Supergirl: Azie Tesfai Shares Touching Personal Behind-The-Scenes Detail in Upcoming Episode
In February, it was announced that Azie Tesfai who plays Kelly Olsen on The CW's Supergirl would [...]
In February, it was announced that Azie Tesfai who plays Kelly Olsen on The CW's Supergirl would co-write the twelfth episode of the series' sixth and final season, marking the first time an Arrowverse actor has written an episode of their own series. Tesfai has previously spoken about how exciting the experience was for her, but now that the episode is coming together, Tesfai is sharing some behind-the-scenes details, revealing a very personal connection to elements of the upcoming episode.
On Instagram on Wednesday, Tesfai shared set photos featuring an Ethiopian restaurant. In the caption for the photos, she revealed the significance of that restaurant and its name as a tribute to her mother.
"My mom immigrated to this country with nothing. Her life long dream was to open her own Ethiopian restaurant, but instead she sacrificed everything to give me every possible opportunity," Tesfai wrote. "So in my first tv writing episode, in the opening scene my character walks out of an Ethiopian restaurant for an important call. An Ethiopian restaurant with my mom's name on it. Selamawit Ethiopian. Love you mom. Honoring you, in putting a bit of your dream into the sacrifices you made so I could have my own."
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Tesfai previously told Entertainment Weekly that the time at home due to COVID-19 allowed her to write a spec script to dig into Kelly's voice which led to her writing an episode.
"I love Kelly Olsen so much and I'm so protective over her," Tesfai said. "And truly the fans, over the years, have made me step into being more protective over her and they've kind of empowered me to fight for her and speak up for her. I actually wrote a spec script during the break, during COVID when everyone was home, just to kind of show Kelly's voice and maybe some ideas, and that led to me writing the episode."
Tesfai is co-writing the episode with supervising producer J. Holtham and explained that she prepared by spending a month in the show's virtual writers room.
"I did the 9 to 5 on Zoom with everyone, so I realized I probably like a 9 to 5 more than I thought," she said. "I think [we're] on the fifth round of draft notes right now. So it's been really exciting."
Also exciting is what the episode and the season have in store for Kelly. Tesfai said that fans of the character will be very excited for where things go for Kelly.
"[Episode] 12, in my opinion, for Kelly, is the most epic episode of the season, so I'm excited to get to pen it."
She added, "The fans have been very vocal about what they want to see for Kelly -- and I feel like they know what I'm talking about -- and they, especially in the back half of the season, will get everything that they want, and it makes me very excited."
Supergirl airs Tuesdays at 9/8c on The CW.
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