Supergirl Nearly Made Melissa Benoist Wear a Wig for Season 5

Supergirl returns for its fifth season this Sunday on The CW and when it does the show brings with it some big changes for its titular heroine. In the upcoming season, Supergirl (Melissa Benoist) will get a brand new suit that moves away from the skirt she’s worn for the first four seasons and into an all-new style: pants. And the pants suit isn’t the only change for Supergirl. The Kryptonian heroine will also be sporting a brand new haircut, but that style change is one that almost didn’t make it to screen. Instead, the series almost made series star Benoist wear a wig to keep Supergirl’s hair consistent from Season 4 to Season 5.

In an interview with Insider, Supergirl costume designer Victoria Auth talked a bit about the shift to the new suit and revealed that the new bangs haircut wasn’t actually something they had chosen for the show. Benoist made that as a personal haircut choice, but they ultimately decided to keep it rather than cover it with a wig as it tied in with the character’s new look.

“We were moving the whole concept of ‘Supergirl’ into a bit more sophistication, and I think she just thought, ‘new suit, new ‘do,’” Auth said. “It kind of worked to balance each other. They were going to put her in a wig and hold on to the old cut, but then once they saw it, they thought it was a nice freshening.”

The shift into the costume with pants is one that Benoist in particular had wanted for some time. She told Entertainment Weekly earlier this year that she’d been talking about pants for practical reasons since Season 1.

“We’ve been talking about pants since season 1,” Benoist said. “Every time a writer from the show has come up, and it’s freezing cold in Vancouver, I’m like, ‘Guys, please can I not wear tights?’” I love [Kara’s old costume]. I haven’t changed it because it so works, and I think it is very Kara. I’ve always felt that — until recently, I’m like, ‘Something’s gotta give.’”

Showrunners Jessica Queller and Robert Rovner explained that while they’ve been considering it for a while, it was all about finding the time to design a new look for the heroine.

“A lot of us were passionate about getting Supergirl into pants and out of the short skirt, and we felt that would be a powerful move, and Melissa is really excited about it,” Queller said. “So we just had to find the right moment to design the suit and in between seasons gave us a chance. But this is something we’ve been thinking about for a while.”

For Benoist, however, the new suit is also a way to show a progression of the character’s development, something that the hair also ties into.

“I just think it’s more adult,” Benoist said. “Part of my goal in this whole series for whenever the show ends, I just want there to be a very clear arc for this character that she evolved as a woman and found her femininity and her adulthood, just a self-discovery.”

Fans will get to see the new suit and new hairstyle in action when Supergirl‘s fifth season debuts on Sunday, October 6 at 9/8c on The CW.