After an extended search, CBS has announced that it has cast ‘Glee’ star Melissa Benoist to head up its superhero show ‘Supergirl’. She’ll play Kara Zor-El in the network’s series adaptation of the DC comic book story.

The 26 year old actress is most famous for portraying Marley Rose in the fourth and fifth seasons of Fox’s tween steamroller ‘Glee’, but she also has credentials on the more serious side of acting, with a role in the 2014 indie movie Whiplash, which was recently nominated for five Academy Awards including ‘Best Picture’.

Melissa Benoist
'Glee''s Melissa Benoist has been cast as CBS' 'Supergirl'

CBS entertainment chairman Nina Tassler gave a press conference earlier in January about the network’s revamp, where she described its portrayal of Supergirl as “a very strong, independent young woman. She’s coming into her own. She’s dealing with family issues. She’s dealing with work issues.”

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“It’s a female empowerment story. If you look at the strong female characters we have on the air, it really is resonant of that … We’re big feminists. It’s her intellect, it’s her skill, it’s her smarts. It’s all of those elements. It’s not just her strength, which she does have.”

In the mythology, Supergirl is Superman’s cousin, who escaped from the planet Krypton and hid among Earth’s population but, at age 24, has finally decided to use the superpowers that she shares with her relative.

Back in December, fellow TV star Claire Holt and British model Gemma Atkinson were rumoured to be under consideration for the role, but the final decision has gone in favour of Benoist. There’s no word yet as to when the series will be finished and ready, but it will be the superhero series on CBS in 25 years, since the short-lived ‘The Flash’ ended in 1990.

Back on the big screen, Benoist is next scheduled to appear in The Longest Ride, which opens in the States on April 12th and also stars Britt Robertson and Scott Eastwood.

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