Nicole Maines
Biography
Nicole Amber Maines is an American actress, writer, and transgender rights activist born on October 7, 1997, in Gloversville, New York. Prior to her acting career, she was the anonymous plaintiff in the Maine Supreme Judicial Court case Doe v. Regional School Unit 26, where she successfully argued against her school district denying her access to the female bathroom based on her gender identity. In 2014, the court ruled that barring transgender students from restrooms consistent with their gender identity is unlawful, marking the first such ruling by a state court. As an actress, Maines portrayed the character Nia Nal on the television series Supergirl from 2018 to 2021, spanning the fourth through sixth seasons, becoming the first to portray a transgender superhero on television.
Career overview
Nicole Amber Maines was born on October 7, 1997, in Gloversville, New York. Prior to her acting career, she was a transgender rights activist and the anonymous plaintiff in the Maine Supreme Judicial Court case Doe v. Regional School Unit 26. In the case, she argued that her school district could not deny her access to the female bathroom for being transgender. In 2014, the court ruled that barring transgender students from the school bathroom consistent with their gender identity is unlawful, marking the first such ruling by a state court.
As an actress, Maines has accumulated fourteen known acting credits on The Movie Database. She is known for playing the role of Nia Nal on The CW superhero series Supergirl from 2018 through 2021, appearing in the fourth through sixth seasons of the show. Through this television role, she is noted as the first person to portray a transgender superhero on television.
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Frequent co-stars
Career timeline
Full filmography
- Clean Slate (2025) as White Natasha
- Six Till Midnight (2025) as Carli Brown
- The Freedom to Exist - A Soul of a Nation Presentation (2023) as Self
- Darby and the Dead (2022) as Piper
- Yellowjackets (2021) as Lisa
- Good Trouble (2019) as Liza Davis
- Bit (2019) as Laurel
- Not Your Skin (2017) as Herself
- DC's Legends of Tomorrow (2016) as Nia Nal / Dreamer
- The Trans List (2016) as Self
- Supergirl (2015) as Nia Nal / Dreamer
- The Flash (2014) as Nia Nal / Dreamer
- Royal Pains (2009) as Anna
- The Ellen DeGeneres Show (2003) as Self