedom while still always staying respectful to the material, and still going back to the comic. But there’s different aspects within our show that aren’t in the comics. And exploring those sort of teenage relationships, and stuff like that, that isn’t included in the comics actually really fun. And then exploring circumstances that aren’t in the comic, and how I think Naomi would react while still always staying respectful to the source material. So I think as an actor it’s a lot of fun and I have more freedom.”

Naomi premieres on Tuesday, January 11th, at 9/8c on The CW.