A few months ago, Ruby Rose announced her decision to vacate the titular role in the CW's Batwoman series after just one season. At the time she didn't really go into too much detail beyond that, but Variety reported that internal friction was stemming from her unhappiness with the long hours she was spending on set.
Now, several months after that decision was finalized, Rose has opted to elaborate a little more on why she left.
As it turns out, one of the factors was an emergency back surgery she underwent after an accident occurred during a stunt on-set in 2019. Note that it was also reported at the time that she left that this injury did not play a part in her decision. According to a new interview she gave to EW, it wasn't necessarily the injury that led to her exit, but rather returning to set so shortly after it happened.
“Being the lead of a superhero show is tough. Being the lead in anything is tough,” Rose told the outlet. “But I think, in that particular instance, it was a lot more difficult because I was still recovering from my surgery. I had my surgery and then 10 days later I went to work, which maybe wasn’t the best idea. Most people take about a month or three off before they return to work, so it was definitely made more difficult by that. But as far as being a lead of a show or a film — regardless if it’s action or if it’s emotional — in whichever ways it’s taxing.”
The decision to leave also came after reflection during a coronavirus-induced break in production. As we made mention of in the intro paragraph, it was previously reported that Rose was not happy during the first season's filming. During her EW interview she stated that soul-searching during the extended pause played a big part in getting up out of there.
“It wasn’t so much [the injury], especially because after we wrapped up we didn’t get to finish the real finale because of COVID,” she continued. “You know, you have time in quarantine and sort of isolation to just think about a lot of different things and what you want to achieve in life and what you want to do. I think for both [me and the producers], it was a great opportunity to have a dialogue about a lot of things. I respect them so much and they’ve been so respectful to me.”
Note that she also indicated in the interview her support of the actress who will assume the next Batwoman role, a.k.a. new character Ryan Wilder (portrayed by Javicia Leslie).
“I think she definitely knows what she’s doing and she seems fantastic,” Rose said. “I think that honestly, I was so proud and so happy when I was told who would be replacing me. I’m just really stoked and I’m definitely going to watch the next season as well and see how it all comes together.”
