Australian actress Ruby Rose, 35, surprised fans when she left The CW’s Batwoman series after just one season in 2020. She revealed the real reason she stepped down from her role as Kate Kane was because she was actually allergic to her latex costume in a Tuesday July 13 interview on KIIS 1065’s The Kyle and Jackie O Show.
Ruby, who’s also starred in shows like Orange Is The New Black, originated the title role for Batwoman in multiple CW shows prior to starring in the first season of the series. Besides her own show, she played the role in Supergirl, The Flash, DC’s Legends Of Tomorrow, and Arrow besides Batwoman. Unfortunately, the costume was the problem. “Ask anyone that’s ever played a superhero or villain or anything with that kind of costume, [the costumes are] not fun,” she said.
The actress explained that the costume was extra uncomfortable, because of an allergy. “I did find out that I was allergic to latex… unfortunately, my mask is latex,” she said on the radio show. “I was getting worse and worse, because as you get more contact with it, I guess you get more reactions. I took off the [mask] at the end, and my face was just hives. My throat was all messed up.”
Even though Ruby looked amazing and heroic in her costume, apparently the actress wasn’t a pretty sight on-set after she took the mask off. “It was like it was out of a scary movie,” she said noting how bad the hives were. She said they gave her plenty of Benadryl to help with the reaction.
After Ruby left the show for her latex allergy, Kate Kane was recast with English actress Wallis Day, 26, taking on the part. The actress Javicia Leslie, who plays Ryan Wilder on Batwoman, also suited up in the titular hero’s outfit and became the first Black woman to play the hero. Even though Ruby may not get to keep being Batwoman, she has taken on plenty of exciting roles since leaving the show like in the film Vanquish, where she starred alongside Morgan Freeman.