After the announcement, she made an emotional visit to The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon and explained the role's personal significance to her. "I feel like the reason I got so emotional is that growing up, watching TV, I never saw someone on TV that I could identify with—let alone a superhero, you know?" Rose told Fallon while fighting off tears. "I said I wouldn't do that."
Shortly after the casting decision was made public, however, Rose was targeted by internet trolls who questioned her sexuality and argued she wasn't fit for the role. Following repeated harassment, the 32-year-old actress took a moment to respond to the trolls before deactivating her Twitter account.
"Where on earth did 'Ruby is not a lesbian therefore she can't be Batwoman' come from — has to be the funniest, most ridiculous thing I've ever read," she wrote in since-deleted tweets, according to The Sydney Morning Herald. "I came out at 12? And have for the past 5 years had to deal with 'she's too gay' — How do y'all flip it like that. I didn't change."
Rose continued, "When women and when minorities join forces we are unstoppable — When we tear each other down, it's much more hurtful than from any group. But hey, love a challenge. I just wish women and the LGBT community supported each other more."
Before deactivating her account, Rose told fans she would be taking a "break from Twitter to focus all of my energy on my next two projects."
"If you need me, I'll be on my Bat Phone," she signed off.
The Australia-born actress also took precautions against trolls by disabling the comments on her Instagram account, where she recently told fans she was "an emotional wreck" after fulfilling a childhood dream by being cast as Batwoman. She wrote, "This is something I would have died to have seen on TV when I was a young member of the LGBT community who never felt represented on tv and felt alone and different."
This follows a recent trend of actresses being forced to leave Twitter following harassment from trolls. In June, Millie Bobbie Brown left Twitter after becoming the subject of wildly homophobic memes.
During an acceptance speech at the MTV Movie Awards, Brown addressed the bullying and said, "Since I know there are many young people watching this—and even for the adults—they could probably use the reminder that I was taught. If you don’t have anything nice to say, just don’t say it. There should be no space in this world for bullying, and I’m not going to tolerate it, and neither should any of you." With a wink, she added, "If you need a reminder of how worthy you are and to rise above the hate, message me on Instagram."
“Landing the role of Eleven in @Stranger_Things has changed my life.” Congratulations to Millie Bobby Brown for winning Best Performance in a Show
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