Nine years ago, Super-fans were first introduced to Laura Vandervoort, who burst onto the scene as TV’s first Supergirl starting with the seventh season of The CW’s Smallville. To borrow the title of Laura’s earlier series, Vandervoort was an instant star, quickly embraced by the show’s fan base, much like Melissa Benoist has been for her portrayal as Kara.
Laura, who is currently starring in the third and final season of her series Bitten which airs on Syfy, makes her debut opposite a different Supergirl as she plays “Indigo” in the Supergirl episode “Solitude.” The role is said to be a recurring one, and we’ve seen some photos of what we can expect in addition to a trailer. We spoke with Laura this week about this role that is making her the first major Smallville veteran to appear on Supergirl on CBS.
“I was actually at the Saturn Awards last year presenting and ran into Andrew [Kreisberg], one of the Executive Producers on the series,” Vandervoort recalled about the genesis of her appearing on the new show. “He told me that they would love to have me come join the cast at some point, and I was obviously excited about that opportunity,” she continued. A few characters came up as possibilities for Laura to play, but Laura was already committed and busy shooting Season Three of Bitten at the time. Once Bitten wrapped, the character of Indigo popped up. “Timing was right and Indigo sounded like a fun new challenge. Returning to the DC world is something I have been wanting to do for a while, plus returning as a villain is exactly how I wanted to do it,” Laura said.
So who is Indigo, exactly? “Indigo is a living strong willed supercomputer,” Laura explained. “She was sentenced to Fort Rozz after turning against the people of Krypton. Indigo is able to transport through technology, which makes her a dangerous nemesis for Supergirl. She has strong connections to Kara and her past, as well as to Non and his future plans,” she revealed. When we first meet Indigo, she causes trouble by hacking into an Ashley Madison type website and leaking the client list to Cat. Her ultimate goal is not yet known, but it will be revealed in the episode. “She is such a rival for Supergirl that Supergirl is forced to go to the Fortress of Solitude to learn how she can fight and defeat her,” Laura told us.
While we do see Laura’s natural look at the beginning of Supergirl’s “Solitude” episode, we quickly see Indigo’s natural form, a “blue and angry” look that fans have noticed as having a bit of a resemblance to the X-Men’s Mystique. For the full hair and makeup look for Indigo, it would take 3-4 hours, but the show has gotten it down to three. A prosthetic is on Laura’s forehead with three LED lights, with a bald cap, a blue makeup, and a wig on top. “I actually did a time lapse video of the entire process the first time we did it and hope to release it Monday after the episode,” Laura teased.
Considering Laura’s Super past, you’d expect some references or nods to her time on Smallville, though Laura told us that there are no specific references. However, she is sure that fans will have their own opinions, perhaps drawing parallels from some of the dialogue and it relating to her time as Supergirl. She also won’t spoil us by saying if she, Melissa Benoist, and the show’s other veteran Supergirl, Helen Slater, have shot scenes together, but did describe Melissa as “great.”
“I really love how she portrays Supergirl and what the show has done with the character. We have had a lot of fun working together so far,” she said, adding that she was pleased and thought it was “about time” for there to be a Supergirl series on television. “I am excited that we are at a place now where superhero shows are at the forefront and female superheroes are leading the way,” she enthused.
“Being cast as Supergirl on Smallville was the beginning of a lot of growth for me,” Laura recalled of her own time as the ‘Maid of Might.’ “Smallville was somewhat of a training ground for me as an actor and an individual. It has allowed me to go to comic conventions and meet with fans. It allowed me to develop this fanbase that has been so great and loyal to me. This genre has also led the way for other character choices I have made. Playing an iconic superhero on television was a great honor,” she said.
What does Laura have coming up next?
The third and final season of Bitten, the series that Laura stars in as female werewolf Elena Michaels, airs Mondays at 11PM on the Syfy cable network. Additionally, Laura is working on a children’s TV series that she is executive producing and creating called “Super Duper Deelia.”
“I had written the book years ago as a template for a series of books; however, the consensus was that it needed to be a TV series. So we are now creating a live-action kids show. This is my first time behind the camera and it’s been quite a journey and learning process. We are still working on getting it off the ground, but I am very excited for all that is in store,” she said.
You can see Laura Vandervoort on Supergirl beginning this Monday, February 29 on CBS. See some preview images here! As mentioned before, Bitten airs in the United States Mondays at 11PM ET on Syfy.