Actor Melissa Benoist spent this summer playing Carole King in the Broadway musical Beautiful: The Carole King Musical. Benoist now says that role has altered her approach to playing Kara Danvers on Supergirl.

"I think that playing Carole and learning so much about her will certainly affect how I approach Supergirl at this point. Every role affects you," Benoist told Deadline. "I do think that heading into Season 4 and walking into Supergirl’s shoes and donning the cape will feel different in a great way, especially because Carole’s story is about, in essence, owning yourself and being true to who you are, that you are enough. That’s something I’m always searching for in Supergirl: ways to further her development as a woman and find more empowering stories to tell through that. Also, it made Comic-Con a blast. It was so great to see everyone. The cast, we all genuinely love each other. We’re really excited for the season."

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Several new actors are set to debut in Supergirl Season 4, including Bret Spiner as Vice President Baker, Sam Witwer as Agent Liberty, Nicole Maines as Dreamer, television’s first transgender superhero, April Parker Jones (Jericho, The Last Ship) as Colonel Haley, David Ajala (Doctor Who, The Dark Knight) as Manchester Black, Rohna Mitra (The Last Ship) as Mercy Graves and Robert Baker (Grey’s Anatomy) as Mercy’s enforcer Otis. Jesse Rath, introduced in Season 3 as Brainiac 5, has been promoted to a series regular.

Starring Melissa Benoist as Kara Danvers, David Harewood as Martian Manhunter, Mehcad Brooks as Jimmy Olsen and Chyler Leigh as Alex Danver, Supergirl returns for its fourth season Sunday, Oct. 14, at 8 p.m. ET/PT on The CW.

KEEP READING: Supergirl Adds Superman Mythos' Otis, Villain Mercy Graves for S4