Star of OITNB and the upcoming film The Meg, Ruby Rose, has been cast as Kate Kane aka Batwoman in the new TV series and she is thrilled to have been handed the opportunity.

Explaining the significance of the move, she told The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, “I found out that I got cast as Batwoman. It’s a game changer.'”

Rose, who came out as a lesbian at the age of 12, said she’s been overcome with emotion every time she’s stopped to think about her latest casting.

She shared: “I kept spontaneously crying and I kind of feel like I’m going to do it now, so I’m just going to…”

Ruby explained that she is so emotional about this casting as it has reminded her of childhood experiences and what the significance of seeing someone like her in a superhero role would have meant.

She said: “I think the reason I kept getting so emotional was that growing up watching TV, I never saw anyone on TV that I can identify with. Let alone a superhero, you know?

“And I’ve always had this saying … well, not me, but Oscar Wilde … which is be yourself because everyone else is taken. I’ve lived by that motto and the second motto when I came into the industry was, be the person you needed when you were younger.

“I feel like one motto led me to the other and, you know, I kept crying about it.”

Batwoman was initially a love interest of Batman but has been openly gay in the comics since 2006 when she was reintroduced as a lesbian of Jewish descent.

The TV adaptation was announced in July and it’s been confirmed the script is to be written by Caroline Dries.

Rose’s Batwoman casting came weeks after Supergirl picked transgender activist Nicole Maines to fill the series regular role of Nia Nal aka Dreamer, television’s first transgender superhero.