Sasha Calle will debut as Supergirl in 2022's The Flash movie, but the actress has appeared in movies and TV shows before this. The Flash director Andy Muschietti announced on his social media that he cast Calle to be the Supergirl of the DC Extended Universe; she beat out over 400 actresses from Argentina, Brazil, Mexico, Columbia, and the United States for the coveted part. Calle also makes history as the first Latina actress to play the Girl of Steel, and she joins Ben Affleck and Michael Keaton, who will each reprise the role of Batman in The Flash.
Supergirl aka Kara Zor-El is traditionally Superman's cousin from the planet Krypton and she is one of the best-known superheroines in the DC Universe. The Girl of Steel has appeared in DC Comics and across multimedia such as films, live-action and animated TV shows, and video games. Helen Slater played Kara in the 1984 Supergirl film, although the Girl of Steel's big-screen debut fizzled out critically and commercially at the box office. However, Supergirl found greater success on television; Laura Vandervoort played Kara starting in Smallville season 7, and, in 2015, Melissa Benoist headlined The CW (originally CBS) Supergirl series, which is about to enter its sixth and final season.
Calle's biggest claim to fame is her role as Lola Rosales in The Young and the Restless. The 25-year-old actress joined the popular daytime soap in September 2018; in 2020, Calle was nominated for a Daytime Emmy as Outstanding Younger Performer in a Drama Series for her portrayal of Lola, a successful chef on the soap. Calle's other major TV credit is starring as Virginia in the 2017 TV miniseries Socially Awkward. The Boston-born actress is also known for appearing in the 2018 short films The White Shoes, Final Stop, Deep Cuts, and Young Blood.
While Calle's acting resume is short, being a relatively-unknown actress is advantageous to play a world-famous superhero like Supergirl. Casting someone who isn't an instantly famous face allows the actor to instantly become the hero to fans, who don't have to shed any preconceived notions of the actor from past performances. This was the case when Christopher Reeve was cast as the Man of Steel in 1978's Superman: The Movie and his seminal performance remains the gold standard for superhero films.
Similarly, Gal Gadot wasn't well-known beyond her supporting role in the Fast and Furious franchise when Zack Snyder cast her as Wonder Woman in Batman V Superman: Dawn of Justice and Gadot has flourished in the role, starring in two Wonder Woman films and Justice League. The same can be said for Calle's immediate predecessor as Supergirl, Melissa Benoist, who was best known for playing Marley Rose in Glee before being cast as Supergirl and defining the role of the Girl of Steel in the Arrowverse.
Muschietti cast Calle as Supergirl in The Flash because the director and DC Films President Walter Hamada were reportedly "blown away by the toughness and vulnerability" the actress brought in her audition. Impressively, Muschietti hails Calle as "born to play" the role of Supergirl, which is an exciting prospect for fans. Especially since Calle will embody a new and different version of Supergirl that, if successful, could potentially carry over into Sasha Calle headlining a long-awaited new Supergirl film of her own.
