TV

Supergirl star Melissa Benoist on the trauma Kara will endure in isolation

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Published on March 30, 2021 10:00PM EDT

Warning: This article contains spoilers about Tuesday's season 6 premiere of Supergirl.

Kara Danvers isn't in Kansas National City anymore.

In Supergirl's season 6 premiere, Kara (Melissa Benoist) sacrificed her life two times. First, she lured a super-powered Lex Luthor (Jon Cryer) to the Fortress and allowed him to kill her so that the Super Friends had time to undo his brainwashing scheme. Thankfully, Lena used the anti-Kryptonite suit and Fortress technology to revive Kara, and the rest of the team showed up for round two against the egomaniac. Unfortunately, that didn't go as planned either. Sure, Alex managed to depower Lex, but not before he grabbed the Phantom Zone projector and sent Kara to the desolate Kryptonian prison without her powers or a means to escape. Yikes!

Below, EW chats with Benoist about Kara's very unfortunate predicament.

ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY: Was season 5 supposed to end with Kara being sent to the Phantom Zone, or was this a new twist?

MELISSA BENOIST: There were so many iterations of how season 5 was gonna end and season 6 was going to go because of the pregnancy and my maternity leave, and because of the pandemic. I know they changed it quite a few times. So, I don't remember to be honest. [Laughs] It feels like ages ago. I was always going to be sent to the Phantom Zone, but I don't think I was ever going to stay as long as I did, for the amount of episodes that I'm there.

In the premiere, Kara mentioned how traumatizing it was to be stuck in the Phantom Zone when she was younger. How is she faring there now?

Right. We've explored her vulnerabilities before on the show, but never to the depth that we are this season. I think it will be really different for people to see. It's a very different side of Kara that we will see in the Phantom Zone, and it's not easy. The things that she's facing and the trauma that she endures in the Phantom Zone are not something she'll recover from easily.

Kara is pretty isolated here. What was it like going through this storyline that kept you separated from the rest of the characters you're used to interacting with, especially in the final season?

It was difficult for me because I'm so used to being able to see everyone, and we're so used to working together side by side every day as a group and the cast is very tight-knit. That's what I'm used to on the show, so it was also very isolating for me in terms of playing the scenes. And I'm not alone. There are a few other characters in the Phantom Zone with me, but it was new people and a lot of it was by myself. So yeah, some of what was scripted definitely bled into how I felt acting it.

Speaking of new characters, we know Jason Behr was cast as a mysterious Kryptonian who helps Kara. What can you say about her dynamic with this stranger?

I'll say that in the Phantom Zone, there are characters that really help her and are big allies, and there are some that aren't, obviously, because it's a very dangerous place full of criminals and Kryptonians sent there. Jason was lovely to work with, and I think people will really love his character and will be really surprised [by] who he's playing.

We only saw the tail end of Kara's last will and testament that she recorded. Do we find out what she said later on? If we don't, do you have a sense of what she might have said in your mind?

There are bits and pieces that the audience will get to see, but I think in my mind and in my heart, I know what she said and can kind of fill in the blanks for the things we didn't shoot because we only have bits and pieces here that other characters get to see of her recording. Yeah, I know what she said and I know what would've been important for her to leave as her legacy.

Supergirl airs Tuesdays at 9 p.m. on the CW.

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