The 26-year-old actress is quickly making a name for herself and shattering the glass ceiling.
Sasha Calle, remember that name.
The 26-year-old actress is quickly making a name for herself and shattering the glass ceiling. This year, the Boston native made history when she was cast as DC's first-ever Latina Supergirl in the upcoming The Flash film. She's also reportedly starring in her own HBO Max series.
Her appearance in the mega franchise is a notable one, not just for Latinas who've dreamt about seeing themselves as heroines, but it also shows that Hollywood is serious about casting diverse leads.
Calle, who is of Colombian descent, is no newbie in the entertainment industry, but her star is rising. After being cast in the miniseries Socially Awkward in 2017, she landed the role of Lola Rosales on The Young and the Restless. She earned her first Daytime Emmy nomination in 2020.
But it was no easy ride to land her big break. Growing up with a single mother, Calle previously shared that she “used to look at my bank account and everything [was] a concern.”
"I was struggling a lot before I booked Y&R,” Calle told Soap Opera Digest. "At that time it was just my mother and me. She worked very hard to make me happy. I just wanted to sing and dance. I would dress up and put on a show for everyone."
Calle, who briefly lived in Colombia for two years when she was younger, always had a passion for the arts. One Christmas, she recalled walking up to a whole band set up for her as a gift. "I was jumping from the drum set to the guitar to the microphone and trying to perform all these instruments by myself. I loved it," the artist shared. One look at her Instagram proves that she’s never stopped singing and playing.
To hone her acting and singing skills, Calle attended the American Musical and Dramatic Academy (AMDA), which made her a versatile performer. Fighting hard for a place in the industry, Calle learned patience and persistence in the pursuit of her dreams.
"You really have to acquire patience and you have to focus. You’ll have to pick up side jobs you may not like. You’ll go through many frustrations, tears. Heck, you might get a big break quick, who knows," she told AMDA in 2019. "I had a whole year and a half of constant rejection and over 100 auditions before I booked Y&R. You can’t take anything personally and you have to move, move, move."
What made landing her big break on The Young and the Restless even sweeter was the opportunity to be a part of an onscreen Latinx family. Right from the start, she was breaking barriers. As Calle told her alma mater, she didn't take the part lightly knowing she was able to represent the Latin American community through the show.
“We truly hope to inspire. We all grew up in Latin American households. Now it’s our opportunity to proudly share that with the world,” she expressed, years before landing another major milestone in her career.
"Can you fly?" That's the question The Flash director Andy Muschietti posed as he delivered the life-changing Supergirl news to Calle.
"If you need me to” was her answer, uncertain of what the Argentine filmmaker meant before he confirmed she landed the part.
"Estás bien, Sasha?" he asked in Spanish, while she became visibly emotional and shook her head no. "Can I freak out for a second?!" Calle replied, before turning her chair and telling someone off camera, "I got it! I'm probably not going to stop crying all day."
Calle will follow in the footsteps of Helen Slater, who first played the Kryptonian heroine in the 1984 movie, and Melissa Benoist, who currently stars as the heroine in The CW series.
"A Latina superhero?! On what planet?! Well, on this planet!!" she wrote in Spanish when sharing the news. Since then, In the Heights star Leslie Grace, of American and Dominican descent, also nabbed a superhero role. She's set to be the new Batgirl.
Calle beat out more than 400 actors who auditioned for the role, but "was destined" to become Kara Zor-El. What set her apart, according to the director, was her toughness and vulnerability that she brought to the part.
"The talent pool was truly amazing and it was very hard to make a decision, but we finally found an actress who was destined to play this role," Muschietti told Deadline.
Aside from making many Latinas proud, Calle’s latest role is making her family proud. After the news broke, she posted a throwback photo of her mother, Samira, and little brother, Jacob, dressed as Supergirl and Superman, respectively.
“Mi mama and little brother. 2013. tengo el corazon lleno!” she wrote, mentioning how her heart was full. She also thanked her mother “for your effort, for raising me alone and with a lot of love. I adore you with everything I have. You are an example of a superhero.”
Like many blockbuster superhero movies, information about Calle’s role and projects with DC is being kept under wraps. Not much will be known until the studio or the director himself shares an update -- but sneak peeks of her on set have been shared online.
In the meantime, as Calle continues to ride her Supergirl high, one can only imagine the incredible journey that lies ahead for her. Just by landing the role, she’s already inspiring a younger generation, letting them know that they too can be the heroes of their story. As the actress wrote in her casting announcement, "Dreams do come true, huh?"
For Sasha Calle they do.
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