Supergirl Is Looking At This Actress For The Lead

CBS’ Supergirl series has been steadily coming together over the past several months. This week, the studio began testing actresses to star in the series and among the big names is Claire Holt, an actress known for roles on The Vampire Diaries and The Originals. I know some of you are still gunning for Laura Vandervoort, but honestly, if CBS moves forward with the actress, she could be a really great fit.

Supergirl will follow 24 year-old Kara Zor-El, a young woman who escapes the planet Krypton at the age of 12, landing on Earth. When she arrives on Earth she is adopted by the Danvers and decides to go by the name Kara Danvers. In some ways, Kara is a normal young woman, but she has spent much of her life hiding her Krypton powers. However, at the start of the series, she’ll decide not to hide her abilities any longer and to use them for good.

A little over a month ago, DC Comics and Warner Bros. released the casting information for the lead character, noting they were looking for a young woman between the ages of 22 and 26 to play the role. Claire Holt is at the high end of those numbers, as the actress is currently 26. Regardless, that's in the age range and The Wrap is reporting she is being considered for the role.

It makes sense. For a young TV actress, Claire Holt has actually built a pretty strong reputation already. Over at the CW, fans were devastated when the likable actress decided to leave The Originals during its first season last year. (Formerly, Holt had played the same character on The Vampire Diaries, so she's well-known in the CW community.) After an emotional goodbye to several of the characters on the series, Holt’s character Rebekah drove off into the dark in a pretty sweet convertible and has only appeared as a guest star on the CW property since. She reportedly left for personal reasons, but now that she is no longer a lead on the CW's vampire drama, her schedule is fairly wide open (although she is set to appear in NBC's event series Aquarius).

Obviously, Holt isn’t the only person testing for a role in Supergirl. CBS’ superhero drama is also looking to sign on actors and actresses to play Kara’s sister, Alex Danvers, along with other characters Cat Grant, Jimmy Olsen, Wynn Schott and Hank Henshaw. There’s a lot that needs to happen before Supergirl officially begins airing, but it’s nice to see the show is well on its way to series.

Jessica Rawden
Managing Editor

Jessica Rawden is Managing Editor at CinemaBlend. She’s been kicking out news stories since 2007 and joined the full-time staff in 2014. She oversees news content, hiring and training for the site, and her areas of expertise include theme parks, rom-coms, Hallmark (particularly Christmas movie season), reality TV, celebrity interviews and primetime. She loves a good animated movie. Jessica has a Masters in Library Science degree from Indiana University, and used to be found behind a reference desk most definitely not shushing people. She now uses those skills in researching and tracking down information in very different ways.