Back in May, the Orange is the New Black star announced she was putting the famed superhero cape back into the closet after suffering a back injury on-set, and as she was reportedly upset with the exhaustingly long working hours she didn’t sign up for, per Variety.
The 34-year-old actress recently appeared on SiriusXM’s The Jess Cagle Show, where she was asked about her decision to leave.
“I think what played a bigger part [in the decision was that] we got shut down early,” she told host Jess Cagle. “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 quarantine and locked down, there was a lot of thought and reflection and kind of everyone did it.”
“I had a great time on Batwoman,” she continued. “I am so proud of what we achieved. We set out to achieve something pretty significant: 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 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.”
The former Gotham City hero said that regardless of her decision, she’s still a big fan of the show and still pals with her co-stars.
“I think at the end of the day, I’m really excited to watch season two,” she said. “I think the show is great.”
“I love the cast, I’m still in contact with everyone, but it was a decision that we walked about, we discussed, we slept on [and] at the time with all that reflection, it just seemed like the right thing to do.”
Late last month, Javicia Leslie was reportedly cast as the next Batwoman, per Deadline, and will play a new character following in the footsteps of Rose's Kate Kane, named Ryan Wilder. You can check out Leslie as Ryan Wilder and the new Batwoman in full Bat-gear-get-up below.