The CW’s Arrowverse got a major status quo change earlier this year, when it was announced that Ruby Rose would be stepping down from her titular role on the network’s Batwoman TV series. In the weeks and months that followed, fans began to wonder why Rose was parting ways with the iconic role, and what it would mean for the series’ future. With Javicia Leslie stepping into the series’ role – playing an entirely new character named Ryan Wilder – Rose has begun to speak publicly about her decision to leave the series. In a recent interview with SiriusXM’s The Jess Cagle Show, Rose was asked about that choice — and if her back injury that she endured midway through Season 1 impacted her decision to leave.
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“It wasn’t that. That definitely made going back to work so quickly tricky, but they really accommodated trying to help me out the best they could, going back so early, because we wanted to obviously meet the release date of the show,” Rose explained. “I think what played a bigger part was more, we got shut down early. We didn’t get to finish the first season, which is such a shame, especially for a first season show. And then we went into lockdown with COVID and thinking of in quarantine and locked down, there was a lot of thought and reflection and kind of everyone did it. We all kind of thought about where we’re at and so Warner Brothers and [producer] Greg [Berlanti], and we were discussing the show and we had a conversation.”
“I had a great time on Batwoman,” Rose continued. “I am so proud of what we achieved. We set out to achieve something pretty significant, you know, the first-ever live-action Batwoman and the first-ever, out gay superhero, her and Kate Kane. And I love that character and the whole experience, but we did have a discussion and we sort of mutually agreed that probably what was best for the show at the time was that they go in a different direction and I go in a different direction. It was tough, because it was sad cause we will love each other, but also it made sense for so many different reasons. And I think at the end of the day, I’m really excited to watch season two. I think the show is great. I love the cast. I’m still in contact with everyone, but it was, it was a decision that we talked about, we discussed, we slept on. But at the time with all that reflection, it just seemed like the right thing to do.”
Rose went on to explain the varying emotions that she felt when stepping away from the role, but how proud she is of the work she accomplished on the series.
“Of course it was both happy and sad — happy because I was really proud of what we did. Um, and then sad because I’m going to miss everyone from the show,” Rose added. “But I do believe that that’s what was best for the show. And I think that everything we did set out to do, we accomplished. And I feel like as far as Kate’s story, it kind of made sense now that handing over the mantle to somebody else would be a very sort of creative process for the producers and for the show. And then for myself, of course, saying goodbye to that character is sad, but I also am excited for everything else that’s coming up.”
Batwoman is expected to return with new episodes in 2021.
