‘The Flash’ Star Sasha Calle Cried When She Saw Herself as Supergirl (Exclusive)

The star breaks barriers as the first Latina to play the superhero. “It’s such an honor,” she tells PEOPLE

It’s a bird…it’s a plane…it’s a history-making moment!

With The Flash, Sasha Calle breaks barriers as the first Latina actress to play Supergirl. “It means the world to me. It's such an honor. It's such a joy,” the 27-year old tells PEOPLE.

The Boston native recalls being on set filming a scene in which her character is levitating in the sun. Afterwards, director Andy Muschietti called Calle over to look at some of the footage they had just taken.

“It was an out out-of-body experience,” she says. “I kind of became a five-year-old version of myself looking at this superhero that looked like me, and I couldn't believe it. I started crying and I got really emotional. I wish I would've had her when I was little.”

Related: 'The Flash' Movie: Everything to Know

“I'm so excited for my community to watch it, to feel seen, to feel represented,” she continues. “It’s such a beautiful thing.”

The Flash stars Ezra Miller as the titular superhero, who travels back in time to try to prevent the death of his mother, but winds up changing the present and future. Along for the adventure: Supergirl (Calle) and two Batmen (Michael Keaton and Ben Affleck).

Calle didn’t even realize she was auditioning to play Supergirl when she received pages for a script called “Untitled Warner Bros. Film” years ago. Says Calle, “It was very under wraps. I had to sign an NDA. And [the character] description was very brief.”

She filmed an audition, sent it in and tried to put it out of her mind. “Like I do with any other audition, I just throw it [like] a boomerang and if it comes back, it comes back. And it did. Two weeks later, I got a call from my manager being like, ‘You are testing for the Warner Brothers film, and it's actually called The Flash,’” says Calle. “And I was like, ‘So, what character am I playing?’ And she's like, ‘We do not know.’”

When Muschietti video-called to offer her the role, he did so under the guise of saying he needed to ask the actress a few more questions. “Then he pulls out that [Supergirl] suit and it was like, Okay, so you're telling me that I got the job and also I'm playing Supergirl,’” Calle continues.

The actress believes she manifested the role into existence. “I watched Wonder Woman in 2017, and I was like, ‘That's what I want to do,’” says Calle. “And I cut this image of Wonder Woman fighting, and I pasted it on a vision board. I knew someone like me belonged in those spaces. And I had been talking to my team, they were like, ‘What do you want?’ And I was like, ‘I want a complex character and I want action.’”

Related: 'The Flash' First Reactions: Critics Praise Michael Keaton's Return as Batman in 'Ambitious' Movie

Supergirl is a far cry from her other most notable role: chef Lola Rosales on the CBS soap opera The Young and the Restless. But Calle notes both soaps and superhero movies have passionate fans. “To this day, my Y&R fan base is still riding hard with me. And I love that my DC fans have been so welcoming and loving,” she says. “It’s a beautiful thing to be a part of those worlds.”

Though Calle was on set with major movie stars like Miller and Keaton while making The Flash, she says she mostly hung out with her stunt team during downtime. “They became my buddies,” she says. “I was there literally two hours a day, five times a week for seven months. So they were my family. I spent so much time with them.”

The Flash is in theaters nationwide June 16.

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