Chyler Leigh Discusses The Fan Reaction To “Sanvers”

A highlight of Supergirl’s second season has been watching the very human character journey of Alex Danvers (Chyler Leigh) as she has come to recognize facets in her life that have led her to a romance with Maggie Sawyer, as played by Floriana Lima. “Sanvers” as the fans have called it has inspired many fans, particularly on social media, many of whom have sent their appreciation to Chyler and Floriana as well as the show for showing us a different side of a coming-out journey.

At a recent Q&A, we asked Chyler Leigh about that fan response and how she has reacted to it.

“It’s been wonderfully overwhelming,” she said gratefully. “The response has been so positive. So much more positive than negative. Everybody’s got their opinion and you’ve got to respect that and appreciate that, and in one way or another, they’re still investing in their relationship. But it’s been incredible to watch people open up about their story and what it’s inspiring in our audience and people that I meet, and people that ask me questions, just to be able to share what we have, and the fact that the storyline has been so authentic and it’s so well-handled and well-written… it gives me such a great platform to be able to just dive in, head first, and just go for it.”

“It’s such a beautiful storyline,” she continued. “One of the things that I get the most comments about is the fact that Alex is already [28], so at 28 figuring this out about herself, and having those lightbulb moments, and putting those things together and going ‘oh my gosh! This makes so much sense now!’ but being older, it’s like you’ve already built up all these own things in your mind about who you are and where you’re going, and to have it almost be derailed in a sense… that’s been a big part of the responses. Going like, ‘oh my gosh! This is exactly my story! This is where I was.’ You see so many characters on shows right now that come in and are already established in that place, and this is where you get to see somebody coming to a point where she’s just figuring it out. I think that’s what people have just been really excited about.”

Chyler also had kind things to say about her co-star, Floriana Lima. “I love Floriana, and she’s so much fun to work with. That’s been wonderful too,” the gracious actor said.

Also during the Q&A it was teased that there will be an upcoming episode where Kara (Melissa Benoist) and Maggie have to save Alex from a situation, giving the sister and the partner some interaction. That episode is as-of-yet unfilmed but it will be happening later this season.

Supergirl airs Monday nights at 8PM ET/PT on The CW.