The actor, who plays Supergirl’s sister Alex Danvers, has issued a heartfelt personal message on the website Creating Change about how her character’s coming out story resonated with her own life.
The website, which Leigh helped create with her husband Nathan West, seeks to provide “encouragement and inspiration to help you become the change you want to see in the world.”
“When I was told that my character was to come out in season 2, a flurry of thoughts and emotions flew through and around me because of the responsibility I personally felt to authentically represent Alex’s journey. What I didn’t realize was how the scene where she finally confessed her truth would leap off the pages of the script and genuinely become a variation of my own. IRL,” Leigh wrote.
“My heart felt like it was going to beat out of my chest each take we filmed, every time presenting another opportunity to get those honest words out of my mouth,” she continued, while also inviting readers to relive Alex’s coming out scene from Season 2.
“Though they don’t exactly match my personal dialogue, the heart behind it surely did. From the director, the press, the media, the cast, and the fans, I’m still told that it was the most realistic coming out scene they’d ever witnessed. And to steal from Alex’s words, that’s because there’s some truth to what she said about me.”
“Here’s the kicker though,” she continued. “Since that episode aired, I was told from dear friends (and even avid watchers of Supergirl) that they would no longer watch the show because of the fact that Alex’s journey took a turn from their less than acceptable beliefs. Soon after, they began to distance themselves and eventually my family and I were outcast, marking the loss of many folks we loved.
“However, after the initial sting, I don’t hold a grudge towards the negative response, because as I said, we all have had a hard time in one way or another with acceptance (whatever the subject may be) whether towards ourselves or others.
“It’s been a long and lonely road for both my husband and myself but I can whole-heartedly say that after all these years, he and I are still discovering the depths of ourselves and each other, but throughout our journey we’ve learned to be proud of who we are, no matter the cost,” she concluded.
Leigh, 38, played Lexie Grey in ABC’s Grey’s Anatomy and has three children with her husband Nathan West.
