If you watch The CW’s Supergirl, then you’re probably familiar with Nicole Maines, who plays Nia Nal/Dreamer. However, we highly doubt you know these fun and interesting facts about the 22-year-old actress, who recently sat down for an exclusive interview with PureWow.
Keep scrolling for all the deets.
Maines stars as TV’s first transgender superhero in Supergirl, Nia Nal, who has been mastering her powers over the past five seasons. The actress confirmed that the beloved character has only just begun.
“We’ve had a handful of villains this season and it was this patchwork of different villains and storylines happening,” she told PureWow. “As we near the end of season five, we’re going to see how all of those connect. And we’ll start to see how this storyline relates to that one.”
Well, sorta. Maines explained that she was in college when her agent called about the Supergirl audition. While she was no stranger to taping herself, she decided to put in a little extra effort.
“I had been doing a lot of self-tapes, so my agent sent me this one and said, ‘Hey, listen. This is kind of a major one. You know, maybe you should drop some money on it,’” Maines said. “So, I paid a kid, like, $70 to film and edit my audition. Cause normally I would just do them.”
After she sent the tape, Maines didn’t hear anything. So, she returned to her daily routine only to receive a callback after what seemed like an eternity. “I went in, and the next day they asked me if I wanted to play Nia,” she added.
Maines started acting in middle school, which explains why she’s a natural in front of the camera. Although she starred in school productions like Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, she admitted that she always saw acting as an adult version of dress up.
“I always loved playing dress up as a kid. That was it for me,” she told PureWow. “It was one of the few times that I was able to wear clothes and portray characters that I identified with and that I felt comfortable in.”
In addition to Supergirl, Maines will also star as Laurel in an upcoming vampire movie, Bit. “I play a trans girl who goes to Los Angeles to visit her older brother. She falls in with a group of intersectional feminist vampires,” she told PureWow. “It’s like Lost Boys with queer women. It’s amazing.” Step aside, Twilight.
While discussing the cast of Supergirl, Maines admitted that her co-star, Melissa Benoist (who plays Kara Zor-El), “set the tone” for the vibe on set, which doubles as a second home.
“I mean, who doesn’t love Melissa? I adore her. I don’t understand how anyone could not like her,” Maines told PureWow. “She’s fun and optimistic, and she’s always ready to do her job.”
When asked if she has a celebrity idol, Maines immediately responded, “Helena Bonham Carter. I just adore her and everything she does.” She went on to say that she looked up to Carter as a young actress and still does to this day.
“Before I started acting, I would watch like behind the scenes stuff from Harry Potter,” Maines added. “I just feel like she seems really neat, and she seems really cool. And then acting wise, she’s just phenomenal.”
BRB, re-watching Supergirl from season one.
