Sasha Calle on DC Recasting Supergirl: “I Did Something That Mattered”

Sasha Calle’s time in the DC (Extended) Universe might have been brief, but a lot of fans saw it as being significant. Well, Calle agrees with that sentiment: In a new statement, The Flash actress was candid about the difficult road of getting cast in the role of Kara Zor-El/Supergirl, the DC fan backlash, and the sudden change to the franchise plans that took her from having a major arc across multiple DC projects, to being a one-off.

“It was very heartbreaking for me, and it was very confusing,” Calle told THR. “Ultimately, I know that I did my best. It’s been said that a queer Latina girl like me couldn’t be Supergirl. But I was, and no one can take that away from me. That is the most important thing for me; I did something that mattered. And whether you saw yourself represented in me or not, a lot of people really connected with her and loved her.”

The Flash saw Barry Allen/Flash use his Speed Force powers to run back in time and save his mother Nora from being killed. That change had the Butterfly Effect of changing the history of every Justice League member – including Kal-El being intercepted and killed by General Zod en route to Earth as a baby, while Kara ended up on Earth, imprisoned by Cadmus. The rat-tage Justice League of Batman and two Barry Allen variants managed to free Kara, and she joined them as Supergirl in the fight against Zod. Unfortunately, Kara didn’t survive the fight, no matter how many times Flash tried to reset time.

There was just as much drama for Calle to handle offscreen: Flash star Ezra Miller was drowning in controversy (and some dark accusations) leading up to the film’s release; shortly after Flash came out in June of 2023, the entire DCEU franchise started under director Zack Snyder was officially scrapped, as James Gunn and Peter Safran became the heads of DC Studios, with plans to reboot a whole new DC Universe franchise. That blow came on top of Calle already losing her friend and potential partner in the next era of the DCEU: actress Leslie Grace, who was cast as Batgirl in her own solo movie, before the finished film was shelved as a tax write-off by the newly merged Warner Bros. Discovery. At one point, it had been widely speculated that Flash would end with a timeline reboot which saw veterans like Henry Cavill (Superman) and Ben Affleck (Batman) officially swapped out for newcomers like Calle (Supergirl) and Grace (Batgirl) in the rebooted universe.

That scenario excited many fans who hoped to see two Latina actresses become the new iconic duo of DC’s film franchise – and, not surprisingly, angered just as many fans who didn’t agree with the proposed changes. For Calle, it wasn’t just the possibility of teaming up with Leslie Grace’s Batgirl onscreen: the two actresses bonded over weathering the storm of hate and vitriol they both got after being cast:

“I don’t know what I would’ve done without Leslie, to be honest with you. I feel like she got it even worse, and yet, she was just this divine light of love and warmth,” Calle explained. “And even though it came from a really confusing and painful situation, we got to have this beautiful friendship that is true and honest and sincere and kind. We were there for each other, and I am really happy that we had each other then.”

“It was very hard, I have to say. I had bittersweet feelings as I was maneuvering everything,” Calle concluded. “I was very excited, but there were a lot of unanswered questions for me, so it was very bittersweet.”

The new DCU franchise has now tapped House of the Dragon star Milly Alcock to play Supergirl, in her solo film adaptation of the acclaimed comic miniseries Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow, which is currently in production. The Flash can be streamed on Max.