Iris is the Lois Lane of 'The Flash.' It's a really special role. Knowing they were willing to offer it to an African American - Iris is traditionally white - I knew how important this would be for so many people.
It was always a false assumption that white American writers cannot write novels about race unless they're approaching it from a very oblique angle.
The way 'TATB' depicts race, and how it normalizes our differences, is actually one of the things I am most proud of.
I am tired of people using 'diverse' to mean 'of color.' That's not what that word means. 'Diversity' means people of all different races, all together - like a New York City subway.
Eventually we got to a point where 'Riverdale' came along, and it was a character that was originally written white, and I saw this as an opportunity to take a classic American character and make them Asian.
I think people love the character of Iris West. I think a lot of fans are also excited that Iris West is now African-American. They want to see her be strong and intelligent and a love interest - and so people come out in full force to defend that and honor that. And I think that's cool.
For me, Iris West was traditionally white in the comic books. So, you know, comic book fans are very opinionated, very vocal. So it was very scary stepping into that role when I started the show.
There are a lot of period dramas out there but not many opportunities for a mixed-race actress to play a period role.
