So let's talk about you.
So you were assigned male when you were born.
And you have an identical twin brother.
Jonas, yes.
OK, and at what age did you know that that was not
right for you?
Well, I really started thinking like, you know,
something wasn't right, you know.
I realized that--
At what age?
Probably three, four years old.
Three, really?
Three, four years old.
Well, my case was kind of unique,
because I have an identical twin brother.
And so growing up with him, he was,
you know, identifying with all of these male things.
And he was feeling very comfortable in his body.
And I wasn't.
And so, at the same time that everyone was like, yeah, Jonas,
you're a boy, they were telling me
I was too young to understand what gender I was.
But, you know, I went up to my parents.
And I was like, listen, for a couple of years,
I've tried this whole boy thing.
I think it's lovely.
[LAUGHTER]
It's just not me.
Uh-huh.
But, yeah, so as soon as I could,
I tried to voice to my parents that something's off.
And you were in a small town in Maine.
Yup.
And what did your parents-- how did they react to that?
So my father grew up very conservative.
And he really had set expectations
for what boys and girls were supposed to be like.
You know, this is what you do.
This is what your sister does.
And so when I came out to him, that
did not fit into his plan of what raising twin boys
was going to be like.
Yeah.
So he just, you know, he blocked that out.
He ignored it.
He focused on his hobbies.
And that left my mother on her own for a while.
She didn't grow up with the same kind of expectations
that my father did.
You know, while his concern was always,
you know, kind of what will the neighbors think,
she was always much more concerned with, you know,
will Jonas and Nicole-- well, Wyatt at the time.
Will Jonas and Wyatt be safe around the neighbors?
And so she wanted to make sure that we always had a safe place
to come back to in her home.
And the only problem was, you know, at home,
dad didn't get it.
And so it took a while.
But when our family was attacked,
when we were in elementary school, he really stepped up.
And he said, you know, I don't get this.
But I love my child.
And I'm going to protect my child, whatever it takes.
Good for him.
Yeah, right?
Good for him.
Wow.
[APPLAUSE]
Yeah, I would imagine that would be
really hard on-- especially having
an identical twin brother and just going to school.
And were you bullied at all?
Yeah, well, we tried our best to work with the school and with,
you know, the other families in the school system.
And we did a gradual transition.
I started transitioning when I was in first grade.
And every year, we kind of tacked a new thing onto it.
Like, OK, this year you're going to wear pink.
This year you're going to grow your hair out.
And so we tried to answer questions as they came up.
But so there were always bullies.
When I would ride the bus, I couldn't take the bus anymore,
because kids would refer to me as "it"
the bus, which doesn't exactly make you feel good.
And then in fifth grade, it really kind of peaked at--
a male student in my class's grandfather
was a part of a special interest Christian right group.
And he had his grandson follow me into the girls bathroom.
And, you know, he said, my grandfather
says we don't have to have any faggots
in our school in fifth grade.
Wow.
You know, you're so eloquent.
You're so put together and, you know, carry yourself so well.
The fact that you have gone through what
you've gone through, and you're so well-balanced.
I really admire you for that.
Thank you very much.
That's amazing.
You know, I mean, that's tough.
That's really tough.
[APPLAUSE]
So you just turned 21.
I did, yesterday, yeah.
All right, happy birthday.
Thank you very much.
[APPLAUSE]
I mean, what a huge-- you didn't even want to be an actor.
And now, all of a sudden, you're on this show.
And you're doing so much for the trans community.
I mean, this is amazing.
You put college on hold.
And you're acting, which is something
you never wanted to do.
Well, it was weird.
I always loved theater growing up.
And I was always like, wow, it would be so fun to be an actor.
But, you know, my next thought was I was like, wow,
I'm from nowhere, Maine.
You know, no one's from Maine.
Well, people are from Maine.
But, yeah.
[LAUGHTER]
Well, we are.
But we don't leave Maine.
You know, usually, on our way out, the mooses get us.
Yeah.
[LAUGHTER]
So, you know, I never thought just--
I did a guest episode of Royal Pains.
And then right after that, Supergirl happened.
Wow.
And I was like, how did I get here?
Every day, I walk on set, and I'm
like, waiting for someone to be like, ma'am, you can't be here.
I don't know who let you back, but you need to go.
I don't know how I did it.
Well, it's amazing.
It's really important that you did it.
And you, like I said, you're a great example.
And the trans community needs more representation
on television.
So good for them for casting you.
And good for you for making history.
That's great.
Thank you so much.
Thank you for being here.
[APPLAUSE]
I'm happy to be here.
All right.
The season premiere of Supergirl airs Sunday, October 14,
on the CW.
We'll be right back.